Since achieving independence, African nations have had a long history of civil wars that have wreaked untold havoc on the lives of Africans, destroying their economies, dissolving their political institutions, and undermining the fabric of their societies. It is generally acknowledged that peace is not just the absence of war. If the structures of peace are not well established and even strengthened, civil unrest is likely to smolder and erupt into violence again. The collapse in 1983 of the Addis Ababa accord, which ended eleven years of relative non-violence in southern Sudan, shows that peace is easily reversible if the underlying causes of the conflict are not seriously addressed. Hence, the signing of an agreement is not the beginning of peace, just a step in that direction. After the conflict has been resolved and a settlement reached, there remains the problem of building peace. If peacemakers ignore this final stage in managing conflict, there exists a very real likelihood that the settlement will collapse and violence erupt once again. With peace-building we come full circle, to the stage that preceded the outbreak of hostilities, for there is little difference between peace-building and the preventive measures that might avert violent conflict in the first place.