Since his election in 2012, peace in the Casamance region has been a top priority for Sall. The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) have been pursuing the cause of separatism for Casamance, a small region in the south of the country dominated by Christians from the minority Jola ethnic group, since the 1970s. On 1 May 2014, one of the leaders of the MFDC, Salif Sadio, sued for peace and declared a unilateral cease-fire after secret talks held at the Vatican between his forces and Sall.