This chapter aims at examining the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) as initiative, process, and outcome. The focus is on the question of the Nuba Mountains region, one of the three areas widely referred to as ‘contested’, ‘marginalized’, and ‘conflict’ areas, ‘transitional zones’, or ‘border territories’ in the context of the south-north socio-political dichotomy. Apart from the Nuba Mountains, the three areas include the Southern Blue Nile and Abyei.

This discussion is geared towards three major questions. To what extent has the CPA been able to address effectively the root causes of the war in the Nuba Mountains, particularly the questions of land, identity, and political destiny? What roles did the Nuba's various political and civic forces play in the peace process in the context of their peaceful and armed struggle? And how did they respond to the CPA's final outcome?

The three areas: a bone of contention

The Nigerian peace initiative under the Abuja Peace Negotiation One and Two in May–July 1992 and April–May 1993 respectively, and the regional efforts of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, IGAD, which started in March 1994 and continued until the signing of the CPA on 9 January 2005, represent the main efforts that put an end to the war.