The Abyei region of Sudan [1] is a highly-contested, oil-rich area located between North and South Sudan. The Abyei Protocol, an important provision of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the 21 year civil war in Sudan, would enable the people of the region to decide whether to become part of the North or part of the South. Unfortunately, the CPA is on the brink of failure, in large part due to Khartoum's failure to implement the Abyei  Protocol.

In an ENOUGH [2] report released yesterday, "Sounding the Alarm on Abyei," author Roger Winter argues that "the current situation in Abyei is simply untenable. There are too many men with guns and grudges in a very tense atmosphere, egged on by a deceptive NCP."  Winter, a former State Department Special Representative for Sudan and a member of the U.S. team that helped negotiate the CPA, highlights the deteriorating situation in the region and the need for urgent diplomacy to avoid a military confrontation.

Click here [3] to read the report.

Click here [4] to download our 1-pager on Abyei.

~Jessica Anderson, Membership Associate