By Hassan Wekesa - Editor
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South Sudan, 5 November 2026 - Peace is returning to Tambura in Western Equatoria State, South Sudan, as women from once-dreaded neighbourhoods begin to enjoy the freedom that comes with lasting calm after years of war.
Gonina Louis, a beneficiary of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), says there was no freedom of movement during the conflict.
“We did not even speak to one another. Now, when we see each other, we hug like sisters,” said Louis, a displaced woman in Tambura. She added that something as simple as embracing a neighbour was unimaginable in the past.
Times have changed, and a community once torn apart by violence is now transforming.
For years, South Sudan has been bedevilled by ethnic tensions and communal fighting that kept families in Tambura separated by fear. Women living barely a kilometre apart did not dare visit each other’s displacement camps, worried they could be attacked or abducted.
Today, those invisible boundaries of despair are slowly disappearing, one cup of coffee at a time.
UNMISS organises coffee gatherings that give women from previously divided communities the confidence to rebuild friendships and learn to trust one another again.
Christine Dominic, another beneficiary of the peace efforts, says she and other women were frightened to cross to the other side to check on friends they had made before the fighting. Going out meant being identified and possibly abducted.
The coffee gatherings have helped change that.
“We started crossing over to the camp near the barracks, and women from that camp began visiting us too,” Christine says.
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Rebuilding trust has not been easy. Aidah Kazima, a local women’s leader, recalls how deeply suspicion had taken hold. She says that during the initial visits, women would refuse to eat because they feared being poisoned.
At Tambura Centre, determined women understand that restoring peace, talking and sharing laughter keep interactions lively and meaningful, and keep violence at bay. Bringing together representatives from different displacement camps matters most.
“We are doing this because we need peace in Tambura,” Aidah says.
“People fight, but at the same time, they can make peace.”
Njoki Rahab Kinyajui, head of the UN Peacekeeping mission’s Field Office in Yambio, the capital of Western Equatoria, says that women taking ownership of rebuilding relationships, rather than waiting for outsiders to resolve their differences, is a model of grassroots peacemaking that should be replicated.
“At UNMISS, we want to replicate the determination of these women by supporting, enabling and strengthening community-led initiatives as the driving force for sustainable peace,” she said, reaffirming the mission’s commitment to locally led reconciliation.
The courage to cross a divide has been restored, and efforts for lasting peace continue.