This article explores how the humanitarian presence and programs in the disputed border area of Abyei between Sudan and South Sudan can be understood as a buffer between conflicting parties, rather than as mere assistance to a displaced population. It aims to contribute to debates about the spatial impact of humanitarian governance and the politicization of aid in protracted crisis contexts, and specifically in relation to territorial disputes and border struggles. It is based on…
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CSRF Research Repository
The CSRF Research Repository aims to support greater contextual knowledge for policy makers, programme managers, and implementers by providing a searchable repository of research, analysis, and resources, and providing periodic updates on new research and analysis.
The Abyei Administrative Area (AAA) is a contested zone located on the central border between South Sudan and Sudan. Its status has remained unresolved since South Sudan seceded from Sudan in 2011, and the governments failed to agree on the border division. The AAA represents a grazing hub in which both the Dinka Ngok (affiliated with South Sudan) and the Missiriya (affiliated with Sudan) tribal communities interact, sharing natural resources such as grazing land, pastureland…
This briefing provides an update of the situation in the Abyei region. Download
This report focuses on recent developments in the border zone of Sudan and South Sudan. Download
The question of the future status of Abyei remains a deeply contested issue between Sudan and the independent South Sudan. The connection between the political violence in Abyei and eruption of the two civil wars in Sudan is sparsely documented, but this history reveals the character of the Abyei problem. This article provides an analysis of the role of political violence in the emergence of the dispute around the status of Abyei. It charts the…
This report analyses the conflict dynamics in the wider border area between Sudan and South Sudan. The analysis specifically looks into the motivations and interests of the parties involved in the interstate, intrastate and local conflicts. The main questions this report will cover are: Where are conflict parties focussing their efforts? Which strategic interests do they prioritise and ignore? What do they want to achieve? And do their actions correspond to their rhetoric? Download
This review (2013) discusses the current and past status of the disputed Abyei region.
This paper explores how the emergence of a national border has affected the communities in the region, based on five case studies primarily through the lens of the 2011-2012 grazing season, the first since South Sudan’s independence. Download
Abyei was one of the most contested areas of Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of January 2005. Drawing on direct experience, the article examines the agreement and the experience of trying to support its implementation. It analyses the relationship between this and the overall problems of the CPA, and of peacekeeping in the newly independent South Sudan. Drawing on relevant literature, it examines the wider issues for the negotiation of peace agreements; for UN mandates,…
This report aims to document the process of nomadic pastoralism across the Sudan-South Sudan border through the dry season 2011-2012 and identify some key factors that affected the nature of this migration. Download
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