Since she first began working for the Rome-based Community of Sant’Egidio as an intern in 2021, Elizabeth Boyle MGA ’23 has boarded more flights to Juba, South Sudan than she has to her Long Island hometown in the United States.

As an international relations officer for Sant’Egidio, a lay Catholic organization whose diplomatic arm has laid the groundwork for multiple peace processes, Boyle has traveled to Juba 10 times to support mediation between South Sudanese government officials and armed opposition groups, A 2018 peace agreement in the country served as an attempt to end a yearslong civil war, but some groups refused to sign it and violence persists. Boyle has focused on broadening the country’s peacebuilding efforts by incorporating civil society groups into the conversation.

“South Sudan is a country that has been struggling for peace since it was founded in 2011,” Boyle said. “We set out to create a strategy that made a place for civil society in peacebuilding.”

Boyle has helped bring together groups such as the South Sudan Council of Churches, the Catholic University of South Sudan, university student organizations, artist collectives and women’s empowerment groups. She solicits their on-the-ground perspectives and incorporates them into the discussions at the mediation table. In a particularly memorable visit, she met with Pope Francis during his 2023 apostolic visit to the country.

Civil society plays a critical role in achieving sustainable peace, Boyle said.

“Often mediation is envisioned as a table with mediators and ‘elites’ in a high-level discussion,” Boyle said. “While this is of course part of the process, at the Keough School we learned that the conflicts we face today are complex and nuanced and require innovative, multifaceted responses. Engaging civil society around the table, both literally and metaphorically, is necessary to address the burgeoning complexity of conflicts.”

Supporting the mediation in South Sudan has proven to be a lengthy and complicated task, but Boyle said she has been able to catch glimpses of hope.

“As soon as you land on the tarmac in Juba you can feel the tension in the air,” she said. “It’s clear the country is still experiencing aspects of civil war. But I find a lot of hope in civil society – there’s a deep desire among the South Sudanese people to see their country flourish.”

Boyle is a two-time Notre Dame graduate, having earned an undergraduate degree in political science and peace studies in 2020. As a master of global affairs student she earned a concentration in international peace studies, taking classes with notable peace scholars such as David Cortright, Gerard Powers, Madhav Joshi, George A. Lopez, Mahan Mirza, Ann Mische and Atalia Omer, all of whom shaped her understanding of effective peacebuilding, she said.

“The intercultural setting of the MGA program was a great gift,” Boyle said, “Working on group projects and forming a tight-knit community with classmates from around the world prepared me well for working in Italy as an American woman while traveling frequently to South Sudan. Navigating cross-cultural spaces is a skill I rely on frequently.”

Boyle is the youngest and first non-Italian member of the Sant’Egidio’s International Relations Office staff (she learned to speak Italian on the job). In addition to her work in South Sudan, she supports the mediations that take place at the organization’s Rome headquarters. A longtime trusted diplomatic partner of the U.S. Department of State and several national governments, Sant’Egidio regularly hosts dignitaries from around the world. In the past two years alone the community has hosted the presidents of France, the Central African Republic, Italy, Colombia and Zimbabwe, along with Pope Francis and former U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Sant’Egidio prioritizes not only peace through diplomacy, but also communal prayer and alleviation of poverty through direct service. Boyle notes that the community often describes their three-fold mission as “the three Ps.”

Boyle said it’s a challenging time to engage in peace-focused work, but she continues to draw strength from her friendships with master of global affairs classmates, civil society groups in South Sudan and her fellow Sant’Egidio community members.

“In my travels I meet so many people who desire to have a future that is a peaceful one,” Boyle said. “It’s heartening to know that there are hundreds, thousands, of people ready to mobilize our world in that direction.”

All photos provided by Elizabeth Boyle.