Stakeholders to the civil-military dialogue in Lainya County take a group photo after the workshop. | Photo: CEPO.

A peace dialogue between civilians and the military in Lainya County of Central Equatoria State has adopted eight resolutions to strengthen peaceful coexistence in the area.

The initiative was facilitated by the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization to reconcile the civilians and the army in the area that saw widespread instability during the conflict.

It found that the root cause of the conflicts in the area was a lack of mutual respect between civilians and military personnel.

As a result, there was torture and harassment of civilians, looting of civilian properties, sexual violence, and false accusations of civilians as rebels by the military, the dialogue found.

The stakeholders resolved that both civilians and the military should strengthen their relations and embrace love, unity, forgiveness, and togetherness as citizens of South Sudan.

It was also outlined that in case of the return of cattle herders, the government soldiers should take full protection of civilian lives and properties.

The peace initiative also resolved that there must be sharing of information between civilians and the military and that the reduction of number of checkpoints to allow free movement of civilians and their properties.

Others are regulation of the consumption of drugs by army commanders and constant dialogue on building trust and confidence between the two sides.

Lastly, it resolved that a conducive environment be created for the displaced persons from Loka West, Loka Round, and Lokurubang Boma to freely return to their places of origin.

Loka West Boma was badly affected by multiple crises including fighting between the government and opposition forces, and farmers-cattle keepers’ conflict.