People to people diplomacy in a pastoral system: A case from Sudan and South Sudan

Abstract

Bahr Alarab river, a tributary from the White Nile, forms a natural as well as the political boundary between the two states - Sudan (north) and South Sudan (south) - of the river system. It also represents the natural boundary between the Nilotic tribes of Dinka Malual and Nuer in the south and the Messeriya and Rezaighat Baggara Arab pastoralists (cattle owners) north of the river. This naturally endowed river system, which lies between latitudes 9° and 10° N and 22° and 32° E, provided the basis for a symbiotic and peaceful co-existence between these diverse ethnic pastoral groups for more than three decades. The pastoralists, through a well-articulated seasonal migration cycle, managed to successfully share grazing, hunting and fishing areas, in addition to trading and bartering consumer commodities inside what they called ‘peace markets’. All these pastoral practices were governed by customary laws enforced by their tribal leaders, through joint tribal courts. With the separation of the Sudan into two sovereign states - Sudan and South Sudan - in June 2010, new political and security realities emerged, adversely impacting the lives of these pastoral groups. Due to the continuous hostility between the two neighbouring states, the traditional administration which used to monitor the common border was changed into a semi-military structure on both sides. To circumvent this drastic change of governance and to continue with their mutual relationships, the two communities, the Malual Dinka on one side and Messeriya and Rizaighat on the other, managed to conduct a series of tribal conferences during 2011, culminating in the signing of a joint protocol, stipulating in detail how they should share the natural resources over the river system, regardless of the political changes and hostilities between their two nations. I call this ingenious and pragmatic initiative ‘people to people diplomacy in a pastoral system’.