Economic Prospects and Challenges for Sudan after the Juba Peace Agreement: The Role of Development in Peacebuilding and Stabilization in Darfur

Abstract

The peacebuilding-development nexus has progressively captivated scholars and practitioners who have thoroughly questioned their correlation and causality. Sudan’s persistent unrest and development efforts embodied an ideal testing ground for the theorists of the nexus, whose driving paradigms evolved parallel to the unfolding of the conflicts and the progressive affirmation of the peacebuilding-development nexus in international narratives. This article reviews development endeavors in sustaining peacebuilding in Sudan by exploring the Juba Peace Agreement (JPA) vis-à-vis the economic reforms advanced by the transitional government of Sudan and the ever-growing international development assistance. The article argues that economic reforms and revitalization represent a fil-rouge throughout the JPA. By asserting that addressing inequalities, marginality, and injustice constitutes the litmus test of the agreement’s efficacy in terms of peacebuilding, it will be appraised whether this inclusive approach has been adopted in national development policies and what has been its effectiveness in sustaining the pathway for peace and democratization.