Resilience and Adaptive Leadership for the New South Sudan

• In Event: Engaging and Developing Youth Leaders Through Hands-On and Service Based Learning

Short Description

Case studies of five South Sudanese Master in Leadership students displaced to Kenya by the ongoing violence of failed government explore themes of resilience and adaptive leadership. Through coursework and interactions, they have been strategizing and implementing plans for bridging ethnic and political divides, developing leaders and promoting development.

Detailed Abstract

As the newest nation on earth, the 54th in Africa, South Sudan received independence July 9, 2011. Hopes soared and optimism ruled, after the longest running civil war in Africa spanning over 40 years. Fighting over power, religion, ethnicity, resources, land and oil, over 2 million people had died and 4 million were displaced during the portion of conflict between 1983 to 2005 alone. A peace accord signed in 2005 brought a semblance of stability, leading up to independence six years later. Many of those externally displaced returned home, eager to build their new nation.

Tragically, the fragile country erupted once again in December 2013, with unthinkable violence resulting from the inability of the new President and Vice President to work together towards uniting their peoples and building the new nation. Representing the two largest ethnic groups, Dinka and Nuer, the two top leaders have been in a stand-off, causing massive fighting and displacement of thousands, many spilling over into the six surrounding nations. East African leaders have helped to mediate a ceasefire, with a peace agreement signed in August 2015, but the transitional government has been slow to come together, and instability and fighting has continued. According to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), as of its report of May 2016, along with over four million South Sudanese facing severe food insecurity, and more than two million displaced, widespread evidenced human rights abuses were being committed by both government and opposition forces.

As one of South Sudan’s neighbors, Kenya has absorbed close to 90,000 South Sudanese refugees (UNHCR fact sheet), primarily in the two main refugee camps in the north and east, but a guestimate suggests that up to 10% have bypassed the camps and have settled in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. At one university in Nairobi, the largest number of international students in 2016 were from South Sudan, as displaced refugees have chosen to make the most of their time in limbo by enrolling in undergraduate and masters programs. Each of them has openly discussed their yearnings to return home, and talk regularly of plans for when they return, how they will invest in and build their nation.

This paper presents case studies of five young South Sudanese leaders, displaced to Nairobi Kenya, who are studying in or who have just completed their studies in the Master of Arts in Leadership Studies program at International Leadership University. As ones who are educated, they are poised to step into leadership roles in both government and private sectors back in their homeland. As they have gone through classes and worked on assignments, they have been strategizing and implementing plans for change, plotting means for bridging ethnic and political divides, and achieving small wins in the midst of the extreme turbulence and displacement. Some have managed to travel back and forth between Kenya and South Sudan, keeping in touch with realities on the ground, and laying the groundwork for their proposals. Representing both major ethnic groups, the five students express themes of resilience and hope despite overwhelming trauma, discord and displacement. Several have already set in motion specific plans for their part in turning the tide towards peace and investment towards a better future.

As classmates in courses such as Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation Processes, Leading Change, and Strategic Leadership Development, dreams and strategies have been birthed, molded, and early stages of implementation have evolved, both among the Sudanese communities in Nairobi, and back home in their country. Of the five, there are four men and one woman, three Dinka and two Nuer, from different regions of South Sudan. One was one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, adopted by American parents, who has returned to Africa to pursue Masters studies, in preparation to return to his home country of South Sudan. After several visits to South Sudan over the last two years, he has reconnected with relatives, and is working to develop mentoring networks and strategies for leadership development especially among the youth. The second graduated three years ago. A pastor from northern South Sudan, he graduated, returned home, and founded an NGO (non-governmental organization) called Community Agri-Business Development Agency (CADA), targeting six aspects of community development. Since he returned to his country, he has experienced being kidnapped by government forces, then rescued, being the sole survivor in a building attacked during the December 2013 crisis, and is now working directly with the UN to provide food security, conflict reduction, child protection, health and sanitation in South Sudan. The third was formerly a member of the SPLA (Sudanese People’s Liberation Army) forces, serving closely with the late John Garang as a body guard. In the December 2013 violence, he was shot twice but survived. Now in Nairobi, while still in the midst of his studies he has formed, registered and launched a not-for-profit organization called “South Sudan Peace Initiative”, focusing on building reconciliation across the ethnic divides. Already the group has held a city-wide commemoration of the 2013 massacre, and is promoting peace and leadership development among those currently in Kenya. The fourth was an officer in the military in South Sudan, now in Nairobi with his own seven children and additional orphans for whom he is providing care and education. He has returned to South Sudan as often as he is able during his studies, surveying the situation, checking in on relatives and rescuing more children of relatives who have died in the conflict. The fifth is a mother of five, two of whom have been born during her studies, who is already being recruited to serve in the new government. Though in the MA Leadership Studies program, she is also taking as many of the Masters in Governance courses offered at the university as she can in preparation for her return.

The paper will explore resilient and adaptive leadership in response to extreme national and political turbulence, as demonstrated by these five South Sudanese Masters students.

Participant

• Marta D. Bennett, International Leadership University