The Role of Natural Resources in Sustainable Peace in Sudan

This project seeks to address the question of "How can natural resources contribute to sustaining peace and security in Sudan?"  The SIPA team analyzed the role of oil, water and land in Sudan, focusing on their potential as vectors for peacebuilding and statebuilding in South Sudan post-secession.

While tensions over oil, water and land have the capacity to spark and exacerbate conflict, the resources could be used to encourage cooperation, improve governance and stability, and contribute to sustainable development in Sudan. Using desk research and interviews, the team will examine the dynamics that these resources create between the north and the south, between nomadic and settled communities, and within Southern Sudanese society. The project will further investigate how these natural resources affect issues such as security, border demarcation, migration, division of debts and assets, and international treaty obligations. 

Drawing on case studies and lessons learned from other countries and past UN missions, the SIPA team explored ways in which DPKO’s new mission in South Sudan can use natural resources to develop and support mechanisms for sustainable peace and security in a newly independent Southern Sudan. The team will produced a report on its findings, providing background information and analysis that DPKO may want to take into consideration as it considers and formulates its options in the post referendum context.