Assefa Nurtures Cease-Fire in Uganda

Lt. General Dr. Riek Machar, vice president of the government of Southern Sudan and chairman and chief mediator of the peace talks, working with Hizkias Assefa Lt. General Dr. Riek Machar (l.), vice president of the government of Southern Sudan and chairman and chief mediator of the peace talks, working with Hizkias Assefa, chief facilitator of the mediation process and coordinator of the International Resource Team.

A long-time professor at Eastern Mennonite University played a key role in the recent cease-fire negotiated in one of the most deadly war zones in the world – northern Uganda, which borders with Southern Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Hizkias Assefa, who has taught at EMU’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute (SPI) for the last 11 years, co-mediated the sensitive peace talks, working in tandem with the vice president of Southern Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar.

In this region, more than 100,000 people have been killed and two million displaced over the last 20 years, currently described as the globe