What does peacemaking look like in the context of communal warfare in South Sudan?
Peace Raiders follows a South Sudanese initiative to reopen long-closed routes, rebuilding connections and strengthening relationships.
South Sudan has experienced decades of civil war and communal warfare. One of the deadliest communal conflicts concerns the Dinka, Nuer and Murle communities in Jonglei. Since the 2018 national peace agreement, fighting between these three communities has killed thousands and left communities devastated.
Peace Raiders follows a South Sudanese initiative to reopen long-closed routes, rebuilding connections and strengthening relationships. In February 2026, youth, chiefs, women leaders and local authorities set out on foot to reopen routes linking communities between Jonglei and Greater Pibor. For days they walked together across the wilderness and former conflict frontlines, with a determination that these pathways through the wilderness can be restored to their peaceful purpose.
More than a story about roads, Peace Raiders is a story about reclaiming connection. It captures a community-led effort to restore freedom of movement, revive trade and social ties, reduce cycles of retaliation, and demonstrate that coexistence is possible even in places marked by years of violence and division. Through intimate footage from the field, the documentary reveals the determination, leadership and humanity of those choosing dialogue over revenge, and cooperation over conflict.
The film is 45 minutes and will be followed by a discussion and reception.
Panel
- Øystein H. Rolandsen, PRIO
- Jana Krause, University of Oslo
- Rob Lancaster, South Sudan Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund
- David Nyuol Vincent, South Sudan Peacebuilding Opportunities Fund
- The event will be rounded off by an informal reception.
This event is supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme through the project ‘ResilienceBuilding: Social Resilience, Gendered Dynamics, and Local Peace in Protracted Conflicts’, hosted at the University of Oslo.
