16
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past
Struggles and Current Challenges
Caio César Paccola Jacon
Leticia Raymundo Tavares
Marcela Perillo Ferreira
Rodrigo Santiago Juaçaba
1. Introduction1
Before South Sudan’s secession, Sudan agglomerated within its territory over five hundred ethnic groups and more than a hundred
languages. However, since its independence in January 1, 1956, the
country’s administrators have sought to use Arabization2 and Islamization3 as ways of uniting Sudan under one religion and one
culture. Other ethnic and religious groups in Sudan, especially
those from the south, thus, have opposed such policies and several
conflicts have emerged as a result of impasses among the Khartoum government – governed by Arabic-speaking Muslims – and
minority groups (ADAR, 2001, p. 100).
According to Adar (2001, p. 81),
[w]hereas conflict in Sudan has acquired a multidimensional character over the years, the main belligerents have been the Arab-speaking
Muslims of the north and the southern black Sudanese. At the core
of the civil war are the inherently exclusive ethno-religious-centred
1
We are deeply grateful for the advices given by Prof. Wolfgang Döpcke, from the History
Department of UnB, during the revision of this article.
2
“Process of the integration and assimilation of individuals into the cultural values and
beliefs of Muslims and Arabs in particular” (ADAR, 2001, p. 83).
3
There are two contrasting thesis concerning the meaning of Islamization. On the one
hand, the traditionalist one addresses Islamization as the process of reintroduction of
past Islamic institutions and traditional law, concerning especially punishment. On the
other hand, the reformers (neo-traditionalists) see Islamization as a dynamic process
which encompasses both Islamic Tradition and foreign sources not contradictory to Islam (ADAR, 2001, p. 83-84).
495
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
policies, namely Islamisation and Arabisation pursued in various
ways in successive Sudanese administrations since the 1950s.
496
Taking that into account, one may infer that such policies represented the very obstacles standing in the way of establishing a Sudanese national identity, as the Southerners’ religious practices and
language were derogated by the Arabic-speaking Muslims – who
have been in control of the Khartoum government since Sudan’s
independence (ADAR, 2001, p.81). The construction of a Sudanese
national identity was made impossible by the referred policies
(ADAR, 2001, p. 105) and secession was the only solution found to
the north-south conflicts; thus on July 9, 2011 South Sudan seceded
from Sudan. Although conflicts in Sudan are still current, this article turns its attention to the obstacles and challenges South Sudan
will have to face and overcome through nation-building policies
in order to consolidate itself as a country. This raises the question
which should guide the development of this paper: is South Sudan
capable of facing its historical structural problems and those ahead
of its path and become a stable developing country?
In the course of this article, other parallel questions should
find answers. What reasons made the southern region of Sudan
demand independence and what was the process through which it
was acquired? Why was South Sudan different from Sudan? Is there
a monolithic South Sudanese nationality? What are the concrete
challenges and obstacles ahead of South Sudan? How are international entities acting to help consolidate South Sudan?
By the end of the article, readers should be able to answer these
questions and think critically about the issues facing South Sudan.
As they do so, the need for respect among people should appear
clear and the urge for consolidating trust among countries – a good
all countries cannot forgo – would be compelling.
2. Brief History of Sudan
2.1. Roots of the rivalries and the Sudanese
Civil War between North and South
North Africa has been under a process of Islamization since the 8th
century due to the process of Arab expansion, and despite being
well successful in Northern Sudan, this process encountered some
difficulties reaching the South – not only due to the region’s geography, but also due to the resistance of animist tribes in this area
to conversion (SHARKEY, 2008). However, these geographic characteristics helped to contain the Islamization process in the North
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
region of the country until the 19th century, but by the first half of
the 19th century the Sudanese government started a series of campaigns to take control of the south of the country by a process of
Islamic imposition. Furthermore, the existence of ethnic boundaries became clearer with the uneven economic development among
the regions of Sudan. The north of the country benefited from large
irrigation systems for cotton plantation – for the British textile factories – and the south was considered as having nothing worthy of
investment (AHMAD, 2010, p.4). Besides, the periphery’s relationship with the central government has been characterized by slave
trade, exploitation and marginalization (AHMAD, 2010, p.3).
During the late Turkish-Egyptian period of government (18211883) and through the administration of the Mahdist state (18831898) companies of ivory and slave-trading were established
(JOHNSON, 2007, p.3). Egypt4 was one of the countries that benefited the most from the slave trade (SIKAINGA, 1996, p.7).
From 1870 on, humanitarian pressures started to be made on
the Turkish-Egyptian regime in order to end the slave trade. The
process dragged on for some time – being important to notice the
Anglo-Egyptian Anti-Slavery Convention in 1877 – and was only
completed in the last decades of the nineteenth century (SIKAINGA, 1996, p.14). The end of slave traffic led Sudan into a state of
economic crisis, since the activity was the country’s main income
source, and this crisis led the government to raise taxes – which was
one of the causes of the insurrection of 1885 (QUEIROZ et al., 2011,
p. 309). Mahdi, the leader of this insurgency, ineffectively tried to
integrate the Sudanese regions through the imposition of the Islamic Legal System – the al-Sharia; however this decision failed to
achieve the expected success in Sudan and only worsened the division between North and South (QUEIROZ et al., 2011, p. 309).
With the Egyptian-British invasion in 1898, the Anglo-Egyptian
condominium took place, in which Britain and Egypt shared sovereignty on Sudan after the collapse of the Mahdist State in 1899 (COLLINS, 2008, p.33). This hybrid solution defended “British imperial
interests at Cairo and Suez by securing the upper Nile waters” and
also recovered to British control “the former Sudanese provinces
belonging to the Khedive of Egypt” (COLLINS, 2008, p. 33). British
rule, then, encouraged the arrival of Christian missionaries to the
4
“In the eighteenth century, Dar Fur became Egypt’s major trading partner and slave
supplier. (…) Slaves were carried off by the jallaba (travelling merchants) (…). They were
sent to Egypt through the desert routes and to the Middle East through the Red Sea”
(SIKAINGA, 1996, p.9).
497
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
498
south and the expansion of Islamic culture was barred. Christian
missionaries were encouraged to “convert the southern Sudanese
from their traditional religions to Christianity, teach them English,
discourage the use of Arabic, and even prohibit the wearing of Arab
clothing” (COLLINS, 2008, p.35). The educational monopoly held
by these missionaries did not encourage the southerners participation in the politics of Sudan, contrarily to what happened in the
north, where the elites engaged in maneuvers to defend the independence of the country (COLLINS, 2005, p. 269).
The discrepancy remained even more pronounced because of
the ways the two regions were governed. Besides, the British inability to deal with this situation contributed to the emergence in the
South of the “Southern Policy”, in which military officers refused to
learn Arabic, preferring to speak the local African languages, and
ruled their provinces by the prestige of power and persuasion (COLLINS, 2008, p.36). In this context of decentralization, the southern
provinces developed autonomy in relation to Khartoum. Therefore,
this parallel southern government could be characterized by “individual initiative, isolation, and ad hoc administrative decisions
[which] represented more a muddle than any coordinated and consistent policy” (COLLINS, 2008, p. 36).
Despite the nationalist movement that emerged in 1930s, the Sudanese independence occurred only in 1956 (COLLINS, 2008, p.45).
The State-promoted policy of Arabization began in the 1950s, when
the northern nationalists formulated plans to introduce Arabic in
schools in the south, but the existence of some British policies that
protected the southern Sudanese prevented this arbitrary action from
taking place. The process of Sudanization5 contributed to increase in
the south the perception of injustice and inequality the Southerners
were under, and fueled the uprising that began a few months before
the declaration of independence. This uprising happened in the form
of a rebellion of Southern Corps of Sudan’s Defense Force – a process
initiated in August 15, 1955 in the city of Torit (AHMAD, 2010, p.4).
The conflicts that followed represented the beginning of the
first Sudanese Civil War which would end only seventeen years
later. As Sudan became independent in 1956, Arabic became the
official language and Islam, the state religion (SHARKEY, 2007,
p.34). The Condominium ended and a parliamentary board took
office, but this political maneuver quickly went wrong as in 1958
Major-General Ibrahim ‘Abboud took over as new Prime-Minister.
“‘Abboud’s regime was more concerned in making the country governable than introducing any radical economic and social changes”
(COLLINS, 2008, p.73).
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
In 1959, Sudan nationalized the Southern mission schools. This
nationalization came as a governmental policy to implement Arabic as the official language, and to construct mosques and Koranic
schools6. These actions, which sought the integration of the country, thus, tried to impose Arabization and Islamization over the entire Sudan. The first participation of the separatist group Anya-Nya
happened as a rebellion in the South in 1963 and led to constant
ill-coordinated attacks from this group. The popular insurgency of
the year 1964, popularly known as the “October Revolution”, also
demonstrated how unhappy the southern Sudanese people were.
Students clashed with the police in Khartoum and a student died.
Several other clashes erupted in other cities and General ‘Abboud
was forced to resign. In the same year southerners protesters began looting Arabs as a reaction to the death of the Interior Minister
Clement Mboro; such looting became known as “Black Sunday”. After this series of riots the northern Sudanese could no longer ignore
the terrible situation of the populations in the south of the country
(COLLINS, 2008, p.84). Nevertheless, many governments kept ‘Abboud’s unsuccessful policies of Islamization and Arabization until
the signature of the Addis Ababa Agreement, in 1972.
This agreement granted autonomy to the South of Sudan recognizing a Regional Self-Government to the region, with a legislative body (Regional People’s Assembly) and an executive in charge
of public affairs and administration (High Executive Council). The
agreement also accepted English as the “main language of the
Southern Region” and decided that the number of soldiers and officers in the Sudanese army would be proportional to the population
of each region (THE AGREEMENT ADDIS ABABA, 1972, p.2).
2.2. Attempts at peace and the struggle for autonomy
The Agreement’s initial success did not last long, especially because of
the discovery of oil reserves in the South. The Khartoum government
proposed to build a pipeline to explore southern oil which would go
“through East Africa and Southern Sudan to Mombasa” (COLLINS,
2008, p.123). Waves of protest took the streets of southern Sudan and
were widely reported by American media. However, since the 1970’s
investments were concentrated in specific regions of Sudan, leaving
5
“In the South, ‘Sudanization’ was thus tantamount to ‘Northernization’” (AFRICA WATCH, 1990, p.13).
6
Poggo (2002) defends that this initiative happened because of the government’s suspicion about “the activities of the Catholic Church in particular, which it believed was sowing the seeds of discord among the people of the South ” (POGGO, 2002, p.73).
499
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
the periphery even more isolated. Besides, there was an increase in
Numayri’s7 personal power causing the emergence of a non-democratic and authoritarian government (COLLINS, 2008, p.131).
The South depended hugely on the government economically,
but since the government was focused on improving the golden triangle8, the South failed to develop its economy (COLLINS, 2008). In
1983, Numayri resumed the autonomous Southern Sudanese government and limited the South’s political power by dividing the region into three autonomous zones of government – Bahr al-Ghazal,
Equatoria and Upper Nile – with three different capitals – Wau,
Juba and Malakal (COLLINS, 2008, p. 137).
Collins (2008, p.138) emphasizes the difficulties of this process, stating:
500
The central issue of modern Sudan has been the Sudanese quest for
identity whereby African indigenous cultures can peacefully co-exist
with an imported Arab culture in a Sudan dominated by neither. For
a few short years the Addis Ababa Agreement had resolved this dilemma. Ja’afar Numayri, in his quest for autocracy and Arab domination, destroyed that vision, leaving a disembodied legacy of cultural
warfare and devastating violence that has cursed Sudan to this day.
The sum of all these events revitalized old hostilities and culminated in military mutinies over Sudan. The Second Civil War had, then,
begun. Alongside, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army
(SPLM/A), led by Col. John Garang, emerged in 1983 with a manifesto that diverged from those of other existing groups because of
their preoccupation not only with the southern problems, but with
the whole situation of Sudan (AHMAD, 2010, p.6). Besides, the
SPLM/A was founded as a political movement with a military wing,
the Sudanese People Liberation Army (SPLA).
As indicated by Suliman (1997, p. 13), in addition to the political
crisis an economic collapse which destroyed the rest of the government’s support, the policies required by the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) to reduce the Sudanese financial deficit – thus aggravating the crisis –, and the drop in the country’s exports resulted in
a famine process in 1984-1985. Therefore, a third joint parliamentary took power in 1985. However, as it was incapable of bringing
stability to the country, in 1989, General Omar al-Bashir took over
the government in a coup led by the National Salvation Revolution
(BÖLL STIFTUNG, 2010, p.118). That year, in Bergen, Norway, the
Bergen Forum took place and a series of meetings were held so
that major political actors would attempt to deal with the crisis. For
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
the same purposes, there was also the Ambo meeting between the
SPLA/M and representatives of northern political parties and civilian organizations (AHMAD, 2010, p.13).
Also according to Ahmad (2010, p.13), after the 1990s, the effects of prolonged war led the government of Khartoum and the
SPLM/A to rounds of negotiations that began with the Abuja meetings, in the early 1990’s, and culminated in the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement of 2005. International pressure, especially with
the announcement of the massacre in Darfur9, was crucial to accelerate the process of negotiations.
2.3. The 2005 peace agreement and the
referendum that created South Sudan
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), also known as the
Naivasha Agreement, was signed on January 9, 2005 in a grand celebration in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. The agreement was signed
by John Garang, chairman of the SPLM/A and the Sudan’s First VicePresident ‘Ali ‘Uthman Muhammad Taha and arose due to a situation
of international pressure created by the genocide in Darfur and the
country’s twenty-two years of civil war. The IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Declaration of 1994 and the Machakos Protocol in 2002 were the backbone of the CPA. “The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) aimed at identifying the root causes
of the political conflict, eliminating historical injustices and avoiding
the losses of the wars and destruction” (AHMAD, 2010, p.7).
The CPA was a complex document. It dealt with security, distribution of power and wealth issues and ended almost 40 years of
civil war between northern and southern Sudan. Thereby, security
was regarded by the CPA as the most important issue to be dealt
with, and it should be established through the maintenance of
armed forces separating North and South of Sudan and the withdrawal of northern troops from southern lands. The SPLA, on the
other hand, would withdraw from the North within eight months.
The matter of wealth division, especially oil, was resolved through
an agreement of sharing the revenues between the Khartoum government and the government of South Sudan. The solution found
7
President of Sudan at the time.
Golden Triangle: Kenana Sugar Scheme on the White Valley, the Rahad Scheme on the
Blue Nile and mechanized farming in Kassala and Kordofan (COLLINS, 2008, p.131).
8
9
Darfur, a region which has also been claiming autonomy in Sudan, has suffered genocide
following clashes between rebels claiming for autonomy and an Arab militia supported by
the Khartoum government (SUDAN, 2011).
501
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
502
for the power dilemma was to create an autonomous Government
of South Sudan (GoSS) for a period of six years, and after the expiration of such period there would be a referendum, scheduled for the
year 2011, which would be supervised by international monitors
(COLLINS, 2008, p.269).
Critics were skeptical of this agreement because they argued
that there was nothing new in these concessions, given that the
South had won the right to self-determination in 1994, 1997 and
1998. On each occasion, the Khartoum government had conceded
such right only due to military pressure and did not fulfill its promises afterward (COLLINS, 2008, p.263). Despite the critics’ fear of
another failed agreement, the terms were fulfilled and in 2010 the
national elections and the referendum of 2011 marked the end of
the six-year interim period agreed in the CPA.
The referendum was an opportunity to the inhabitants of
southern Sudan to separate themselves from the north of the country and to constitute a sovereign and independent state. Voting was
guaranteed to all those who could prove were southern Sudanese
or had family in the South – including, therefore, many southern
Sudanese who lived in the north (DOWNIE, 2010). The referendum
for southern Sudan came as a relief to many years of political, cultural and religious oppression – “a struggle that has cost more than
2 million lives” (DOWNIE, 2010).
The referendum took place between 9 and 15 of January, 2011
and the results published on February 7, 2011 showed a 98.83% approval for the secession of South Sudan. The date chosen for the
establishment of South Sudan as an independent state was July 9,
2011 (ATTA-ASAMOAH, 2011). The newest country in the world
was well received by global leaders and is already recognized
by the United Nations as the 193rd member of the organization
(SOUTH SUDAN..., 2011).
3. South Sudan’s national identity
According to Nascimento (2003, p. 33), in the recent history of Africa, nationalism is associated to liberation struggles against colonial rule and plays an important role as an ideological inspirational
tool in order to promote socioeconomic development in newly
independent countries. Although South Sudan was no longer under colonial rule when it acquired its independence, it may, for our
purposes, be said that it was under a similar situation. Thus, as we
attempt to clarify the processes through which South Sudan separated itself from Sudan and the challenges it still has to face in order
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
to become a stable developing country, we seek to explain to what
measure the phenomenon of nationalism has influenced the mobilization that led to the country’s secession. As we do so, the role
that the construction of a distinct national identity has had in this
process becomes clearer and new questions emerge: what is South
Sudan’s nationalism constituted of? And when has South Sudan’s
national identity – if there is one – come to existence?
3.1. Why is South Sudan not Sudan?
From before the independence of South Sudan, the northern and
the southern regions of Sudan have been very different from one
another. When Tucker (1934) wrote about the linguistic situation
in the southern Sudan in the early 20th century, he already stated
that there were very clear differences between the Northerners,
“whose religion and culture is Islamic and who speak Arabic”, and
the Southerners, who back then, before the spread of Christianity
in the region, were pagan and “for the most part strongly opposed
to outside culture” (TUCKER, 1934, p. 28). What, thus, makes South
Sudan different from Sudan and can be understood as part of the
reasons of conflict between Northerners and Southerners in former Sudan are distinctive cultural aspects which constitute the very
identity of these peoples.
As Francis Deng (2006, p. 155) stated, the constant situation of
war in Sudan since its independence on January 1, 1956 revealed a
crisis of national identity. As previously seen, after independence
the North prevailed over the South and started a process of Arabization and Islamization of Sudan (DENG, 2006, p. 156). However, notwithstanding such policies, the South developed a distinct identity.
As they had historically been victims of enslavement, they
developed a strong anti-slavery sentiment which added to antiArabization and anti-Islamization sentiments. The influences of
a separatist colonial policy, Christianity, and elements of Western
Culture created a Southern identity which differed greatly from
that of the Arab-Islamic North. Besides, according to Adar (2001,
p. 88-89), the contrasts brought about by the British administration and the subsequent economic, political and infrastructural
underdevelopment of the South enhanced southern aspirations
and consciousness. Thus, Sudan had within itself “two contrasting
visions for the nation – an Arab-Islamic vision and a secular black
African vision” (DENG, 2006, p. 156), or, in other words, two nationalisms: an Arabic-speaking Sudanese nationalism – a religiousoriented nationalism – and an African Sudanese nationalism – a
secular one (ADAR, 2001, p. 103-104).
503
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
504
In a previous work, Deng (1998) observed that these different perspectives would become a problem in the negotiations for
a peace settlement. While the South would advocate for the right
of self-determination and separation of religion and the state, the
Islamic-oriented government in Khartoum would claim that secularism was against their religious and moral obligation to promote
Islam in Africa. Self determination, on the other side, would be seen
as “a ploy for partitioning the country and therefore unacceptable”
(DENG, 1998, p. 73).
Much of it can be understood taking into account that, differently from the tolerant and accommodating Islam which the Sufis10
had brought to Sudan in the past, more recent Islamic movements
were seen as “rivalists” (DENG, 2006, p. 156), considering the southerners’ culture and religion an enemy to be defeated. Furthermore,
according to Adar (2001, p. 81), Arabization and Islamization were
used by the ruling elites as a tool to maintain their political power, so
any other ethno-religious groups in the country were seen as rivals
of an Arab-Islamic Sudan. The “Southern Problem”, a reference to
the non-Muslim population in the South, thus, “unified the North
under the banner of the Arab-Islamic vision”, seeking to extend Islam and the Arab culture to the whole Sudan (DENG, 2006, p. 156).
Deng (2006, p. 157) states that conflicts in Sudan have at their
roots “seeming incompatibilities of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious identities”. However, classifying the conflicts in Sudan as a
African-Arab dualism is for the author an oversimplification, because, albeit there are “those of mixed Arab-African descent, the
overwhelming majority in the North, especially in the Nuba Mountains, Southern Blue Nile, and Darfur, though Muslims, are black
and indistinguishable from the people in the South” (DENG, 2006,
p. 157). Deng, therefore, explains the conflicts as a consequence of
the “shaping and sharing of power, wealth, services, development
opportunities, and the overall enjoyment of the rights of citizenship”
(2006, p. 157). However, as Nascimento (2003, p. 36-38) points out,
some political scientists identified as instrumentalists11 have considered that nationalist movements have an even greater strength
when ethnic or religious differences coincide with social and economic inequalities. Therefore, even though the demands for independence may have a more social and economic root, that does not
mean national identity has not had an important role in the matter,
for such inequalities between Northerners and Southerners in Sudan may have worked to reinforce their differences.
Based on that, we may infer that as the South considered itself
as the most neglected and marginalized region in the country, the
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
differences between both regions of Sudan and the South’s dissatisfaction with the northern administration inflated the distinctiveness of the southern identity, and conflicts started to emerge. The
first one erupted in 1955, only eight months prior to Sudan’s independence on January 1, 1956, and had a separatist purpose. The
conflicts that started in 1983, after the government resumed the
peace agreement of 1972 which granted South Sudan autonomy,
were led by the Sudan’s People Liberation Movement and Army
(SPLM/A) and sought to restructure the country into one without
discrimination due to race, ethnicity, religion, culture, or gender
(DENG, 2006, p. 157-158).
These demands thereby “began to gain support in parts of the
North, especially in the non-Arab regions. The Nuba in the South
Kordofan and the Ingassana or Funj of Southern Blue Nile were the
first to join the SPLM/A in the struggle for equality” (DENG, 2006,
p. 158). As one may imply from this, the self identification of a Sudanese as Arab or African – or even both – plays an important role
defining the sides of conflict.
Concerning identities, one region that deserves closer attention in these conflicts is Abyei. With a population similar to that
of the South – the Ngok Dinka – the region was devastated by the
Khartoum government-backed Marahleen group and became depopulated as its people fled north and south to escape the atrocities
(DENG, 2006, p. 158). After the secession of South Sudan in 2011,
the prospects of these refugees returning home raised a series of
concerns relating to new conflicts, as the region, which contains
considerable amounts of oil, will have to decide in a referendum
whether to join South Sudan or remain as part of the North. The
Ngok Dinka identify themselves with the South, but the Misseriya,
a nomad people identified with the Arab North, want to participate
in the voting because they fear losing their right to grazing in the
area (NICHOLS; JACOB-ERNST, 2011, p. 15).
3.2. A heterogeneous country with a common interest
South Sudan is not a monolithic nation and the differences among
its own ethnic groups must be addressed. The country’s population is composed by several ethnic groups – the Dinka and the
Nuer are the predominant ones – and their coexistence has yet to
10
Islam’s mystic branch
These political scientists are qualified as positivists and as adepts of the methodology of
“rational choice” (NASCIMENTO, 2003, p. 36).
11
505
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
506
be reconciled, as they continue to compete for land (NICHOLS; JACOB-ERNST, 2011, p. 17). Religious affiliation is distributed among
animists, Catholics and Protestants predominantly (ADAR, 2001, p.
89). For Adam Branch and Zachariah Mampilly (2005, p. 4), there
is, thus, no unified South Sudanese identity. The only common
identity would be based on “common repression by, and resistance to, the Khartoum regime”. According to these authors (2005,
p. 4), during the 1990s, the conflict between the Dinka-dominated
SPLA and various Nuer-dominated SPLA factions were even more
violent than those against the Khartoum government. Furthermore,
“smaller Equatorian ethnic groups – the Bari, Zande, Acholi, Madi,
Moru, Kuku, and others – view the SPLA as a vehicle of Dinka domination and complain bitterly about their treatment at the hands of
the SPLA” (BRANCH; MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 4).
After the secession, once the common enemy which tied up the
different ethnic groups of South Sudan has disappeared, concerns
are raised that the differences among such groups may be brought
up to the fore (NICHOLS; JACOB-ERNST, 2011, p. 17). Thus, South
Sudan will have to manage such problems by attempting to construct a national identity which is capable of encompassing all the
country’s different tribal identities, as we discuss next.
3.3. The construction of a national identity
Addressing national identity, specifically the construction of one,
requires a better understanding of the phenomenon of nationalism.
As there is no consensus or paradigmatic definition of what exactly
is nationalism (NASCIMENTO, 2003, p. 33), our goal here is to clarify this concept, without attempting to provide a definitive meaning
to the term, in order to shed a light on the role it has had in the process of independence of South Sudan and the role it may still play.
As Gellner (1983, p. 1) defines it, “nationalism is primarily a
political principle, which holds that the political and national unit
should be congruent”. Although this definition is susceptible to criticism, it is useful to understand the process which led to the secession of South Sudan, for since the beginning of the conflicts with the
government of Khartoum the south region of Sudan has claimed for
the right of self-determination, seeking autonomy to decide on the
matters that concerned their interests (DENG, 1998, p. 73). Thus,
according to such perspective, “the idea which moves nationalism would be the creation of a State that exercises authority upon a
nation, which is understood as a human group that shares a common culture” (NASCIMENTO, 2003, p. 34, our translation). South
Sudan’s demands for autonomy, which, as previously addressed,
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
have been based on the defense of a shared scope of cultural aspects that made the Southerners of Sudan different from the people
of the North, thus, show the importance that the construction of
the South’s national identity had in legitimating and strengthening
South Sudan’s cause.
Nevertheless, as previously presented, South Sudan’s society is
not homogeneous. There are several different ethnic groups inside
South Sudan which do not necessarily have a harmonious relation
with each other (NICHOLS; JACOB-ERNST, 2011, p. 17). Thus, Gellner’s statement (1983, p. 55) that “it is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way round” poses the question on
whether South Sudan’s national identity construction has been an
ideological tool in order to strengthen the country’s independence
movement or if it is truly a common sentiment shared by all South
Sudanese. Whatever the answer to that question may be, we do
not back Gellner’s (1983) impression on nationalism as something
manufactured and falsified. We otherwise agree with Benedict Anderson’s perspective (1991, p. 26) to whom nationalism is seen as
imagined and created, and nation is perceived as an “imagined
community” in opposition to a fake conscience. Furthermore, the
impressiveness of the referendum results, in which 98.8% of South
Sudan’s population voted in favor of the country’s secession, indicates a common perception of belonging to the same nationality.
These author’s contributions to the understanding of nationalist phenomena, thus, allow us to state that, although South Sudan
has several ethnic groups inside its territory which have to some degree their own identities, the existing similarities among the South
Sudanese were used to forge a common identity. This identity, then,
allowed these groups to come to an agreement on the creation of an
independent state for all of them to live in. Therefore, nation-building policies which ought to be implemented in South Sudan have to
consider the country’s ethnic and cultural plurality and, upon that,
educate the population to accept each other’s differences. If that
can be accomplished, it is possible to say South Sudan will have
come a step closer to a “civic nationalism”, which, according to Nascimento (2003, p. 42) is based on the political conception of citizenship regardless of race, religion, language, ethnicity and place of
origin to all people inside a country.
4. Current issues
So far it was presented the history of Southern Sudan which led to
the secession of South Sudan in July 9, 2011 and some aspects of the
national identity of this country. Even though there was a very cohe-
507
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
508
sive southern identity throughout the long struggles for autonomy
against the Khartoum government, South Sudan has itself a variety
of ethnic identities within its territory that may now come to be a
focus of new violence and conflicts. The nation-building process
South Sudan will have to endure from now on, then, will have to
promote a nationalist sentiment in its population which is capable
of creating a sense of unity among the people while acknowledging the country’s plurality. Along with that, the newest and poorest
country in the world (NICHOLS; JACOB-ERNST, 2011, p. 17) will
have to deal with challenging obstacles to its consolidation, as shall
be discussed in this section: the situation of refugees, the consolidation of a civil government, the definition of its borders, and its
economic dependency on oil.
However, before starting the discussion on the issues concerning South Sudan, one needs to provide a more tangible definition
to nation-building and state what aspects of such process are more
important. According to Dobbins et al. (2005, p. 2), nation-building
is a process which encompasses “the use of armed force in the aftermath of a conflict to promote a transition to democracy”. These
authors also state that nation-building “is not intended to suggest
the suppression or homogenization of distinct cultures within a
given society” (DOBBINS et al., 2005, p. 2), what is specifically important in the case of South Sudan if one wants to avoid further
conflicts. Furthermore, the authors highlight the importance of
state-building, the strengthening of institutions of governance, as
a major component in nation-building (DOBBINS et al., 2005, p. 2).
We acknowledge such importance by addressing the need of South
Sudan consolidating a civil government if the country desires to
reach peace, for “[p]eace is the most essential product of nationbuilding” as economic growth and democratization depend on it
(DOBBINS et al., 2005, p. xxv).
Some aspects of nation-building are therefore essential to
the purposes of this study. Francis Fukuyama (2004, apud DOBBINS et al., 2005, p. xxxvi), addressing United Nations’ missions
of nation-building, has divided such missions in three phases: the
stabilization of a war-torn society; the creation of local institutions
for governance; and the strengthening of those institutions in order to guarantee economic and social development. So, sustained
peace, the correct dealing of refugees return, the consolidation
of a civil government, economic growth, and external assistance
(DOBBINS et al., 2005) are essential to the nation-building process
in South Sudan.
At last, it is worthy to say that
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
[n]ation-building can be viewed in terms of its inputs – which, broadly speaking, are manpower, money, and time, and its desired outputs
– which are peace, economic growth and democratization. Needless
to say, outputs depend on much more than the inputs. Success in
nation-building depends on the wisdom with which such resources
are employed and on the susceptibility of the society in question to
the changes being fostered. Nevertheless, success is also in some
measure dependent on the quantity of international military and
police manpower and external economic assistance, and of the time
over which these are applied (DOBBINS et al., 2005, p. xxi).
4.1. Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
The returning refugees in South Sudan represent a serious challenge
for the government. There are two major issues that should be faced:
“the land redistribution to returnees and the equitable distribution of
development and reconstruction resources” (BRANCH; MAMPILLY,
2005, p. 1). During the civil war, by the 1990s, many people fled the
region of Equatoria to Uganda, Zaire and Kenya. The SPLA (Sudan
People’s Liberation Army) did little to provide support to the Equatorian people; they instead moved large Dinka populations into the
region of Equatoria, so that they would have better access to relief
aid and avoid the war in the North. Nowadays, as these Equatorian
refugees return to their homes after the independence of South Sudan, they find many Dinka IDPs living where they used to live. The
tension between these two peoples exists, in part, because the Equatorians accuse the SPLA of being an instrument of repression by the
Dinka people (BRANCH; MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 5).
The basic services provision to the southern population has
been done by the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association
(SRRA), renamed the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission
(SRRC), which was created to provide services to populations under SPLA control. Since 1999, SRRC has been playing an important
role in preparing Southern Sudan to receive the refugees expected
to return. Lately, it has been focusing its efforts on humanitarian
relief, giving to the Civil Authority of New Sudan (CANS) the responsibility of providing help in areas of education, health, agriculture, communications and economic development (BRANCH;
MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 7).
As the refugees return, the SRRC is the key body coordinating
the activities of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs. It assists the repatriation and provides
incentives to returnees, such as humanitarian relief (food, shelter,
medicines), until they are resettled. Therefore, the ability of SRRC
509
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
510
to provide this assistance will be important to assure that the return
of refugees will occur without disturbing the political order in the
south (BRANCH; MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 8).
The conflict between the Dinka and the Equatorians has produced many deaths and exiled populations, and the SPLM/A (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army) has depended upon foreign states and the UNHCR to take care of these people. The mass
repatriation of Equatorians represents a political challenge for the
SPLM/A, since the returnees and those Equatorians who remained
demand rectification of injustices, requiring the government to return Dinka-occupied land to Equatorians and to give them equal
access to foreign-provided development and reconstruction resources (BRANCH; MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 10).
SPLM (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement) officials and
NGOs recognize the severity of this issue. There are now two possible scenarios: on the one hand, if the local government succeeds
in redistributing land to the returning refugees in a fair manner, it
can consolidate its authority. On the other hand, if it fails, this could
ruin the SPLA political project in Equatoria and reproduce conditions for South-South conflicts (BRANCH; MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 11).
During the long-lasting conflict between northern and southern Sudan, “an estimated 550,000 to 600,000 Sudanese fled the
country to seek safety in neighboring countries, 418,270 of whom
became registered refugees” (UNHCR South Sudan, 2011a). Since
December 2005, more than 330,000 have returned to their villages
of origin, 156,000 of whom came spontaneously (UNHCR South Sudan, 2011b), and between October 2010 and February 2011, more
than 190,000 came back from northern Sudan. Nevertheless, there
are over 90,000 Sudanese refugees remaining in countries of asylum, mainly Uganda and Kenya (UNHCR South Sudan, 2011a).
UNHCR encourages the voluntary return of refugees to their
country of origin by providing conditions for reintegration. Over
700,000 people are beneficiaries of UNHCR protection and community based reintegration projects, including returnees, hosting
communities and IDPs. The fact that the programs benefit these
three categories prevents conflicts based on competition for the
limited aid (UNHCR South Sudan, 2011c).
Furthermore, South Sudan hosts refugees from neighboring
countries. There are more than 25,000 refugees in South Sudan
coming from many countries – such as Congo, Central African Republic and Ethiopia –, and about 19,000 of them live in one of the
four refugee settlements in South Sudan. Assistance and basic services are provided by UNHCR (UNHCR South Sudan, 2011d).
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
The situation of IDPs in South Sudan is not less important. The
civil war produced about four million IDPs and, by the end of 2008,
only about 2.24 million had returned to their homes (UNMIS/RRR,
2009 apud IDMC, 2009). The main causes of internal displacement of people are attacks by the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army
(LRA), inter-communal and inter-tribal conflicts, the war between
the government in Khartoum and the SPLA, and the conflict in the
Darfur region (IDMC, 2010).
The majority of the IDPs are still trying to find a permanent
solution for their cases. One of the difficulties is that about 10 per
cent of all IDP returns so far are estimated to be “failed returns”, i.e.
“return movements which lead to secondary displacement because
returnees do not manage to successfully establish themselves in
the places of return” (IOM, 2008 apud IDMC, 2009).
There are three main durable solutions for the IDPs issue:
return to their place of origin, local integration and resettlement
(IDMC, 2009). The return to the place of origin is a complicated solution due to the lack of infrastructure in the communities. Local
integration is defined as the settlement of the IDP in the place of
refuge. Sometimes the return to their home is neither practicable
nor desirable, because after years of displacement, the IDP might
be already integrated in the place of displacement. The third durable solution is resettlement, which consists in resettling the IDP
elsewhere. For some IDPs, neither the return to their homes nor
local integration is possible for many reasons, such as lack of access to land or livelihood opportunities (IDMC, 2009). Considering that the refugees’ situation is, in several manners, similar to
the IDP’s, it is possible to implement these durable solutions in the
case of the refugees.
The Government of South Sudan (GoSS) has not been offering a genuine choice to the returnees among the durable solutions
(IDMA, 2009). Instead, the GoSS has so far stated that the IDPs
should come back to their places of origin. It is true that the international actors, including UNHCR, International Organization for
Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) have done much to facilitate the return of IDPs and refugees
to their places of origin, but they also have not been very efficient in
guaranteeing the provision of a free and informed choice between
the three possible solutions. Therefore, both the government and
its international partners should consider the change of their policies as a matter of urgency in order to provide support also for local
integration and resettlement (IDMC, 2009).
511
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
512
4.2. The consolidation of a civil government
The independence of South Sudan brings new challenges to the
SPLM, the current ruling party in the country. Although the SPLM
has been the most active participant in the Government of South
Sudan during the interim period, Ted Dagne (2011, p. 13) affirms
that “as the Republic of South Sudan emerges as an independent
country, political rivalries may resurface and new groups may challenge the SPLM’s leadership”.
Indeed, despite the SPLM’s inclusive and egalitarian discourse
of a “New Sudan”, the Equatorian peoples see the Sudan People’s
Liberation Army (SPLA) – the military wing of the SPLM - as an
instrument of domination of the Dinka. These peoples never had
much impact within the SPLA and in fact were oppressed by this
group, especially after the Regional Self-Government Act for the
Southern Provinces of 1972, which granted Southern Sudan greater
regional autonomy (BRANCH, MAMPILLY, 2005, p.5). In addition
to that, the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) actually contributed to this political marginalization of the Equatorian
peoples. It only addressed two political groups: the SPLM and the
National Congress Party (NCP), contributing thus to the consolidation of the domination of these two parties in the Sudanese political
scenario and to the exclusion of other groups from the government
(SCHUMANN, 2010, p.113).
The decentralization of the government, according to Branch
and Mampilly (2005, p.6), would contribute to the establishment
of a civil authority lead by the SPLM. It would also minimize the
influence of the military authorities of the SPLA in the decisionmaking process of the civil authority, favoring the political participation and autonomy of marginalized groups and reducing
the Dinka dominant influence on the South Sudanese government (BRANCH, MAMPILLY, 2005, p.6). Although the SPLA has
emphasized the increase in local representative governments, in
reality there is still a great need to demilitarize the civil authority
(BRANCH, MAMPILLY, 2005, p.6-7).
Another challenge the SPLM has to face in order to construct
a democratic government is to promote coordination between the
local authorities and the Non-Governmental Organizations for the
provision of basic services such as education, health, and humanitarian aid (BRANCH, MAMPILLY, 2005, p.12-13).
This coordination capacity is especially relevant given that the
South Sudanese dependency on foreign aid and funds will possibly increase after the independence (BRANCH, MAMPILLY, 2005,
p.13). Indeed, the support of the Non-Governmental Organiza-
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
tions is of substantial importance if the government of South Sudan
wishes to consolidate itself as a civil authority through the provision of basic services.
4.3. The border issue: Abyei, Blue Nile State and South Kordofan
The political control over the areas of Abyei, South Kordofan and
the Blue Nile State has been a controversial issue in the Sudanese
peace process since the CPA was signed in 2005. According to a
United Nations Development Program for Sudan (UNDP Sudan)
document (2011), these areas are object of dispute between the
North and the South due to their natural resources, especially oil
reserves. The Northern-Southern borders established in the CPA
were based on the 1956 independence boundaries; however, this
criterion did not apply to the areas in question. Indeed, two special
protocols – which later became a part of the CPA – were created in
2004 to address the situation in Abyei, South Kordofan and the Blue
Nile State (UNDP Sudan, 2011). The independence of South Sudan
reinforces the need to reach an agreement on the border demarcation of these areas and on what country each region will join.
The Abyei area is the most problematic. Under the Protocol
on the Resolution of the Abyei Conflict, the region was to receive a
special administrative status and to be governed by a local Executive Council for an interim period. At the end of this period, Abyei
was supposed to have a referendum, at the same time as the South
Sudanese plebiscite, to decide which nation to join (UNMIS, 2009,
p. 1). Nevertheless, the referendum has not yet taken place, and
Abyei’s status remains a source of disagreements between Sudan
and South Sudan.
According to an International Crisis Group (ICG) policy briefing
(2008, p.9), one of the main sources of tension is the conflict between
the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya. On the one hand, the Dinka have
an ethnic and cultural identification to the South, which led them to
support the SPLM/A (PETER, 2010, p. 66). The Misseriya, on the other
hand, are traditionally allied with the National Congress Party (ICG,
2008, p. 10). The Misseriya are a nomadic pastoralist people, and fear
that if Abyei joins the South, they will lose their access to pasture in
the region. In that sense, they believe they should be allowed to vote
in the Abyei referendum; however, the Government of South Sudan
firmly opposes this demand (JACOB-ERNST; NICHOLS, 2011, p.15).
Another factor that enhances the dispute for Abyei is the fact that
the region is rich in oil fields. Oil constitutes the main source of revenue for both the South Sudanese and the Sudanese governments,
but most of the oil reserves are located in the South (ICG, 2008, p.9).
513
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
514
Given the independence of South Sudan, the NCP wants to guarantee
access to the Abyei oil fields (ICG, 2008, p.9), and thus defends the division of the region in two areas, one which would stay with the North,
and one which would join the South (DAGNE, 2011, p.6). Dagne
(2011, p. 6) highlights that the Government of South Sudan opposes
this proposal, and believes that Abyei should join the South, although
allowing some NCP participation in the government of the region
and stating its willingness to share oil revenues. The intransigence on
both sides makes it more difficult for an agreement to be reached, especially after the 2011 South Sudan Referendum, given that “the ruling party in Khartoum has accepted the February 2011 referendum
results but has hardened its position on Abyei” (DAGNE, 2011, p.6).
The Protocol on the Resolution of the Conflict in Southern
Kordofan and Blue Nile States was adopted in 2004 (UNDP Sudan,
2011). In these areas, the main source of conflict is the ethnic and
cultural oppression. As said by Peter (2010, p.66) “the Nuba and Ingessena, many of them Muslims, never really questioned that they
were part of the North”. However, the imposition of an Arabization
process upon non-Arab peoples, – including forced islamization,
ban of local languages and native systems of administration, landgrabbing and displacement – led them to join the SPLM/A in an
attempt to create a “New Sudan”. The main goal was to change the
political structure of Sudan as a whole, allowing these marginalized
peoples to break free from oppression and participate on the political process (PETER, 2010, p.66-67).
Nevertheless, the idea of a “New Sudan” is now a distant possibility, as stated by Peter (2010, p. 67). The South Sudanese independence calls for a final arrangement on these areas. Nowadays, under
the Protocol on the Resolution of the Conflict in Southern Kordofan
and Blue Nile States, the two areas have a relevant degree of autonomy (UNDP Sudan, 2011). Peter (2010, p. 68-69) stresses that, although
these states did not receive the right of self-determination through a
referendum, they were supposed to have popular consultations – a
vague and controversial instrument – which would orient the parliament’s decisions about the legal status of such regions. A bill on popular consultations was approved by the Sudanese parliament in 2009,
but the poll has not happened yet (PETER, 2010, p.70).
4.4. Economic dependency on oil and on Sudan’s refineries
4.4.1. Sudan’s refineries dependency and the oil revenues sharing
The oil production is one of the most important sectors of the South
Sudanese economy. According to a European Union Institute for
Security Studies Report (2009, p. 45), oil represented 90% of the to-
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
tal exports in Sudan over the past six years. Therefore, the independence of South Sudan raises the matter of the division of the wealth
derived from oil between Sudan and South Sudan. This matter is
especially relevant considering that although most oil reserves are
located in South Sudan, accounting for 80% of the total crude outputs in Sudan as a whole before the South’s independency, most of
the structure for refining and transporting this oil is in Sudanese
territory (EUISS, 2009, p.46).
Cleophas Lado (2002, p.160; 164) highlights that the Government of Sudan always tried to assure its complete control over oil
reserves, in spite of their consequences to the Sudanese population. In fact, after the SPLM/A conducted an attack on a Chevron
oilfield in 1984, the Sudanese government established alliances
with several groups who opposed the SPLM/A. Although they have
proven to be relatively efficient, these alliances had great impact on
the population, once the government used them to foster conflicts
not only between its allies and the SPLM/A, but also among its own
allies (LADO, 2002, p.164). Meant to avoid that any group became
a threat, this policy generated more internal conflicts and even an
exacerbation of ethnic disputes between the Dinka and the Nuer
(LADO, 2002, p.166). Furthermore, the practice of clearing the population out of oil-rich areas through violence – including human
rights violations under the blind eye of oil companies – created an
enormous contingent of displaced people (LADO, 2002, p.167-168).
In that sense, the loss of the Southern oil reserves represented a
hard blow on Sudan. Under the 2005 CPA, the revenues arising from
oil exports were to be equally split temporarily between the two parts.
Nevertheless, the South Sudanese independence creates the need for
a new agreement on this matter (HARNEIT-SIEVERS, 2010, p. 100).
There are, however, considerable obstacles to be overcome. The
most relevant one is the distrust between the governments of Sudan
and South Sudan, given the lack of transparency that dominated
the CPA period (EUISS, 2009, p.49). As Harneit-Sievers (2010, p.99)
points out, “[i]n practice, the capacity to monitor production figures
lies solely with Khartoum, leading to suspicions that the South does
not receive its fair share”. Another important issue is the Southern
elite’s belief that sharing the oil revenues might threaten the future
of South Sudan as an independent state, once the oil exports are the
main source of government income (EUISS, 2009, p.49).
The need for a new agreement is undeniable, given both countries’ heavy dependency on oil revenues and South Sudan’s dependency on Sudanese pipelines and ports for exportation, at least in
the short-term. In addition to that, the arrangement is important
515
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
to avoid new armed confrontation over the oil reserves (HARNEITSIEVERS, 2010, p. 99); but “it should also not repeat the lack of
transparency and accountability that exists in current arrangements” (EUISS, 2009, p.50).
516
4.4.2. Economic dependency on oil
The reduction of the South Sudanese dependency on oil is one of
the goals of South Sudan’s government, as stated in the 2009 Government of South Sudan Growth Strategy (GOSS). One of the main
reasons for this effort is that oil is a finite resource, which makes dependency on it rather problematic. Indeed, optimistic predictions
suggest that South Sudan can only rely on strong oil revenues for
the next 20 years (ISS, 2009, p.47). In addition to that, there is the
volatility of the oil revenues, which suffer significant variation on
monthly basis and are “expected to decline rapidly over the next
decade” (GOSS, 2009, p.10).
The primary focus of this diversification effort is on agriculture. As
the sector employs approximately 80% of the population (HARVEITSIEVERS, 2010, p. 100), it is considered by the South Sudanese government as the best starting point for a sustainable economic growth
(GOSS, 2009, p.10). It is also believed to be the most effective way of
reducing poverty, once growth in agricultural production should also
incentive production in related sectors (GOSS, 2009, p.11).
South Sudan’s diversity of climate, large amounts of fertile land
and several different ways of living favor the activities encompassed
by the term agriculture – which includes keeping of livestock, hunting, cultivation of the land and fishing (GOSS, 2009, p.11). Most
families, however, only produce enough for their own consumption,
what is called subsistence agriculture (GOSS, 2009, p.11). According to the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) (2009, p. 11-12), the
lack of access to markets where these families can commercialize
their surplus is the major obstacle to the expansion of agricultural
production. This difficulty is generated by factors such as insecurity,
the high cost of transportation due to the lack of infrastructure – viable roads, for example – and the unpredictable taxation. The GoSS
(2009, p. 11-12; 15) is committed to addressing these three factors
through coordinated action of several Ministries and governmental
agencies, creating thus an enabling environment that favors the expansion of individual agricultural production.
4.5. Structural deficiencies
The lack of infrastructure is very problematic to the GoSS. Transportation is a major problem due to the lack of roads (there are about
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
7000km of roads, but only 60km are paved). Moreover, much of the
road network is in unsafe conditions, as well as much of the rail system (CIA, 2011). There is only one major airport, which is located in
Juba, and it has a very limited capacity (DAGNE, 2011, p. 14). Furthermore, only two of the 24 airports have paved runways (CIA, 2011).
The “telephone system is limited to major towns and dependent on cell phone services from Uganda and Khartoum” (DAGNE,
2011, p. 14). Electricity is produced mostly by costly diesel generators (CIA, 2011), and many South Sudanese do not have access to
electric power: approximately “96% of the population uses firewood or charcoal as the primary fuel for cooking, while 50% of the
population uses firewood or grass as a primary source for light”
(DAGNE, 2011, p. 14). Running water is also scarce, so that around
“38% of the population has to walk for more than 30 minutes to collect drinking water” (DAGNE, 2011, p. 14).
Therefore, the poor infrastructure of South Sudan is receiving
attention from international actors. Since 2004, the World Food
Program (WFP) has worked to repair thousands of kilometers of
roads (WFP, 2011), while the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) has implemented the Sudan Infrastructure
Services Project (SISP), which works in collaboration with the GoSS
to provide critical public infrastructure in the sectors of energy
(power generation and distribution), transport (construction and
rehabilitation of primary and secondary roads, bridges, airstrips,
railways and water transportation networks) and water and sanitation (water treatment and distribution services) (USAID, 2011a).
Furthermore, the SISP aims to “increase the capacity of government agencies and private enterprises in the road sector to plan
and implement effective transportation infrastructure development activities” (USAID, 2011b).
5. International action
As stated before, international military and police manpower and
external economic assistance are key factors in a well succeeded
nation-building process (DOBBINS, 2005, p. xxi). Considering the
major problems South Sudan has to overcome and its yet unstable
government and huge structural deficiencies, international action
is not simply helpful to the construction of a stable developing
South Sudan, it is essential. In this section, thus, we seek to understand what role international actors have had and may still have in
the world’s newest country.
517
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
518
5.1. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)
The first International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs)
in Southern Sudan were established after the end of the first civil
war, in 1972. They had a prominent welfare role and donors of international aid started to provide funds to them and to UN agencies rather than providing directly to the Government of Sudan
(GoS) (MORKEL, 2009, p. 69).
In 1989 the Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) was created in response to the humanitarian crisis in the country. After conversations between the GoS, the SPLM/A and the UN, this UNICEF-led
consortium was founded to coordinate the humanitarian work
in Sudan (MORKEL, 2009, p. 2), leading the work of many INGOs (RIEHL, 2001, p.4). Later in 2005, it was superseded by the
Integrated Sudanese Country Program (UNITED NATIONS, 2008
apud MORKEL, 2009, p. 2).
Initially, the humanitarian programs of the INGOs in Sudan
were traditional humanitarian operations, focusing on the delivery of emergency aid and adhered to the International Committee of the Red Cross (IRCR) humanitarian principles. However, in
1994 the OLS adopted the relief-to-development program, which
would prevent dependency on external relief (MORKEL, 2009, p.
67). This program is based on the idea that “integrating development and rehabilitation activities into the relief will ameliorate
the roots of violence and contribute to the peace-building process”
(MORKEL, 2009, p. iii).
Many INGOs operate inside southern Sudan, such as Oxfam,
CARE, the Red Cross, World Vision, Save the Children Foundation
and Médecins sans Frontières (MSF). MSF programs do not use to
focus on development, but it unintentionally contributes to the development of the health sector (MORKEL, 2009, p. 68).
In March 2000, the SPLM/A demanded that all OLS partner
INGOs that were operating in SPLM/A controlled areas signed the
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), stipulating conditions
for the INGOs to operate. The INGOs complained and many of
them refused to sign it, so they left the country. Nonetheless, after renegotiating the MoU the NGOs returned to Southern Sudan
(MORKEL, 2009, p. 86-87).
In fact, the INGOs have a vital role in providing aid in Southern Sudan. “The vast majority of the health, education, infrastructure, and, in places, nutritional needs of the South Sudanese have
for many years been fulfilled by foreign NGOs or foreign funding”
(BRANCH; MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 12). However, this does not prevent
them from receiving several critiques.
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
The critiques that have been made on foreign-funded and
NGO-implemented aid can be divided into two categories. The
first category focuses on the problems that an unmediated relation
between NGOs and local populations can cause. It makes the local administration incapable of doing alone the basic tasks done
by NGOs and the NGOs may distribute aid according to their own
institutional imperatives (BRANCH; MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 13).
The second category focuses on situations where armed groups
are the intermediaries between foreign resources and the local
population, so that they can mediate that relationship to their own
advantage. This category fits the present situation better than the
first category, which fit better South Sudan’s situation in the 1990s.
The SPLA has improved its control over foreign NGOs through the
MoU so that, in opposition to the situation in the 1990s, now the
NGOs are subordinated to local politics (BRANCH; MAMPILLY,
2005, p. 13-14).
SPLM/A faces a dilemma: on the one hand, if it does not want to
lose support due to popular dissatisfaction with poverty and lack of
services, it should recognize that a degree of foreign aid will be necessary. On the other hand, “a long-term dependence upon foreign
aid will undermine the social and political coherence of the South”
(BRANCH; MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 14). Nevertheless, sharing some
power with NGOs could result in an enhancement of political legitimacy, rather than in a loss of political authority (RIEHL, 2001, p. 16).
Thus, the SPLM/A has created NGO programs that can be
transferred to the local administration and it has also ensured that
the distribution of aid go through its own structures (BRANCH;
MAMPILLY, 2005, p. 14). By doing so, it can ensure that it will neither fail at providing basic services to the population nor weaken
the political coherence of the South.
5.2. Neighboring countries
During the Second Civil War, SPLM had strong relations with many
African countries and received military, political and financial help
from some of them. In East Africa, SPLM has strong relations with
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. SPLM/A has received
political and military assistance from Ethiopia and, in the 1990s, significant military assistance from Eritrea. Egypt has also had strong
ties with SPLM/A during the last two decades, although the government of Hosni Mubarak did not support the South’s right of self-determination until the Egyptian authorities realized that independence
was inevitable (DAGNE, 2011, p. 7). Certainly, the support from these
countries was of great importance to the success of SPLM/A.
519
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
520
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
Concerned about the north-south conflict in Sudan, the InterGovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), a regional organization for cooperation and development, put the issue in its agenda. The role of the countries in the region regarding the conflict is
based on two premises: that the conflict affects not only Sudan, but
also the surrounding region and that the conflict only can be ended
if its root causes are addressed (DAGNE, 2011, p. 15). In fact, a “regional approach to security can work and create the conditions to
facilitate the resolution of internal conflicts” (SCHUMANN, 2010,
p. 113). However, while IGAD is pursuing proactive diplomacy, the
tension and policy divergence among its state members can limit
its ability to influence the governments of the region, so that it may
need additional support (EUISS, 2010, p. 55).
Since the implementation of the CPA, the influence of Sudan’s
neighbors on its internal affairs has diminished. The NCP has been
resistant to submitting to pressures from Ethiopia, Kenya or Uganda, and their policy influences have been marginalized. Therefore,
“there are strong pro-SPLM sentiments within policy circles in these
countries” (EUISS, 2010, p. 53).
On 27 June 2011, a peacekeeping force was established in Abyei
by the Resolution 1990 of the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC). The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA), composed of soldiers of the Ethiopian Army, should ensure
that Abyei Area will be demilitarized from any forces other than
UNISFA and the Abyei Police Service, help to keep the order in the
area, and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, among other
attributions (UNSC, 2011).
The creation of a new state poses several challenges to the African multilateral organizations, such as the African Union (AU)
and the IGAD. It is urgent that they are addressed (EUISS, 2010, p.
54), because the independence of South Sudan can strengthen the
credibility of claims for secession in the region. In addition to that,
Sudan may be more supportive of recognizing a new Islamic state
in the region, which could become a member of the Arab League
(MARCHAL, 2010, p. 93).
practice had significant impact on the effectiveness of International Organizations’ actions (SCHUMANN, 2010, p.105-106). In this
sense, it is extremely important that the international community
addresses the issue of supporting the newborn South Sudanese
State with more responsibility and commitment, in order to enable
effective coordinated actions by the International Organizations
(SCHUMANN, 2010, p.102).
The African Union (AU) plays a central role in the post-referendum situation of South Sudan. As stated in the International Crisis
Group (ICG) Report (2010, p.19), the recognition of the South Sudan as an independent state by the AU worked as a demonstration
of the African opinion and helped define other countries responses
to the independence. From now on, the African Union must play
an important role in securing the legitimacy of South Sudan and
guaranteeing that the independence does not affect the regional
stability in the Horn of Africa, especially if it is capable of promoting coordinated actions with the Intergovernmental Authority for
Development (IGAD) (ICG, 2010, p.21).
The United Nations established in July 8, 2011 the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan – UNMISS. The main
goals of the UNMISS shall be to help establish the necessary conditions for social and economic development in South Sudan; to
strengthen the democratic governing capacities of the South Sudanese Government; and to consolidate security in the area (UN
News Centre, 2011). Several other UN Agencies, such as the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Children’s Fund
(UNICEF), are already involved in the long-term sustainable development efforts in South Sudan (UN News Centre, 2011).
Other International Organizations might also take part in the
support efforts in South Sudan. The European Union, for example,
has declared its will to contribute financially and politically to AU’s
initiatives in the country (ISS, 2009, p.56). On the other hand, the
Red Cross head of operations for the Horn of Africa, Daniel Duvillard, highlights that the GoSS still needs to create a framework within which the international organizations can operate (ICRC, 2011).
5.3. International organizations
International Organizations’ efforts in Sudan during the CPA
period were marked by what Peter Schumann called “organizational hypocrisy” (2010, p.102), meaning that international actors
“respond[ed] to conflicting interests and pressures through contradictory actions and statements” (SCHUMANN, 2010, p.102), oriented by objectives external to the Sudanese peace process. Such
6. Conclusion
Ahead South Sudan’s path stand many challenges, and its chances
of consolidating itself as a stable developing country lie in the country’s abilities to act alongside with internal and external actors. In
the course of this article, we examined the nature of South Sudan’s
particularities and what made it so different from Sudan. We later
521
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
522
discussed what were the most urgent obstacles to be addressed
concerning the country’s political, social and economic structure.
As seen, South Sudan’s struggle for autonomy goes back decades ago and have at its roots the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium
administration of Sudan, which, by governing the north and the
south as distinct entities, paved the way to the maintenance and
enhancement of each region’s characters. The north was the land of
the Arabic-speaking Muslims who administrated the country and
tried to unify Sudan under Islam and Arabic culture; it was also the
region with greater infrastructure and economic development. The
animist black African south was left underdeveloped, and when
Sudan’s independence came, a civil war stroke the country as the
southerners demanded autonomy.
These historical factors led to the failure of Khartoum’s Arabization and Islamization policies to create a unified Arab-Islamic
Sudanese identity (ADAR, 2001). Such policies only served to enhance the south’s consciousness as a distinct entity, and secession
appeared as the only solution to Sudan’s long-lasting conflicts.
However, the question on whether a South Sudanese identity existed remained. By analyzing some aspects of South Sudan’s independence process, we have been able to identify aspects which brought
the South Sudanese together, and some that could tear them apart.
The construction of a national identity which unites them while
acknowledging their differences is thus necessary to maintaining
peace in the new-born country.
Other challenges follow. South Sudan has to deal with refugees
returning to their lands and finding them occupied by new inhabitants. The consolidation of a civil government is essential to ensure
peace. Remaining disputes over contested territories have to be
addressed. At last, the country has yet to find ways of overcoming
structural deficiencies and oil dependency. As the poorest country in the world, the chances South Sudan will be able to cope with
such difficulties alone are low, so external aid is essential to achieve
success in policies addressing these issues.
In this article, we have thus explored the historical, sociopolitical, economical and infrastructural aspects concerning South
Sudan’s past struggles and present obstacles. The correct addressing of such issues means guaranteeing the necessary inputs – manpower, money and time – to a successful nation-building policy, in
order to achieve its desired outputs: peace, economic growth and
democratization (DOBBINS, 2005, p.xxi). The consolidation of
South Sudan as a country depends on it.
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
Bibliography
ADAR, Korwa G. Ethno-religious Nationalism in Sudan: The Enduring Constraint
on the Policy of National Identity. In: BEKKER, Simon et al. (eds.). Shifting African
Identities. Pretoria, South Africa: Human Sciences Research Council, 2001. p. 81-114.
AFRICA WATCH. Denying the “Honor of Living”: Sudan: a Human Rights Disaster.
March, 1990. Available at: <http://books.google.com.br/books?id=1K_5IOdPQ-sC&prints
ec=frontcover&num=100&hl=pt-BR#v=onepage&q&f=false>. Accessed at Nov 18 2011.
AHMAD, Abdel Ghaffar Mohamed. Sudan Peace Agreements: Current Challenges and
Future Prospects. Sudan Working Paper, 2010.
ANDERSON, Benedict. Comunidades Imaginadas: Reflexões sobre a Origem e a
Expansão do Nacionalismo. Edições Lisboa, 1991.
ATTA-ASAMOAH, Andrews at al. South Sudan: origins and implications of emerging
(in)security dynamics. Situation Report. Institute for Security Studies. Jul 29 2011.
Available at: <http://www.iss.co.za/uploads/29July11SouthSudan.pdf >. Accessed in
Nov 18 2011.
BÖLL STIFTUNG, Heinrich. Sudan: No easy ways ahead. Publication
Series on Democracy, v. 18. 2010. Available at: < http://www.boell.de/
downloads/2010401Sudan_publication.pdf>. Accessed in 02 Oct 2011.
BRANCH, Adam; MAMPILLY, Zachariah C. Winning the war, but losing the peace?
The dilemma of SPLM/A civil administration and the tasks ahead. Journal of
Modern African Studies, Vol. 43, n. I, p. 1-20, 2005. Available at: < http://www.jstor.
org/stable/3876257>. Accessed in: 5 Sep. 2011.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA), 2011. Available at: < https://www.cia.gov/
library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/od.html>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
COLLINS, Robert O. Civil War and Revolution in the Sudan: Essays on the Sudan,
Southern Sudan, and Darfur, 1962-2004. Tsehai Publishers and Distributors, 2005.
COLLINS, Robert O. A History of Modern Sudan. CITY, COUNTRY: Cambridge University
Press, 2008.
DAGNE, Ted. The Republic of South Sudan: Opportunities and Challenges for Africa’s
Newest Country. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Research Service, 2011. Available at:
<http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/167853.pdf>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
DENG, Francis. Africa’s Dilemmas in the Sudan. The World Today, Vol. 54, No. 3, p.
72-74, Mar. 1998. Available at: < http://www.jstor.org/stable/40476090>. Accessed
in: 7 Sep. 2011.
______. Sudan: A Nation in Turbulent Search of Itself. Annals of the American
Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 603, Law, Society, and Democracy:
Comparative Perspectives, p. 155-162, Jan. 2006. Available at: < http://www.jstor.
org/stable/25097762>. Accessed in 6 Sep. 2011.
DOBBINS, James et al. The UN’s Role in Nation-Building: From the Congo to Iraq.
RAND Corporation, 2005.
523
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
524
Nation-Building in South Sudan: Past Struggles and Current Challenges
DOWNIE, Richard. Sudan’s 2011 Referendum: the Main Challenges. Center for
Strategic and International Studies, 2010. Available at: <http://csis.org/publication/
sudans-2011-referendum-main-challenges>. Accessed in 16 Oct 2011.
MORKEL, Petro-Anne. International Non-governmental Organisations in
Humanitarian Assistance: the Case of Operation Lifeline Sudan. Johannesburg,
South Africa, 2009.
EUROPEAN UNION INSTITUTE FOR SECURITY STUDIES (EUISS). Post-2011 scenarios in
Sudan: What role for the UE? ISS Report, No. 06, 2009, p. 46-57. Available at: <http://
www.iss.europa.eu/uploads/media/Post-2011_scenarios_in_Sudan.pdf>. Accessed
in 25 Nov 2011.
NASCIMENTO, Paulo C. Dilemas do Nacionalismo. Revista Brasileira de Informação
Bibliográfica em Ciências Sociais (BIB) 56. São Paulo: ANPOCS, 2003, p. 33-53.
GELLNER, Ernest. Nations and Nationalism. Oxford, United Kingdom: Basil
Blackwell, 1983.
NICHOLS, Patrick S. JACOB-ERNST, Juan Claudio de R. Southern Sudan, the birth
of a state. Miradas al Exterior. No. 17, January-March 2011. Available at: <http://
www.maec.es/es/MenuPpal/Actualidad/RevistaMiradasalexterior/Documents/
MIRADAS17EN.pdf>. Accessed in 11 Sep 2011.
GOVERNMENT OF SOUTH SUDAN. Jan. 2011. Available at: <http://southsudanngoforum.
org/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/GoSS_January-2010_Growth-Strategy.pdf>.
Accessed in 08 Sep 2011.
PETER, Marina. Blue Nile, Nuba Mountains and Abyei: Three Areas in Transition
.In: HEINRICH BÖLL STIFTUNG. Sudan: No easy ways ahead. Publication Series on
Democracy, v. 18. 2010.
HARNEIT-SIEVERS, Axel. Oil in Sudan: Fuelling Conflict – Fuelling Development?
In: HEINRICH BÖLL STIFTUNG. Sudan: No easy ways ahead. Publication Series on
Democracy, v. 18. 2010.
POGGO, Scopas S. General Ibrahim Abboud’s Military Administration in the Sudan,
1958-1962: Implementation of the Programs of Islamization and Arabization in the
Southern Sudan. In: Northeast African Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2002.
INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT MONITORING CENTRE (IDMC), 2009. Available at: <http://
www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/99FC33
951F6D6779C12578E80055B38E?OpenDocument>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
QUEIROZ, Gabriel M. The Situation in Sudan. In: FERREIRA, Teresa B.; RIBEIRO, Maíra C.
B. Promover Direitos, Valorizar Culturas. Brasília: Art Letras Gráficas e Editora, 2011.
INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT MONITORING CENTRE (IDMC), 2010. Available at: <http://
www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/033043
950763A560C12578E80055B378?OpenDocument>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
RIEHL, Volker. Who is ruling in South Sudan? The role of NGOs in rebuilding sociopolitical order. Studies on Emergencies and Disaster Relief, No. 9, Nordiska
Afrikainstitutet, [Uppsala, Sweden], 2001. Available at: <http://nai.diva-portal.org/
smash/get/diva2:242179/FULLTEXT01>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS (ICRC), 2011. Available at:
<http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/interview/2011/south-sudaninterview-2011-08-29.htm>. Accessed in 09 Sep 2011.
SCHUMANN, Peter. International Actors in Sudan: The Politics of Implementing
Comprehensive Peace. In: HEINRICH BÖLL STIFTUNG. Sudan: No easy ways ahead.
Publication Series on Democracy, v. 18. 2010.
INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP. Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement: Beyond
the Crisis. 13 March 2008. Africa Briefing n. 50. Available at: <http://www.
crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/africa/horn-of-africa/sudan/B050%20Sudans%20
Comprehensive%20Peace%20Agreement%20Beyond%20the%20Crisis.ashx>.
Accessed in 07 Sep 2010.
SHARKEY, Heather J. Arab Identity and Ideology in Sudan: The Politics of Language,
Ethnicity and Race. African Affairs, 107/426, 2008, p. 21-43.
______. Sudan: regional perspectives on the prospect of Southern independence.
Africa Report n. 159. 6 May, 2010a. Available at: <http://www.crisisgroup.
org/~/media/Files/africa/horn-of-africa/sudan/159%20Sudan%20Regional%20
Perspectives%20on%20the%20Prospect%20of%20Southern%20Independence.ashx>.
Accessed in 07 Sep 2010.
SOUTH SUDAN: World Leaders Welcome new Nation. BBC News, 2011. Available at:
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14095681>. Accessed in 16 Oct 2011.
JOHNSON, Douglas H. The root causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars. The International
African Institute, African Issues Series, 2004.
LADO, Cleophas. Political Economy of the Oil Industry in the Sudan: Problem or
Resource in Development. Erdkunde, Bonn, Germany, Bd. 56, H. 2, p. 157-169,
Apr. –Jun., 2002. Available at: <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25647450>. Accessed in
07 Sep 2011.
MARCHAL, Roland. The Regional Dimension of Sudanese Politics. Sudan – No Easy
Ways Ahead, Berlin, Germany, v. 18, 2010, p. 79-96.
SIKAINGA, Ahmad A. Slave into workers: emancipation and labor in Colonial Sudan.
University of Texas Press, 1996.
SUDAN. U.S. Department of State, Background Notes. Apr 8, 2011. Available at:
<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5424.htm>. Accessed in Nov 18 2011.
SULIMAN, Mohamed. Civil War in Sudan: The Impact of Ecological Degradation.
Contributions in Black Studies: v.15, Article 7. Available at: <http://scholarworks.
umass.edu/cibs/vol15/iss1/7. Accessed in 25 Nov 2011.
THE ADDIS ABABA AGREEMENT ON THE PROBLEM OF SOUTH SUDAN, 1972. Available
at: <http://www.goss-online.org/magnoliaPublic/en/about/politicalsituation/
mainColumnParagraphs/00/content_files/file3/Addis%20Ababa%20Agreement.pdf>.
Accessed in 16 Oct 2011.
TUCKER, Archibald N. The Linguistic Situation in the Southern Sudan. Africa: Journal
of the International African Institute. Vol. 7, No. 1, Jan. 1934, p.38-39. Available at:
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/3180486>. Accessed in 07 Aug 2011.
525
Simulação das Nações Unidas para Secundaristas – 2012
UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME SUDAN (UNDP Sudan), 2011. Available
at: <http://www.sd.undp.org/UNDP_protocol_areas.htm>. Accessed in 09 Sep 2011.
______. 2011. Available at: <http://www.sd.undp.org/UNDP_south_sudan.htm>.
Accessed in 09 Sep 2011.
UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR South Sudan) 2011a.
Available at: <http://unhcr-south-sudan.org/>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
______. 2011b. Available at: <http://unhcr-south-sudan.org/return/>. Accessed in 05
Oct 2011.
______. 2011c. Available at: <http://unhcr-south-sudan.org/projects/>. Accessed in 05
Oct 2011.
______. 2011d. Available at: <http://unhcr-south-sudan.org/refugees-in-southsudan/>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
526
UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SUDAN (UNMIS). Abyei Protocol Fact Sheet. 2009.
Available at: < http://unmis.unmissions.org/Portals/UNMIS/Fact%20Sheets/FSabyeiprotocol.pdf>. Accessed in 02 Oct 2011.
UNITED NATIONS NEWS CENTRE, 2011. Available at: < http://www.un.org/apps/news/
story.asp?NewsID=38982&Cr=south+sudan&Cr1=>. Accessed in 04 Oct 2011.
UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL (UNSC), 2011. Resolution 1990. Available at:
<http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/1990%282011%29>.
Accessed in 17 Nov 2011.
UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (USAID), 2011a. Available
at: <https://sisp-sudan.com/?pname=overview>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
______. 2011b. Available at: <https://sisp-sudan.com/?pname=open&id=447&type=ht
ml&c=5>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.
UNMIS/RRR, 14 January 2009 [In] INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT MONITORING CENTRE
(IDMC), 2009. Available at: < http://www.internal-displacement.org/idmc/website/
countries.nsf/(httpEnvelopes)/99FC33951F6D6779C12578E80055B38E?OpenDocume
nt>. Accessed in: 05 Oct 2011.
WORLD FOOD PROGRAM, 2011. Available at: <http://www.wfp.org/stories/road-workpaves-way-southern-sudan>. Accessed in 05 Oct 2011.