Lessons lost in separation: North and South Sudan--What happened to religious coexistence and the principles of global peace?

South Sudanese, in January 2011, voted overwhelmingly to secede from the north, effectively splitting the largest country in Africa in two. The divide is largely, but not solely, between the mostly Christian South with the mostly Muslim and Arab North.

They did so with patience, humility, and to date, without the outbreak of widespread violence. It was a civil election, voting for the respect of their country. When the pronouncement of a new country is disseminated it will change the country irreversibly.

The lessons learned in aspiring for democracy, optimism, independence and freedom have, it appears, overlooked two of the fundamental factors that could have established a model for a united Sudan: religious tolerance and religious coexistence.

A condition of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005 was for both Parties to work toward making unity of Sudan attractive.

When I interviewed northern (Khartoum) government representatives in 2006 and 2009—the Government of Sudan (GOS)—they acknowledged that they would need to have incentives in place to ensure a united Sudan. These incentives included government support, particularly through funds to assist the emerging government ministries in the South. However, GOS found it difficult to articulate other incentives at the time—they did not have an adequate plan from the outset, or at any time during the six years from the signing of the CPA to the referendum, for secession or unity. And over time, there was very little to give hope to the southern Sudanese that life would be improved under a united Sudan—there was not much that they could find “attractive” in unity.

As I wrote in my blog on January 6, 2011, enduring peace and common prosperity will be the defining features of both the north and the south as they uphold the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, abide by international and universal human rights and international relations, and embrace the spirit of democracy. Mutual respect, equality, dialogue, and cooperation with trust will be required to meet common regional and global challenges.

Is it too late for these common regional challenges to include religious tolerance and religious coexistence? For the past 20 years, many northerners have lived in the south and many southerners have lived in the north. During the referendum in January, many have returned to their original home, but there will be southerners in North Sudan that do not want to, or are unable to return to the South, and likewise, there will be northerners in South Sudan who choose to remain.

Is religious coexistence—or, indeed, racial, social, cultural, or ideological, coexistence—an ideal to be aspired to, or is it merely a myth? The challenge is that there needs to be a “willingness” to live in peace and harmony, with mutual respect and trust.

An international conference on Interfaith Dialogue for Global Peace at the Peace Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, unanimously passed a resolution entitled "Brussels Peace Declaration on Religious Coexistence" on December 1, 2007. It was a global attempt to combat extremism, intolerance, hatred, and violence in the name of religion. The conference was organized by the Universal Peace Federation-Belgium and the Institute of Peace and Development, a European think tank.

All religions, all over the world, promote peace, harmony, love, tolerance, and compassion. The problem, it appears, is that all too often governments and individuals find it difficult to put philosophies and principles into practice in their everyday lives.

The hope is that the secession of North and South Sudan does not magnify religious and ideological differences, but promotes their similarities and practices a peaceful coexistence between people of all races, religions, faiths, beliefs and cultures.

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Brussels Declaration of Religious Coexistence

Brussels, Belgium December 1, 2007

We, the representatives of different faiths, communities and cultures, participating in an international conference on interfaith dialogue towards global peace, organized in Brussels on 1st December 2007 by two sister organizations, Universal Peace Federation (UPF) and Institute of Peace and Development (INSPAD) Belgium, have stressed the promotion of interfaith dialogue for peaceful religious co-existence, cultural harmony and understanding. We have noted that the multicultural society in Europe has become an example for the world to follow.

• The participants of the conference stressed the role civil societies play in creating social awareness about inter-religious harmony, human rights and respect of law, as well as the role of religious and spiritual educational institutions in promoting tolerance, mutual respect and human rights as human rights are part of all religions and civilization.

• The conference called for strengthening communication between the representatives of religions, faiths and European intergovernmental and nongovernmental institutions.

• The conference urged the media and intellectuals to focus on principles that enhance values, equality, tolerance and acceptance of others after having thoroughly examined and discussed the common values of the various faiths and religions as well as barriers to building interfaith harmony within the international community and people. We declare our profound conviction that:

• The various faiths and religions in European countries advocate peace, compassion, and tolerance among mankind.

• The promotion of human rights and fundamental freedom, including the right of individuals to choose religion or faith, can contribute to upholding respect for the diversity of faiths and religions, which is essential in combating extremism, intolerance, hatred and violence.

• It is more important for people of different religions and faiths to stand united and make clear that they will not allow the use of violence to divide them. We must all speak up against those who use religion to rationalize terrorism and murder.

• Promoting and protecting peace, justice, human dignity, equality, equity, genuine brotherhood, tolerance and friendly interaction among cultures and religions needs to be cultivated and nurtured to help create an environment conducive to building peace and harmony within communities and people.

Dr. Martina Nicolls is the author of The Sudan Curse (2009) and Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010).