Latest Update from Concordis (April 2026)
| At the end of a week which saw the third anniversary of the outbreak of war in Sudan, I am writing to ask you to support our efforts to build peace. How does a small peacebuilding charity make a difference in a horrendously entrenched war? By staying at our post, throughout the war. By gaining a reputation for being trustworthy and effective. And making life tangibly better for those we’re here to serve. Despite the brutality of the fighting, the Concordis’ staff team and our network of 325 local peacebuilders continue to prevent local conflicts from escalating. Our work enables food to be grown, harvested and transported safely to market, so people do not starve. We help Sudanese people find greater resilience to life’s challenges, in the face of a relentless war. I was in a meeting this week with Yvette Cooper, British Foreign Secretary. She said, “It increases our faith in the best of humanity, when we see how people respond to the worst of humanity.” This is our experience too. Since the start of the war, this is what we see happening on the ground: 1. Ethnic tensions that have existed for years are being weaponised. Local conflicts are provoked for military and political gain, to create more unrest.  But Concordis’ network of community peacebuilders intervenes fast when conflict arises, preventing violence between different groups from escalating. Read more, click here. 2. Hunger is being used as a weapon of war, in an attempt to starve people into submission.  Concordis’ peacebuilders negotiate practical and sustainable local peace agreements. Communities agree who can plant crops in each place, where cattle can find grazing, and how harvests can be taken peacefully to market. It means people have access to affordable food in the places we work. Read more, click here. 3. Roads are blocked and markets are targeted by bombs and armed groups, threatening livelihoods and the availability of food for families.  Concordis’ staff are successfully negotiating the reopening of roads to transport food. These agreements have strict conditions to prevent movement of armed groups along the same roads. We’ve seen markets reopen after episodes of violence, but it doesn’t stop there. We support and train peace committees and chambers of commerce, made up of people from all sides of the conflict. They take responsibility for security in the market and manage intercommunity tensions before they escalate. By keeping markets open, relatively safe and stocked with food for trade between the different communities, we are supporting the long and difficult process of restoring mutual trust and cooperation. Read more, click here. This work is so important. The war has been devastating, but it could have been so much worse. It is not overstating the case to say peacebuilding is preventing violence from escalating to genocide, and the weaponizing of hunger from becoming widespread famine. Thank you for standing with us in remembering the people of Sudan. The end of this war may still be a fair way off, but there’s even more we can do, and indeed have been invited to do. Could you help us respond to these needs, by making a donation to Concordis today? To give your support to this essential work, please click here. Thank you. |
| PS. Click here to listen to one of our most passionate peacebuilders: Timea Szarkova, Concordis Country Manager for Chad and Cameroon, chats to me about women’s role in peacebuilding and the complexities behind real, lasting peace. |
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St John’s Church supports Concordis in prayer and practical ways. If you would like to support them financially you can find details here: https://concordis.international/support-us-page
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