[Music]
how often do we create a new country
it’s a pretty rare thing to be in a
country when it’s born
the newest country in our world today is
South Sudan South Sudan is a country
that I have lived and worked in since
2008 and I’ve had the privilege of being
there when the country was born and it
was a happy day but I expect for most of
you you don’t know much about South
Sudan so briefly South Sudan gained its
independence from the Sudan in 2011 and
sadly it enjoyed a mere 18 months of a
very fragile peace before it plummeted
into its own Civil War and today despite
signed peace agreements that war
continues and there is famine in some
parts of the country now and overall it
we have one of the worst humanitarian
crises in our world today in South Sudan
and it’s all man-made but as I said you
probably haven’t given faster down that
much thought or don’t feel that strong a
connection and so I ask you to ask
yourself that very important question so
what as I talk about the country and how
it finds itself in this sensitive space
between war and peace what collection do
you have and I want to invite you also
to consider or possibly reconsider your
individual role in building a more
peaceful world but first I want to share
with you that I’m going to make an
assumption about you all I’m going to
assume that you are all conscious caring
human beings who use your compassion and
your wisdom as you go about your day is
that okay great
thank you
so let me take you back the 2011 to
Christmas 2011 do you remember where you
were remember who you were with what you
were doing well I hope like me you were
relaxing in the company of people that
you loved this is Elizabeth and I want
to share the very brief story that
Elizabeth has of Christmas Day 2011 for
her she’s from South Sudan and already
just a few months after the country is
born you begin to see how this fragile
peace is already cracking my village was
attacked on Christmas Day 2011 people
kept saying they are coming they are
coming but we remained in touch brain
then the attackers came and there was
shooting everywhere I ran with my
children both of whom were born in
Khartoum and had never experienced
anything like this who were in the bush
for 7 days without food and water one
day we came across a puddle with dirty
water and when I gave it to one of my
sons
he asked me mama what is this is it
custard I said no my son it is water
from golden drink it that is how we
survived a few months after Elizabeth
and her children suffered this horror
Elizabeth joined an initiative called
the roots project and the roots project
was set up to foster social inclusion
and specifically to provide economic
empowerment for South Sudanese women so
basically the women could come to the
roots project and earn enough money to
live through the creation of their art
their traditional arts and crafts so
nearly everywhere in South Sudan there’s
a tradition of beading using beads to
create jewelry and other arts and crafts
and so the women come together and they
earn them
they creates in this art and here are
some examples and when Elizabeth first
joined the roots project she actually
had a hard time she experienced some
prejudice from some of the other women
elizabeth is from the Murli tribe and
some people believe that the Murli
people have special powers that they use
against other people in the conflict and
there are similar prejudices about other
prejudices and beliefs about other
tribes so there was a time at the roots
project where some women from equatoria
which was in the south of the country
encountered some Dinka women and the
Dinka women said to their equatorial
women we didn’t want you in this project
at the beginning because we were sure
that you were gonna poison us because
you’re women from Equatoria and the
equatorial women responded and they said
well we thought you were gonna beat us
up because you’re Dinka women now
fortunately they’d worked together
enough to realize that they could laugh
and they could overcome and let go of
these prejudices these prejudices fuel
the fighting and so very gradually these
women have learned to trust each other
and they’ve become friends and they’ve
reached a point where they can read
I defy themselves as South Sudanese
women or as mothers or as beaders before
they see themselves as coming from a
particular tribe and now these women are
actually advocates for peace because
they leave work at the roots project and
they go home to their communities and
they influence their communities away
from fighting so it’s a difficult
journey that they’ve made but gradually
as they’ve become friends they’re
starting slowly slowly to build their
own new brave hopefully peaceful world
I’ve been really encouraged and I found
hope in projects like the roots project
because as I said I’ve worked in South
Sudan for nine years and I’m really sad
to say today that all I’ve seen is an
increase in bloodshed and fighting
and these projects like the loots
project really gives space to these
women my last job when I was in South
Sudan I was part of the organization
that’s responsible for monitoring and
investigating and reporting on the peace
process I went with my team to this
village shortly after it had been burnt
down in the fighting I saw the school
ransacked
I saw the hospital the health center
destroyed and I saw what hadn’t been
looted of the food burnt this is corn we
were able to visit this village thanks
to a group of young men young men who
like many of you love their families
love their homes and I sat with these
young men in the bush as they recounted
some of the horrors that their
communities had experienced and I worry
about these young men I think about them
because I think they possibly have one
of the hardest journeys to find any kind
of peaceful future war is stark I don’t
know how this country is going to find a
way to build itself why is it always be
regular people that suffer most in a war
but so what right
it’s sad but what can you do well
actually I’d like to thank you because
you already did something you contribute
already financially the Swiss government
the UK government the US government and
many others are involved in the effort
for peace in South Sudan so a little bit
of your tax contributions makes its way
to South Sudan
similarly the United Nations the UN
peacekeeping mission in South Sudan is
the second largest UN mission in the
world and so why are we so ready to
continue to invest our resources
in a country that seems to be locked
into an ever worsening conflict well as
many reasons no the country has oil but
possibly more important is its
geopolitical relevance South Sudan is in
East Africa it borders a region of the
world that is fertile ground for violent
extremism it is in all of our interests
to make sure that that part of the world
is stable but it is an extremely
challenging endeavor to support a
country like South Sudan to navigate its
way in this space between war and peace
it’s hard peace is difficult it’s messy
it’s it’s unpredictable it’s volatile it
takes a long time it’s hard to find it’s
even harder to hold on to and why
because it’s about human beings it’s
about human beings who have been so
deeply hurt both physically and
psychologically that they have an
unimaginably difficult task to overcome
the trauma to reconcile and to find some
means of living together with their
enemy
but it’s projects like the roots project
and other homegrown initiatives that
really make the difference from my
perspective because they they create a
safe space for human beings to come
together and that’s what it’s about it’s
about humans relating to humans and
finding a way to overcome the trauma but
that is difficult and it’s messy and it
doesn’t always work the first time it’s
high-risk and that’s something that the
donors find increasingly hard to fund
and so what do we do we end up as donors
funding the safer options but the safe
things aren’t usually the things that
build a lasting peace it’s those small
micro projects that as I said bring one
human being together with another human
being
enable them to build trust and finally
after time
probably after failing a few times
they’re able to change their perspective
and finally change their behavior and
when that works it’s extremely powerful
I’ve seen it it’s so encouraging to see
how human beings can change their
perspective and eventually their
behavior and the more they succeed the
safer we all are thousands of miles away
wandering on earth our connection is
with them every time I hear about
another terrorist attack or about some
more people who have lost their lives of
those as they’ve tried to flee across
the Mediterranean Sea it becomes more
evident to me that we can no longer
ignore what’s happening over there it’s
in our interest because we have evolved
to realize what has always been the
truth we are all interconnected that a
war in the middle of the African
continent affects the peace in the
middle of the European continent so
please keep developing your humanity and
how engage more with people about these
very complex issues talk to more people
people who don’t have your same opinion
perhaps ask yourself some of the
difficult questions what went wrong with
South Sudan why didn’t this new country
of ours blossom we need to recognize
that an individual whether it’s a
civilian or a fighter who is caught up
in a conflict somewhere a long way away
requires our attention and I know
because we are all conscious caring
human beings I know that you know how
good it feels when we exercise our
compassion and our courage and our
wisdom for someone who we may never know
in the end it’s pretty simple when we
strengthen peace elsewhere we strengthen
peace right here
thank you very much
[Applause]
[Music]
how often do we create a new country
it’s a pretty rare thing to be in a
country when it’s born
the newest country in our world today is
South Sudan South Sudan is a country
that I have lived and worked in since
2008 and I’ve had the privilege of being
there when the country was born and it
was a happy day but I expect for most of
you you don’t know much about South
Sudan so briefly South Sudan gained its
independence from the Sudan in 2011 and
sadly it enjoyed a mere 18 months of a
very fragile peace before it plummeted
into its own Civil War and today despite
signed peace agreements that war
continues and there is famine in some
parts of the country now and overall it
we have one of the worst humanitarian
crises in our world today in South Sudan
and it’s all man-made but as I said you
probably haven’t given faster down that
much thought or don’t feel that strong a
connection and so I ask you to ask
yourself that very important question so
what as I talk about the country and how
it finds itself in this sensitive space
between war and peace what collection do
you have and I want to invite you also
to consider or possibly reconsider your
individual role in building a more
peaceful world but first I want to share
with you that I’m going to make an
assumption about you all I’m going to
assume that you are all conscious caring
human beings who use your compassion and
your wisdom as you go about your day is
that okay great
thank you
so let me take you back the 2011 to
Christmas 2011 do you remember where you
were remember who you were with what you
were doing well I hope like me you were
relaxing in the company of people that
you loved this is Elizabeth and I want
to share the very brief story that
Elizabeth has of Christmas Day 2011 for
her she’s from South Sudan and already
just a few months after the country is
born you begin to see how this fragile
peace is already cracking my village was
attacked on Christmas Day 2011 people
kept saying they are coming they are
coming but we remained in touch brain
then the attackers came and there was
shooting everywhere I ran with my
children both of whom were born in
Khartoum and had never experienced
anything like this who were in the bush
for 7 days without food and water one
day we came across a puddle with dirty
water and when I gave it to one of my
sons
he asked me mama what is this is it
custard I said no my son it is water
from golden drink it that is how we
survived a few months after Elizabeth
and her children suffered this horror
Elizabeth joined an initiative called
the roots project and the roots project
was set up to foster social inclusion
and specifically to provide economic
empowerment for South Sudanese women so
basically the women could come to the
roots project and earn enough money to
live through the creation of their art
their traditional arts and crafts so
nearly everywhere in South Sudan there’s
a tradition of beading using beads to
create jewelry and other arts and crafts
and so the women come together and they
earn them
they creates in this art and here are
some examples and when Elizabeth first
joined the roots project she actually
had a hard time she experienced some
prejudice from some of the other women
elizabeth is from the Murli tribe and
some people believe that the Murli
people have special powers that they use
against other people in the conflict and
there are similar prejudices about other
prejudices and beliefs about other
tribes so there was a time at the roots
project where some women from equatoria
which was in the south of the country
encountered some Dinka women and the
Dinka women said to their equatorial
women we didn’t want you in this project
at the beginning because we were sure
that you were gonna poison us because
you’re women from Equatoria and the
equatorial women responded and they said
well we thought you were gonna beat us
up because you’re Dinka women now
fortunately they’d worked together
enough to realize that they could laugh
and they could overcome and let go of
these prejudices these prejudices fuel
the fighting and so very gradually these
women have learned to trust each other
and they’ve become friends and they’ve
reached a point where they can read
I defy themselves as South Sudanese
women or as mothers or as beaders before
they see themselves as coming from a
particular tribe and now these women are
actually advocates for peace because
they leave work at the roots project and
they go home to their communities and
they influence their communities away
from fighting so it’s a difficult
journey that they’ve made but gradually
as they’ve become friends they’re
starting slowly slowly to build their
own new brave hopefully peaceful world
I’ve been really encouraged and I found
hope in projects like the roots project
because as I said I’ve worked in South
Sudan for nine years and I’m really sad
to say today that all I’ve seen is an
increase in bloodshed and fighting
and these projects like the loots
project really gives space to these
women my last job when I was in South
Sudan I was part of the organization
that’s responsible for monitoring and
investigating and reporting on the peace
process I went with my team to this
village shortly after it had been burnt
down in the fighting I saw the school
ransacked
I saw the hospital the health center
destroyed and I saw what hadn’t been
looted of the food burnt this is corn we
were able to visit this village thanks
to a group of young men young men who
like many of you love their families
love their homes and I sat with these
young men in the bush as they recounted
some of the horrors that their
communities had experienced and I worry
about these young men I think about them
because I think they possibly have one
of the hardest journeys to find any kind
of peaceful future war is stark I don’t
know how this country is going to find a
way to build itself why is it always be
regular people that suffer most in a war
but so what right
it’s sad but what can you do well
actually I’d like to thank you because
you already did something you contribute
already financially the Swiss government
the UK government the US government and
many others are involved in the effort
for peace in South Sudan so a little bit
of your tax contributions makes its way
to South Sudan
similarly the United Nations the UN
peacekeeping mission in South Sudan is
the second largest UN mission in the
world and so why are we so ready to
continue to invest our resources
in a country that seems to be locked
into an ever worsening conflict well as
many reasons no the country has oil but
possibly more important is its
geopolitical relevance South Sudan is in
East Africa it borders a region of the
world that is fertile ground for violent
extremism it is in all of our interests
to make sure that that part of the world
is stable but it is an extremely
challenging endeavor to support a
country like South Sudan to navigate its
way in this space between war and peace
it’s hard peace is difficult it’s messy
it’s it’s unpredictable it’s volatile it
takes a long time it’s hard to find it’s
even harder to hold on to and why
because it’s about human beings it’s
about human beings who have been so
deeply hurt both physically and
psychologically that they have an
unimaginably difficult task to overcome
the trauma to reconcile and to find some
means of living together with their
enemy
but it’s projects like the roots project
and other homegrown initiatives that
really make the difference from my
perspective because they they create a
safe space for human beings to come
together and that’s what it’s about it’s
about humans relating to humans and
finding a way to overcome the trauma but
that is difficult and it’s messy and it
doesn’t always work the first time it’s
high-risk and that’s something that the
donors find increasingly hard to fund
and so what do we do we end up as donors
funding the safer options but the safe
things aren’t usually the things that
build a lasting peace it’s those small
micro projects that as I said bring one
human being together with another human
being
enable them to build trust and finally
after time
probably after failing a few times
they’re able to change their perspective
and finally change their behavior and
when that works it’s extremely powerful
I’ve seen it it’s so encouraging to see
how human beings can change their
perspective and eventually their
behavior and the more they succeed the
safer we all are thousands of miles away
wandering on earth our connection is
with them every time I hear about
another terrorist attack or about some
more people who have lost their lives of
those as they’ve tried to flee across
the Mediterranean Sea it becomes more
evident to me that we can no longer
ignore what’s happening over there it’s
in our interest because we have evolved
to realize what has always been the
truth we are all interconnected that a
war in the middle of the African
continent affects the peace in the
middle of the European continent so
please keep developing your humanity and
how engage more with people about these
very complex issues talk to more people
people who don’t have your same opinion
perhaps ask yourself some of the
difficult questions what went wrong with
South Sudan why didn’t this new country
of ours blossom we need to recognize
that an individual whether it’s a
civilian or a fighter who is caught up
in a conflict somewhere a long way away
requires our attention and I know
because we are all conscious caring
human beings I know that you know how
good it feels when we exercise our
compassion and our courage and our
wisdom for someone who we may never know
in the end it’s pretty simple when we
strengthen peace elsewhere we strengthen
peace right here
thank you very much
[Applause]
[Music]
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