Three UN agencies in South Sudan have commissioned a two-year peace-building project in Western Bahr el Ghazal State on Friday.

The scheme was launched in Wau under the theme, “Community Action for Peaceful Resolution of Housing, Land and Property Disputes and Conflicts.”

The event was launched by the International Organization for Migration, Food and Agriculture Organization and the UN Mission in South Sudan.

The project is based on the rationale that housing, land and property disputes reflect deep-rooted challenges regarding local governance and rule of law, which ultimately may cause tensions between individuals and communities.

It seeks to enhance the capacities of both duty bearers and formal governance systems to provide consistent and reliable public service in accordance with the Land and Local Government Acts.

Mr. Benjamin Moore, the Program Coordinator, said the project will also promote alternative dispute resolution mechanisms through peacebuilding efforts that engage stakeholders on housing, land and property ownership.

“Housing, land and property against the concept of movement of people, returns of populations, against the concept of the peace agreement where elections are anticipated have huge consequences for whether people make the decisions to return.”

“If rights and their property, housing and land are not secured, where do they go?” Mr. Moore asked.

For her part, Western Bahr el Ghazal State Governor Sarah Cleto said the new project will help the state government in mitigating cases related to land disputes.

 “We are grateful to this peacebuilding fund that came to support the program, we know land ownership is one of the drivers of conflict in the whole of South Sudan that require proper guarding, we need better governance and it is this program that is going to support us to that level,” she stated.

Sarah Cleto also called for the immediate implementation of the project by the technical committee in the State Ministry of Housing and Land.

Since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the 2011 independence of South Sudan, land disputes have been a dominant concern of many South Sudanese.