By Yang Ater Yang
Peace Canal organisations organised a review. Gelweng Youth Peace Committee performance brought together 45 (group peace committee) Akut, the door of Greater Rumbek, is supported by Lakes State Government officials and peace partners supported by the Peacebuilding Opportunity Fund (POP)
14 existing members were transitioned and replaced by emerging cattle-camp youth leaders, including four women.
The 14 outgoing members are not leaving the peace process. Instead, they will transition into advisory and mentorship roles within their respective sections, supporting and guiding the newly selected members and helping transfer their experience, relationships, and knowledge to the next generation.
This marks an important evolution of Akut de Door: from being only a grassroots peace committee to becoming an intergenerational structure through which Dinka Agar communities can continuously identify, mentor, and grow new generations of youth peace champions.
The renewal recognises that sustainable peace requires both the experience of those who have served and the leadership of young people who remain closely connected to the cattle camps and communities where peace must be built every day.
In 2019, the Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund (POF1), supported by the UK Government, conducted research across six cattle camps of the Dinka Agar community in Greater Rumbek, Lakes State. The research sought to better understand the root causes of intra-communal conflict and identify locally led approaches to breaking recurring cycles of violence.
During the consultations, local authorities, chiefs, and community leaders emphasised the importance of working directly with armed cattle-camp youth (Gelweng), who were among the key actors affected by and involved in these conflicts.
In response, Akut de Door, a grassroots peace committee, was established in 2020 with 45 members, including 11 women, drawn from the cattle camps.
Over the past six years, Akut de Door members have worked alongside local authorities, traditional leaders, cattle-camp youth, and communities to prevent and resolve conflicts, support early warning and response, facilitate reconciliation, and promote the return of large numbers of raided cattle to their rightful owners.
Six years on, the context has changed. Some long-serving Akut de Door members have become influential community leaders and taken on other social responsibilities, reducing their regular presence and active engagement in the cattle camps. At the same time, a new generation of cattle-camp youth leaders has emerged.
The Akut de Door Review and Restructuring process therefore provided an opportunity for members and community stakeholders to reflect on six years of experience, identify achievements and gaps, and renew the structure through a transparent and participatory process.
Akut de Door is not starting again—it is building on six years of experience while preparing the next generation to carry peace forward.
Speaking to the media, Simon Duop Jacob, peacebuilding manager for Peace Canal, said that they kicked off a training for local peace committees, which are known as Akut-dor—meaning peace committee.
“We launched this training to restructure our established peace committees, who are working with the communities in Greater Lakes State. These committees were actually formed way back almost 6 years ago.”
“For that reason, we will forever be grateful for them, and the work that they have done in their communities and the work that they have done in Greater Lakes State in their various communities is exceptional,” he said.
He said Peace Canal is not only operating here in Greater Lakes State and Tonj in Warrap State, but we are also actively working in Jongeli and Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPA).
“In Jonglei State, we are working in Bor, Twic East, Duk, Akobo, Fangak, and we are working in Ayod with spiritual leaders and with armed youths, local communities, chiefs, local government, and traditional authorities,” he said.
He said in Jonglei State we have another model, which is not Akut-dor, but we do have ICGS and ICJS, meaning inter-communal governance structures meeting, which brings together every 3 months.
“It brings together the Murle, Dinka, Lou Nuer, and Gawar. We also have another activity, which is peace and practice, being implemented in Greater Lakes State and in Warrap State. We are grateful to all the governments that are supporting our peace-building process,” he said.
He said the new members will take up their roles, and for now they will be taken through a lot of courses on how to disengage from conflict, how to mitigate conflicts, the early warning system, and how to work with other community members.
“The 14 are actually part of the 45 members, and those who are now replaced are only 14 members. So, we have 41 members who are still active,” he said.
The Director General of the State Ministry of Peace Building in Lakes State, Zechariah Kuoi Majak, said that our theme for the two days is a workshop for Akut-dor as a peace committee in another language.
“We have been here for two days, from Wednesday to Thursday today. We called on Akut-dor for evaluation of their work after six years,” he said. “These Akut-dor committees have been selected since 2020, and they have committed themselves to help the government and partners.”
Majim Muorwel Makuer, Akut-dor committee representative, said that he is a member of Akut-dor representing Atiaba Payam of Rumbek East County.
He said we have one of the leaders from Akut-dor who came to the Peace Canal in Rumbek, and he called 45 members of Akut-dor for a meeting, and that’s why we have been here for the last 2 days.
He said the purpose of our meeting was about peace and the way forward.
“The reason why changes have been made in the Akut-dor committees wasn’t the issue of any mistakes. It is to give a chance to other members to get trained on how to maintain peace in the community.”
He said his message to the people of Lakes State is to let go of conflicts and violence and let’s conduct elections in peace.
Thon Aru Nyang, a Mayom Payam representative of the Akut-dor committee in Rumbek Central County, urges people of Lakes State to maintain peace to elect their right leaders.
He said, “Let us not cause any other community feuds and misunderstandings among ourselves.
“We want everyone in the community to remain peaceful. No one should cause violence, conflicts, and looting again,” he said. “Our state maybe will get luck to elect the right leaders through this election,, and this is my message to the youths in the community.”
Executive Chief of Rumbek East County, Sultan Gor Kerthiet, said that they came to attend the meeting on how the people in the rural villages and cattle camps can get together to unite because there is a looming flood everywhere now due to heavy rain received.
He said that when the flood comes, everyone in the cattle camp will move to high ground and that nobody wants to ambush people on the road.
“Fighting between each other needs to stop, and those sections that continue to fight each other, such as Boor, Ajiak, Joth, Tiak, Niel-niel, Gak, and Aniin,” he said.
“The Akut-dor committees rejected all these sorts of violence and conflicts, and this is what we were discussing in the peace meeting in Canal, and we have agreed to reject any violent conflicts among us as the Agar community, and we shall remain and stay as the Agar community peacefully.”