Sudan and South Sudan
Current Situation
| • |
2011 Global Peace Index ranking of 153 countries: 151 |
| • |
Over 4.2 million internally displaced people |
| • |
51 per cent of the population of South Sudan lives below the poverty line |
| • |
250 million m2 of suspected and confirmed minefields in South Sudan |
After peaceful, free and fair voting in a referendum on self-determination in January 2011, in which southerners voted overwhelmingly (99 per cent of the total votes) for independence from the north, the new Africa nation of South Sudan was born on July 9.
However, both the lead-up to the declaration of independence and its aftermath have been marred by bloodshed and violence. Bitter fighting in the Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile sparked fears of a return to civil war and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
South Sudan is born into trying circumstances. As one of the world’s least developed countries, it has the worst maternal mortality rate and an illiteracy rate among women of 84 per cent.
Act for Peace in Sudan
Throughout the civil war that raged in Sudan on and off for over 40 years, the Sudanese churches, both in the north and south, were the main institutions for support to the people in providing relief aid and social services, with the support of Act for Peace and other ecumenical agencies. Our ecumenical partner, the Sudan Council of Churches, continues to pursue peace in areas of continuing conflict with through a people-to-people peace-making project.
Since the ceasefire, our disarmament partner, the Mines Advisory Group, has played an important role in achieving vital progress in mine action. All mine action in South Sudan has seen more than 36,000 kilometres of roads cleared and declared open, and 55 million m2 of land cleared and released back to communities for productive use.
Act for Peace also assists our partners in Darfur who provide protection and assistance to people living in camps displaced by the conflict. Every year, approximately 500,000 people experience an improved quality of life due to the services supported by our project partners. This program includes:
| • |
primary health care; |
| • |
nutrition education, hygiene promotion and other preventative healthcare sessions; |
| • |
access to water and improved sanitation quality for around 300,000 people; |
| • |
training for women, sheiks and government officials on peace-building, human rights and children’s rights; |
| • |
building and restoring schools; and |
| • |
providing seeds, tools and training for farming. |
Click here to read about how monthly giving by Act for Peace Partners helped encourage people in South Sudan to participate in the January 2011 referendum on secession from the north, and here to read about peace building programs in Sudan.
|
can provide trauma counseling for victims of conflict |
|
can allow a survivor of the Sudanese conflict to learn valuable skills through a Peace Building and Conflict Transformation workshop in Bahr el Ghazal |
|
can provide refuge resettlement kits containing food, medicine, clothing and school supplies for refugees in Darfur |
