Ngok Dinka, Misseriya communities in Abyei sign cooperation agreement
Tuesday May 21 2024
A woman celebrates the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in Abyei region on July 22, 2009. PHOTO | REUTERS
UN peacekeepers in Abyei, a disputed region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan, reported an accord between two clashing communities to improve relations and foster peaceful farming and grazing, a UN spokesman said on Monday.
Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (Unisfa) reported back to UN headquarters that representatives of the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities signed the agreement in central Abyei at a post-migration meeting over the weekend.
"The gathering was a follow-on to the successful pre-migration conference held in Noong, which is located to the west of Abyei, in December of last year, and follows a welcome decline in clashes between the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities during the migration season," Dujarric said.
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The spokesman said more than 140 community leaders and members from both communities, including 41 women, attended the four-day conference facilitated by Unisfa with other UN and non-UN partners.
Ngok Dinka farmers primarily inhabit the southern region of Abyei.
The nomadic Misseriya pastoralists from Sudan migrate annually into and generally through the northern region of Abyei to access South Sudan's Greater Bahr el Ghazal and Unity states.
Frequent clashes have occurred between the two groups over the years.