Peter Guzulu Maze, Chief Administrator of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), has pledged to intensify efforts to recover abducted children and women as part of a broader commitment to peace and reconciliation in South Sudan’s conflict-affected regions.
Speaking at the Inter-Communal Governance Structures (ICGS) forum held Tuesday in Juba, Guzulu emphasized that the recovery and reunification of abducted individuals, many taken from the Greater Equatoria region and Jonglei State, remains a top priority for his administration.
“As an administrative area, we are committed to recovering abducted children and reuniting them with their parents in their various states. We have been doing that,” Guzulu said.
He also noted that efforts are underway to trace and return raided cattle, another persistent source of intercommunal conflict.
The issue of abductions has long strained relations between GPAA and Jonglei State. In 2023, former Jonglei State Governor Denay Jock Chagor revealed that between 2021 and 2023, at least 266 abducted children and women had been traced and reunited with their families in Greater Jonglei.
Chagor reported that Jonglei State authorities had returned 255 abductees to GPAA, while GPAA had handed over only 11 abductees in the same period, a disparity that has fueled mistrust and calls for greater accountability.
The ICGS forum, designed to foster local peacebuilding between Jonglei and GPAA, brought together key leaders and stakeholders. Guzulu used the platform to call for collective responsibility in ending cycles of violence, including child abduction and cattle raiding.
Jonglei State’s current governor, Riek Gai Kok, echoed Guzulu’s sentiments, stressing that peace and stability are essential for national development.
“Let us be ambassadors of peace,” Kok urged participants. “We must work hand in hand to end child abduction, ambushes, and cattle raiding.”
Malual Gabriel Kon, Jonglei’s State Minister of Peacebuilding, praised the forum’s organizers and proposed the establishment of a National Youth Service program to promote unity and reduce ethnic divisions.
“We must build one national youth,” he said, advocating for long-term strategies to foster reconciliation and national identity.
As South Sudan continues to grapple with intercommunal violence, the renewed commitments made at the ICGS forum offer a glimmer of hope, anchored in accountability, cooperation, and the shared goal of protecting the country’s most vulnerable: its children and women.
