7/10/2011 11:40:00 PM
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Republic of South Sudan celebrates birth
Published
Church bells rang at midnight to mark the birth of the world’s newest nation – the Republic of South Sudan.
Despite the excitement of the independence celebrations and a mood of joyful expectation in its new capital – the Nile River city of Juba – the emerging country faces grim realities: It is one of the most underdeveloped countries on the planet and has only a 15-per-cent literacy rate. Most citizens live on $1 a day. Education and health facilities are sorely underdeveloped, and fears of renewed conflict abound.
The peace deal South Sudan’s independence is the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war and granted the south wide autonomy and the right to secede. North and south Sudan fought each other for all but a few years from 1955 to 2005, over ethnicity, religion, ideology and oil. South Sudan is mostly animist and Christian, culturally more akin to sub-Saharan Africa than northern Sudan, which is predominantly Muslim and dominated by Arabs. The war claimed two million lives and destabilized much of the region. Successive Khartoum governments left the region in ruins with a legacy of mutual mistrust. The 2005 peace deal guaranteed a referendum six years later, when southerners would choose whether to stay part of Sudan or break off and form their own nation. In January this year, southerners chose to secede by more than 98 per cent of the vote.
Independence Day ceremonies On Saturday at least, politics were on the backburner as Africa welcomed its 54th state, the latest since Eritrea split from Ethiopia in 1993. UN chief Ban Ki-moon was one of many foreign dignitaries including 30 African leaders who arrived Friday for Saturday’s ceremony. “The people of south Sudan have achieved their dream. The UN and the international community will continue to stand by south Sudan. I am very happy to be here,” Mr. Ban told reporters. Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, a deeply unpopular man in Juba, is also expected to attend, a gesture of pragmatism and what his office is calling a hope for brotherly relations between the north and south. Mr. al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, has pledged to accept losing half of his country’s territory, one that contains valuable oil fields. William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, led the delegation from London. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, was to represent the Obama administration. The main ceremony included military parades, prayers, raising the newly proclaimed Republic of South Sudan’s flag and the country’s first President, Salva Kiir, signing the transitional constitution.More...
Despite the excitement of the independence celebrations and a mood of joyful expectation in its new capital – the Nile River city of Juba – the emerging country faces grim realities: It is one of the most underdeveloped countries on the planet and has only a 15-per-cent literacy rate. Most citizens live on $1 a day. Education and health facilities are sorely underdeveloped, and fears of renewed conflict abound.
The peace deal South Sudan’s independence is the culmination of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war and granted the south wide autonomy and the right to secede. North and south Sudan fought each other for all but a few years from 1955 to 2005, over ethnicity, religion, ideology and oil. South Sudan is mostly animist and Christian, culturally more akin to sub-Saharan Africa than northern Sudan, which is predominantly Muslim and dominated by Arabs. The war claimed two million lives and destabilized much of the region. Successive Khartoum governments left the region in ruins with a legacy of mutual mistrust. The 2005 peace deal guaranteed a referendum six years later, when southerners would choose whether to stay part of Sudan or break off and form their own nation. In January this year, southerners chose to secede by more than 98 per cent of the vote.
Independence Day ceremonies On Saturday at least, politics were on the backburner as Africa welcomed its 54th state, the latest since Eritrea split from Ethiopia in 1993. UN chief Ban Ki-moon was one of many foreign dignitaries including 30 African leaders who arrived Friday for Saturday’s ceremony. “The people of south Sudan have achieved their dream. The UN and the international community will continue to stand by south Sudan. I am very happy to be here,” Mr. Ban told reporters. Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, a deeply unpopular man in Juba, is also expected to attend, a gesture of pragmatism and what his office is calling a hope for brotherly relations between the north and south. Mr. al-Bashir, who is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, has pledged to accept losing half of his country’s territory, one that contains valuable oil fields. William Hague, the British Foreign Secretary, led the delegation from London. Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, was to represent the Obama administration. The main ceremony included military parades, prayers, raising the newly proclaimed Republic of South Sudan’s flag and the country’s first President, Salva Kiir, signing the transitional constitution.More...
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