Local drumist, Ajing Deng beats the drum as the dancers follows along. With him is a very young boy who is also caugh up in the action of drum beating. He is at it at a very young age, but its part of the rich tradition of the Sudanese culture.

International focus moved away from Sudan’s long civil war toward the regional rebellion and government’s genocidal reaction that began in Darfur around 2003. Darfur rebels became active with the objective of being included into the peace talks that resulted with the CPA deal. Unfortunately, they were excluded for reasons that are still not clear to me.

The signing of the CPA initiated a six-year interim period, during which time the central government in Khartoum and the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan are to pass laws that will allow the two regions to coexist. Border issues are to be resolved, oil wealth distribution is to be made equitable, cencus and election legislation is to be passed. According to the CPA, if the two regions are still unable to coexist after the six years, then in 2011, Southern Sudan will hold a self-determination referendum to decide whether or not for independence, creating Africca’s newest independent state.

The 5th anniversary and Sudan’s first democratic, multiparty elections to be held in April 2010 are drawing more attention to the situation in all of Sudan. The myopic, but still important, focus on Darfur is being brought into the fold of the larger and more precarious situation in Southern Sudan, where much of the civil war was fought. If war returns to Southern Sudan, it will consume all of Sudan and the larger region.

One of the symptoms of the resurgent interest in maintaining the CPA in Sudan is Sudan 365, A Beat for Peace. Musicians from around the world (Sudan, UK, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Ireland, Egypt, Rwanda, Spain, Russia, USA, India, and elsewhere), take a video of themselves playing (mostly) percussian instruments that have been edited together in the video below as a single music video. Known artists like Radiohead’s Philip Selway, Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason, Snow Patrol’s Jonny Quinn, the Police’s Stewart Copeland, have participated.

If you want to add your beat to the melée, you just need to upload your peace beat. It’s time to get the drums out and call your friends!

The material presented in the report comes from workshops in Malakal, Juba, Bor and Khartoum in May and June 2009, just after my own visit to Southern Sudan, although I went to Juba, Wau, Aweil and Abyei. Information comes from input during the workshops by local and international NGOs, faith group, politicians, government officials, civil society organizations and “others”.

The report defines four scenarios based on two uncertainties: 1) whether the country will be at war or at peace, and 2) whether the country will remain united or whether the south will secede from the north (see diagram below).

FOUR (five) SCENARIOS:

In the document’s executive summary, five main findings arose from the exercise of creating these four scenarios:

1. “It may not be wise to direct all long-term attention to developmental rather than humanitarian assistance.” because, the report stipulates, even in the best scenario (self-professed as the ‘CPA Hurray!’ scenario) “small-scale conflicts are still likely.”;
2. The ‘CPA Hurray!’ scenario is worth pursuing as a strategy because it “promises a less violent future.” But, according to this report (and this recent report), it “appears less plausible”.
3. The materialization of “free and fair elections is essential, not only to guarantee peace, but as the only peaceful way to bring about unity,” which according to September 2007 focus group survey, A Place to Call Their Own, as well as the report’s own southern focus groups, most Southerners do not want.
4. “Continuous outside mediation and pressure is needed to get all parties to implement the CPA and to make unity attractive.” It continues to explain that the “time horizon” needs more flexibility and needs to be extended beyond 2012. The need to talk about a “post-2012 period” is paramount particularly “about what unity might look like” to make the pre-2012 period “more manageable.”
5. “The critical difference between a successful and unsuccessful outcome will be to a large extent determined by whether the South has a stable, cooperative and confident leadership.”

The interesting future histories in Sudan between 2009-2012, created by the report’s author, lead to each of the four post-2012 Sudan scenarios are followed by the suggestions and policy options for the international community. They are well researched and seem to portray the current situation in Southern Sudan. Future histories are then formulated to create each of the four scenarios.

Based on the five main findings outlined above, the report seems to favour scenario #3, which represents the point of view of Northern focus groups, who view ‘CPA Hurray!’ as “a romantic but possible scenario.” The members of Southern focus groups expressed a belief that “a renewed war between the North and the South next to unavoidable” so scenarios one and two were most likely to them.

Possibly the most interesting element in the report is the identification by the Northern focus groups of a fifth “Stagnation’ scenario within the ‘no war’ and ‘united’ quadrant of the diagram. Based on a third uncertainty, which is given little attention these days, is the possibility that neither the 2010 elections nor the 2011 referendum will take place. They believe that “because elites in power in Khartoum and Juba have little to gain from [a election and a referendum], and prefer the present situation to continue.” This status quo situation would allow Sudanese and international actors to “muddle through, continuing to ‘band aid’ the Sudanese system together.”

The arbitration agreement between the Government of Sudan and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) was received by the Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 11, 2008 with both parties agreeing to a “final and binding” decision by the tribunal.

On July 14, 2004, the Abyei Boundaries Commission published its report that outlined Abyei’s boundaries to an area that was much larger than Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party previously claimed. They subsequently rejected the commission’s report, stating that the Commission exceeded its mandate. The case was then referred to the Tribunal.

Arbitration Award Map (source: Permanent Court of Arbitration, July 22, 2009)

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The Tribunal’s mandate was to determine whether the Abyei Boundaries Commission exceeded its mandate “to define and demarcate the area of the nine Ngok Dinka cheifdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905.” The Tribunal determined the excess of mandate by reviewing the Abyei Boundaries Commission (ABC)’s interpretation and implementation of their mandate. The Tribunal’s press release reads, “The Tribunal therefore finds that the ABC Experts DID NOT EXCEED their mandate in interpreting their mandate…”

The Tribunal concludes however “that the ABC Experts EXCEEDED their mandate in certain areas of its implementation.” The ABC’s mandate was exceeded for the drawing of the northernmost border of the “Ngok Dinka and Misseriya’s ’shared rights’ area at latitude 10°35′N [...] because they did not provide sufficient reasoning.” The Tribunal found that “there was NOT an excess of mandate” regarding the ABC’s drawing of the northern limit of Ngok Dinka’s area of permanent habitation transferred in 1905. However, the eastern and western boundaries chosen by the ABC was determined to be “in excess of mandate for failure to state sufficient reasoning.”

Abyei's former market area (April 2009)

Abyei Arbitration Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration thus delimited a new boundary (see above map) that is somewhat smaller than the one represented in mauve by the Abyei Boundaries Commission.

According to a report by Miraya FM, the head of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party, Al Dirdiri Mohamed Ahmed, stated that “the [Tribunal's] decision supports NCP’s vision regarding the [border's] demarcation.” Minister of Foreign Affairs and member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, Deng Alor, “welcomed the Court’s decision and assured the movement’s commitment of the ruling.” Mohamed Ali Alansari, a leader from the Misseriya tribe stated that they are “studying the judgement to determine a final position.”

Central Abyei street scene (April 2009)

Abyei is an important oil-producing region of Sudan, which in 2003 provided approximately 25% of Sudan’s total oil production. Defined within the Abyei Protocol (Chapter IV of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement), Abyei is “the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905.” Residents of Abyei are define as “Members of the Ngok Dinka community and other Sudanese residing in the area.” The Arab Misseriya pastoralists are not specifically mentioned as residents of the area and their grazing rights in this pasture-rich region—as prescribed in the Abyei Protocol—are a source of conflict.

Central Abyei street scene (April 2009)

The Protocol outlines the sharing of oil revenues between the northern Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan. The CPA provides for a self-determination referendum for Southern Sudan in 2011, as well as a separate ballot referendum within Abyei “to retain its special administrative status in the north” or “to be part of Bahr el Ghazal” located in the south. Abyei’s decision will be irrespective of the South’s decision in the 2011 self-determination referendum.

Central Abyei street scene (April 2009)

On May 14, 2008, a battle erupted between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee south to the Agok area where most of the displaced people remain in precarious conditions. Much of the town Abyei was destroyed by the conflict. One year later, as these recent photos portray, the town has yet to recover. As a result of the bloody fighting that left up to, the two parties decided to resolve the issue with the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

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Further reading:

- Abyei: Emir of the mujahidin in the Misseriya tribe rejects PCA’s ruling (25 July, 2009)

- Declaration on Abyei ruling by South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit (23 July, 2009)

- INSTANT VIEW: Court ruling on Sudan’s Abyei region (22 July, 2009)

- Sudan: Backslaps and caveats over Abyei (22 July 2009)

- Sudan: Abyei Briefing (21 July 2009)

- Sudan: Breaking the Abyei Deadlock (12 October 2007)

- Sudan: Abyei Boundary Commission report (16 August 2005)

These elections are a cornerstone of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army. Another is the Southern self-determination referendum, scheduled for 2011 at the end of the peace deal’s six-year interim period. Both are absolutely dependent on the results of Sudan’s 2008 National Census.

On June 28, 2009, Eric Reeves published General Elections and Southern Self-Determination: At Growing Risk about the serious challenges facing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and Sudan’s ability/desire to hold fair and democratic elections. According to Reeves’ website, he “has spent the past ten years working full-time as a Sudan researcher and analyst, publishing extensively both in the US and internationally.” Even before starting his article, he begins with the statement:

“Increasingly pessimistic assessments of Sudan’s scheduled national elections (February 2010) [recently postponed until April 2010] make clear that the 2011 Self-Determination Referendum is deeply endangered. If the referendum is aborted, or occurs amidst the grim environment in prospect, it will re-ignite country-wide war.”

The paper is divided into sections that detail the various components that effectively compromise the election/referendum process in Sudan: 1) Sudan’s national census; 2) Logistical, technical, and administrative obstacles; 3) Censorship; 4) Khartoum’s efforts to destabilize the south; 4) Elections in Darfur; and 5) US policy towards Khartoum and the elections.

Near the former Abyei Market after May 2008 Crisis that saw heavy fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Army and displaced up to 100,000 people.

The contested results of Sudan’s 2008 national census, which is the critical first step in determining electoral boundaries and demographic details for resource distribution, have—according to Reeves—”serious anomalies that deserve attention.” The Director of the Census Commission, Awad Haj Ali, has suggested that displaced Southern Sudanese living in the north have been under-counted to 500,000 but may be as many as 1.5 million people. Considering the estimates of four to five million southerners displaced to the north during the war and a May 27 report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center that 2.24 million IDP’s have returned to the South, there could even more southerners uncounted in the census. The government of Sudan’s insistence that the census form not ask the questions of place of birth or origin may have influenced the results.

Other issues include the results for Darfur, which did not include the the internally displaced people in their camps. The increase by 332% in the population of migratory Arab groups in Darfur—who would presumably vote for Sudan’s governing National Islamic Front/National Congress Party (NIF/NCP)— is, according to Government of South Sudan Minister of Presidential Affairs, “the strangest thing” in the results for Darfur that Reeves states is “the most conspicuous anomaly.”

The implications for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Southern representation loosing millions of votes in the upcoming elections, could reduce representation of the SPLM in the National Assembly to something approximating 21% that the census classifies as “Southern.” With a percentage below 25 in Sudan’s National Assembly, Southern representatives would no longer have the ability to reject constitutional amendments, which may allow the governing NIF/NCP to use legislative majority to “revoke key elements of the CPA, including the right to self-determination, or to extort an unacceptably high price for it.”

Reeves’ 14-page report reveals the fragility of the peace in Sudan as indicated no only in its first paragraph cited above but also in its last sentence, “On present course, both elections and peace in Sudan are doomed.” I hope for the people in Southern Sudan who I met and who are hoping for a solidified peace to settle in their country that the “growing risk” will be averted.

Interesting article:

- Sudanese Return to be Counted (BBC, April 2008)

World Food Program warehouse in Malual Kon, Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, March 2009

Without context, the article is no more than another record of ‘tribal’ violence in an African country already mired by war. Without prior knowledge of the situation in Southern Sudan—and the Canadian media provides very little—the details are meaningless. Actually, Southern Sudan is in a post-war renaissance that may lead to a lasting peace, self-determination and independence; if, and only if, they can hold on to the four-year-old peace that Le Devoir describes as “already fragile.”

It’s important that news about Southern Sudan gets reported because newsworthy stories in Sudan are not just related to Darfur or to the International Criminal Court indictment of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, which deserve media attention for the international condemnation and reduction of human rights abuses that can come from exposure. But the situation in Southern Sudan is also in need of media scrutiny to support democratization and to help maintain a fragile peace deal that ended Africa’s longest civil war between the government of Sudan and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Army.

Sudan’s second civil war since its 1956 independence from British colonialism, lasted 21 years and officially ended on January 9, 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in neighbouring Nairobi, Kenya. The CPA set up a power-sharing structure between the central government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement with the creation of a coalition Government of National Unity for all of Sudan and the Government of Southern Sudan; both with new interim constitutions. The agreement allows for the transformation of the Southern rebel forces into a regular army for semi-autonomous Southern Sudan with Joint Integrated Units of both armies in specific border areas. It prescribes oil revenue-sharing protocols and the establishment of a border between the north and south of Sudan, which will transect oil-producing areas.

An interim period of six years is established to implement the peace agreement, after which the South can hold a referendum to decide to remain within Sudan or to opt for complete independence. This is tentatively scheduled for 2011.

Approximately two million people were killed during the war and about four million were displaced from their homes to other regions of Sudan and nearly one million refugees fled to neighbouring countries. Since its independence 53 years ago, Sudan has been at peace for only 15 of those years (1972-1983: Addis Ababa Agreement, and since the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement). Despite these statistics, almost no editorial space in Canadian media is given to the current situation in Southern Sudan.

Media attention of the region was particularly abundant during the 1988 famine when more than 250,000 people starved to death. But since the signing of the peace deal, the media has focused more on the conflict in Darfur than the tenuous peace in the South. The negotiations of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement with former southern rebels may have added to the current civil war in Darfur, whose own rebels wanted to be included in peace negotiations but were kept from it.

The entrance of the UNMIS compound in Abyei, April 2009

Sudan presently hosts UNMIS, the largest United Nations mission in the world (not including the UN African Union Mission in Darfur) with a mandate of “supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement… [and] facilitating the voluntary return of refugees and displaced persons.”

Why is the movement of refugees and displaced people more newsworthy when they flee war and persecution than when they return to the homelands they were previously forced to flee? The story of returnees to the south is a mirror into the future for Darfur refugees whose current situation is a glimpse into the past for the Southern Sudanese still struggling with their new peacetime conditions.

The civil war now raging in Darfur has displaced more than 2.25 million people since 2003*, while more than 2.24 million Southern Sudanese have returned to their homeland since 2005*. Both are impressive migrations of people that require an important amount of support from the United Nations and other NGOs to help them resettle. Donor countries like Canada, which provides $66.8 million in humanitarian aid to Sudan*, have an influence in Sudan’s future and also need journalistic scrutiny.

Recently settled homes in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal, March 2009

Those that return to their homeland in the south believe that the peace deal will endure and are eager to help rebuild the country, while many are still unwilling to return for fear of the re-emergence of war. Those that do return, discover that—in many areas—living conditions in the war-ravaged south are more difficult than the areas where they are returning from: lack of sufficient drinking water, no schools, nor clinics and a difficult means for livelihood generation. Most arrive in their homeland after more than a decade of absence with little more than a few belongings. NGOs provide some with a tarp to set up a temporary shelter, blankets, water containers, cooking utensils and other non-food items, while the World Food Program provides food subsidies.

Being a refugee from war and a returnee to peace—both in Sudan—look all too similar and deserve equal attention. Media attention about Darfur needs to continue to help end the war there and it needs to begin about Southern Sudan to help it cling to its tenuous peace.

I recount anecdotes of my time in Southern Sudan to friends, family, journalists and am reminded of how little we know about the place, which beckons a second visit. How the media focuses on the war in Darfur, or the International Criminal Court arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir but completely ignore the immense challenges facing the southern part of the country as it adapts to times of relative peace four years after the signing of the January 9, 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended 21 years of civil war.

Few people I’ve spoken with realize that Sudan is divided in two: Sudan and Southern Sudan with a coalition Government of National Unity dominated by President Omar al-Bashir’s National Congress Party for the whole of Sudan, and a semi-autonomous Southern Sudan led by President Salva Kiir Mayardit’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. Salva Kiir is also First Vice-President of Sudan under the power-sharing peace deal. Even fewer people I’ve spoken with are aware that under the mandate of the CPA, Southern Sudan is scheduled—at the end of its post-war six-year interim period—to hold a referendum in 2011 that will determine whether or not Africa’s largest country will be divided, giving independence to the South.

In the meantime, what has happened to the one million people that have been living as refugees in neighbouring countries for up to two decades, or to the four million Internally Displaced People (IDPs) who were uprooted from their homes when they fled the fighting? More than two million have already returned to their traditional homeland in the south, which was devastated by the war. How are the returnees adjusting to the tenuous peace now that they have returned to regions they no longer recognize, or for the younger ones, have never lived in?

Below are IDPs during their return to Southern Sudan in 2008 as coordinated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Nearly all of the Southern Sudanese I had the pleasure of speaking with while visiting the south have returned to their traditional homelands only within the last two years. Many left when they were very young while some were born in exile, which required of them complete readaptation to a homeland they do not know.

Why is our media uninterested in following the story of an African region the size of France after the end of what has been described as the Twentieth Century’s longest and bloodiest civil war? Five million displaced and two mimmion dead! What is it about the initiation of peace and democracy that persuades news editors to look elsewhere for stories? This virtual blackout of information about Southern Sudan is what led me to visit. I wanted to meet the people who are making the transition to a peaceful society.

Now that I’ve returned, I have more questions than before, but they are no longer based on a total lack of information. How does a rebel army like the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) make the transition from rebel forces to official army of Southern Sudan and member of the Joint Integrated Units with its former foe, the Sudan Armed Forces? How is former soldier, Lt. General Salva Kiir Mayardit adapting to his new job as President of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and First Vice President of Sudan’s interim Government of National Unity (GNU)? What are the most imposing obstacles to the peace agreement (and there are many: serious underdevelopment, food insecurity, intertribal conflicts, international pressures, border disputes, resource sharing, slow/non implementation of CPA requirements, census results, February 2010 national elections, the 2011 independence referendum, etc.)

I will attempt to address the above questions and others in future posts to this blog so I invite you to return here and comment on what your read. I am in regular contact with people I met in Southern Sudan and will be following their stories and the story of Sudan as it unfolds. I’ve just begun to review the thousands of photographs, hours of video footage, dozens of audio interviews, and the pages and pages of notes taken throughout my trip. I’ve started reading the books, reports, newspapers and documents I picked up while in Southern Sudan and have consolidated the names and contact details of people I met there. I’m reviewing websites of organizations I came across in Sudan and am adding links to the relevant ones to the sidebar on this blog. There are many news blogs that provide regularly updated news about Sudan, many of which I’ve added RSS feeds here as well.

Burningbillboard.org is my South Sudan resource gathering point. If you are interested, it can also be yours.

I haven’t had the opportunity to post in the last two weeks as I continued to visit sites, interview people and learn more about the complexities of Southern Sudan.

Once I return to Montréal in early May, I will begin to review my pages of notes and hundreds of photos taken during the sevens weeks in Southern Sudan. I will view the hours of video footage and listen to the dozens of audio interviews recorded during the visit. The books, newspapers, reports and other written documentation collected during the visit will be read and analysed upon return.

Here are a selection of photographs taken during the visit that portray remnants of Sudan’s civil war that ended in January 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Most photos were taken in Abyei Transitional Area and reflect the city of Abyei since the May 2008 Crisis that erupted in fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, leaving the town much destroyed.

IMAGES FROM WAU:

IMAGES FROM ABYEI:

Now there is little to do but hunker down and wait four to six weeks for an response. A favourable response, of course because it is not possible to consider otherwise but I know I must. “What is you plan B?” I’ve been asked more than once. What if the funding proposal is not accepted? Do I have a plan B? I’m working on one but I’ll keep it to myself for now until I need it, to avoid jinxing myself. An ace in the hole.

The process or compiling the dossier had the effect of adding the thermals under my wings gliding me closer to East Africa. At this point, there is nothing I’d rather work toward.

Before leading myself to South Sudan, I would have claimed total ignorance of the situation there. Its history, geography, economy were all vague or altogether absent in my mind. One has to dig to get information about this southern autonomous region of Sudan because no media attention is given to a place that has left war behind. All of Sudan’s media coverage is now focussed on the western Darfur region. The situation in Darfur deserves all the scrutiny it can get. But what will happen to Darfur when the killing is over and safety returns to the battered area, when the refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) return to their homelands and rebuild? How does a place recuperate from years of war and devastation? How do its people recover from large-scale slaughter, long-term displacement and distrust?

Since the end of Sudan’s 21-year civil war between the Khartoum-based Government of Sudan and the southern Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, Southern Sudan is living through recovery. A protracted recovery guided by the three-year-old Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

Through this project that will (hopefully) bring me to South Sudan, I want to learn about the challenges facing the South as it recovers. I want to get familiar with peace sustainability issues rather than conflict. And I want to share what I find with anyone interested.

What are the challenges faced by the millions of refugees and IDPs returning to their homeland where basic infrastructure (schools, roads, wells, etc) is often lacking for the receiving communities already living there? What is the international community doing to help and what of South Sudan’s civil society? What crucial role are women playing in the South’s emergence into itself? What role are the media assuming as they emerge in South Sudan with upcoming elections and a secession referendum as mandated for 2011 by the CPA? What is the South Sudanese diaspora in Canada are doing regarding their homeland’s newfound peace, because from what I understand, many men who came to Canada as refugees—and who brought their families with them—have returned to South Sudan to participate in its development?

I’ll continue to dig into the issues from here in preparation for a visit to South Sudan, and I’ll continue to share my impressions as they evolve.

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In the meantime, here is a video about Sultan Jambo or “Kabara Bera”, the unofficial town crier of Juba, south Sudan’s capital, who drives around the city broadcasting information through speakers atop his pickup truck. He has become the fastest way to get an urgent message across Juba. Fifty-one-year-old Sultan tells eager listeners the latest news of the day and other relevant messages.

Juba Town Crier — UNMIS — 2:06

(source: UniFeed, 19 Sept, 2008)

I’ve been asked over and over again, “Why Sudan?!” My immediate response — and the one which flows generously from my lips is, “Why not!” But I actually have dozens of reasons for chosing Sudan: First off, It’s the country with the largest geographic area in Africa and it’s in crisis! A 21-year civil war ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on January 9, 2005 between the government of The Sudan, based in country’s capital Khartoum and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) from the south of the country. The relative peace has persisted in the south of the country but another civil war in the western Sudananese region of Darfur rages on. The murderous attacks in Darfur started in 2003 between the Sudanese Army with its Janjaweed allies, and rebel forces: the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

Since most attention is given to the war in Darfur (which it deserves), I though it would be interesting to learn about a part of Sudan that is in a post-conflict transition toward peace and democracy. Besides, I have a friend who is contracted by UNOPS and is based in South Sudan’s capital, Juba. And he said I can stay with him if I come. Although he may not be there when I go, he said he will help with contacts. How could I refuse an offer like that? Sudan is one of the least developed regions of the world, ranked 147th out of 177 countries in a 2007 UNDP Human Development Report. South Sudan (and the western region of Darfur) are the neglected areas of Sudan and may actually rank lower than the whole of Sudan.

Another reason to go to South Sudan, is to dive into my new identity without hesitation. Tear myself away from the complacency of North American comfort and go somewhere I know little about because mainstream media offers me little about this part of Sudan. Most of the killing is taking place elsewhere in the country, in Darfur. The same massacres that tormented the South are being repeated in Darfur. One civil war ends and another begins but the patterns remain the same. Foreign media follow the killings, express their outrage while forgetting Sudan’s past, its previous war. They ignore the future of the places they have left behind in search of front page stories, dreadful images and a higher circulation rates. Kaching.

I am interested in South Sudan’s future and I want to understand how its present will lead it there. I want to see for myself what the end of Africa’s longest civil war looks like. How quickly does the scent of peace waft across 589,745 km² to reach the 8.5 million people? What is the stench of peace to the millions of refugees now returning to the South, to villages whose ashes have long since melted into the desert? What does democracy taste like to the southerners who have an opportunity to vote for the first time in elections in 2009; and again in 2011 in a referendum for independence?

In Québec, we’ve had two referendums to decide whether or not to seperate from the rest of Canada. Both times (in 1980 and 1995) the electorate decided (in 1995 with a slight margin: 50.58% “No” to 49.42% “Yes”) that seperation was for another time. What will Sudan’s southerners decide? How will they be informed about the options and what are the logistic challenges for preparing for a referendum? Will the North government allow the South to take its land and resources behind international lines? These are questions I want to understand and questions I will investigate while on the ground in South Sudan. I arrive in Juba mid-January 2009.

For now, I have more reading to do. More contacts to make. An itinerary to determine. Interviews to set up and visas to obtain.