Overloaded? Hope and Scepticism around the Tumaini Peace Initiative for South Sudan

On 10 May 2024, the Tumaini (‘hope’ in Swahili) Peace Initiative for South Sudan was launched in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. The initiative seeks a final peace settlement by including the holdout groups that have not signed the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). The launch was a high-powered event graced by six heads of state and well-attended by high-ranking officials and diplomats from across the world, witnessing the declared attempt to settle the history of armed conflicts in South Sudan once and for all. After some days of formal talks, on 16 May 2024, the participants signed a commitment document, stating their willingness to remain engaged in the talks and to renounce violence. Whilst optimists describe the initiative as a renewed hope and confirmation in commitment to the document, others are sceptical of the initiative’s ability to significantly change the landscape of localised violence in South Sudan.