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CODEP/Catholic Organization for Development and Peace

Yambio, South Sudan
Joined September 2017

We work in mostly western side of south sudan. We training communities and individuals on root causes of conflict, training farmers and provision of tools, construct schools and train teachers etc.

Presence in: South Sudan
Focus: Citizenship & Identification, Education, Family, Gender-based violence, Health, Livelihoods

The Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio (CDTY) is located in Western Equatoria State (WES) in South Sudan. The diocese covers 7 counties within the state including: Maridi; Ibba; Yambio; Nzara; Ezo; Tombura, and; Nagero.

The diocese comprises of 16 parishes which are grouped into the Western, Eastern and Central Deaneries. Over 1,000,000 people in the state are Catholic, which constitutes over 60% of the population. The region is very ethnically and culturally rich and diverse. The majority of the population is Azande with smaller numbers of Balanda, Baka, Mundu, Muru, Avukaya, and others.

In 1983, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) launched another armed rebellion against the Khartoum government. The SPLA/M took control of WES, including Yambio, in 1990. Much of the population including the clergy was once again forced to seek refuge in CAR and the DRC. Priests started returning to WES in 1992 and immediately began to rebuild and rehabilitate their pastoral and social programs.

On the 9th of January 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in Nairobi, Kenya. The formal end to the conflict between the SPLA/M and Khartoum Government ushered a new opportunity for the diocese to increase its activities in reconstructing its dilapidated structures and programs according to the needs of the people of WES. This has been the cause for the establishment of CODEP to address the enormous needs in the after-mass of destruction.