"Even the weak become strong when they are united." -Johann Friedrich Von Schiller
"Necessity unites." -German Proverb
Now that Sudan's civil war has come to an end, the south will be building a new nation and what they need most of all is unity. While the South was united in its campaign against the North, now that the battle is over fighting has started to erupt in the south among the tribal groups. As Christians we are told that there is one body of Christ, but it is made up of many different parts. Each part has its function or duty, and as a whole, we are better off as believers for what the diversity brings to us. Even though we are different, we are united by our faith in Jesus Christ and all other distinctions pale in comparison to what we have in common. This month as we pray for the Christians in Sudan, let us pray that the believers there would be an example of unity for the rest of this new nation. Remember, our allegiance is not to an earthly kingdom, but to a heavenly one. We are simply passing through as strangers in a land that is not our own. The conflicts in the Sudan are far from over, and civil war could break out again at any time. But we serve a God that is faithful and powerful, even in the midst of uncertainty and danger. Usually, that is when he shows up the most; or maybe that's just when we are paying the most attention. Either way, lets pray for God's Spirit to be at work among the people in Sudan as they come together to build this new nation. Hopefully, a nation of peace, with freedom to worship God where hatred has no home.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Northern Sudan
Basic Info: Northern Sudan borders the Red Sea, between Egypt and Eritrea. It is slightly more than one-quarter the size of the US, and it is generally flat, with featureless plains. Desert dominates the north part of the country, and some of the country’s problems include inadequate supplies of portable water, wildlife populations threatened by excessive hunting, soil erosion, desertification, and periodic drought. Of the 45,047,502 population, 8,260,490 is South Sudan. About 40% of the population is urban. Arabic and English are the official languages, but Nubian, Ta Bedawie, and Fur are widely spoken as well. The CIA has noted that there is a program of "Arabization" in process.
Government: The government has what is called the Government of National Unity (GNU) which is a power-sharing government. In 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was formed between the National Congress Party (NCP) {formerly the National Islamic Front} and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). The NCP, which came to power by military coup in 1989, is the majority partner. The agreement stipulated national elections in 2009, but these were subsequently rescheduled. Elections took place in April 2010 and the NCP was elected as the majority party. Due to the CPA stipulations, there is also an autonomous government in Southern Sudan where SPLM holds the majority of positions. Also, under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Interim National Constitution was ratified July 5, 2005. The Constitution of Southern Sudan was signed December 2005. The President is Umar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, and he has been the President since 1993. Al-Bashir assumed power as chairman of Sudan's Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation (RCC) in June 1989 and served concurrently as chief of state, chairman of the RCC, prime minister, and minister of defense until mid-October 1993 when he was appointed president by the RCC. He was elected president by popular vote for the first time in March 1996. The Council of Ministers is appointed by the President and his cabinet is dominated by the NCP. The bicameral National Legislature consists of a Council of States and a National Assembly (450 seats; 60% from geographic constituencies, 25% from a women's list, and 15% from party lists). The legal system is a mix of Islamic law and English common law.
Civil War: Sudan was embroiled in two prolonged civil wars during most of the remainder of the 20th century. These conflicts were rooted in northern economic, political, and social domination of largely non-Muslim, non-Arab southern Sudanese. The first civil war ended in 1972 but broke out again in 1983. The second war and famine-related effects resulted in more than four million people displaced and, according to rebel estimates, more than two million deaths over a period of two decades. Peace talks gained momentum in 2002-04 with the signing of several accords. The final North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in January 2005, granted the southern rebels autonomy for six years followed by a referendum on independence for Southern Sudan. The referendum was held in January 2011 and indicated overwhelming support for independence. A separate conflict, which broke out in the western region of Darfur in 2003, has displaced nearly two million people and caused an estimated 200,000 to 400,000 deaths. The UN took command of the Darfur peacekeeping operation from the African Union in December 2007. Peacekeeping troops have struggled to stabilize the situation, which has become increasingly regional in scope and has brought instability to eastern Chad. Sudan also has faced large refugee influxes from neighboring countries primarily Ethiopia and Chad. Armed conflict, poor transport infrastructure, and lack of government support have chronically obstructed the provision of humanitarian assistance to affected populations.
Economy: Since 1997, Sudan has been working with the IMF to implement macroeconomic reforms. Sudan began exporting crude oil in the last quarter of 1999 and the economy boomed on the back of increases in oil production, high oil prices, and significant inflows of foreign direct investment until the second half of 2008. The Darfur conflict, the aftermath of two decades of civil war in the south, the lack of basic infrastructure in large areas, and a reliance by much of the population on subsistence agriculture ensure much of the population will remain at or below the poverty line for years to come despite rapid rises in average per capita income. Currently about 40% of the population is below the poverty line. While the oil sector continues to drive growth, services and utilities play an increasingly important role in the economy with agriculture production remaining important as it employs 80% of the work force and contributes a third of GDP. In the lead up to the referendum on southern secession, which took place in January 2011, Sudan saw its currency depreciate considerably on the black market with the Central Bank's official rate also losing value as the Sudanese people started to hoard foreign currency. The Central Bank of Sudan intervened heavily in the currency market to defend the value of the pound and the Sudanese government introduced a number of measures to restrain excess local demand for hard currency, but uncertainty about the secession has meant that foreign exchange remains in heavy demand. The Sudanese Government directly controls TV and radio, requiring that both media reflect government policies. TV has a permanent military censor, but there is a private radio station that is in operation.
Religion: Muslim (61.38), Christian (26.11), Ethnoreligionist (11.10), Other (1.41)
Sunni Muslims are the majority, but mainly among the Sudanese Arabs in the north. The constitution offers some religious freedoms, but in reality, those freedoms are arbitrarily abused. The Naivasha Agreement established some protections for non-Muslims in the north (although apostasy is legally punishable by death), and it clarified that Islamic law does not apply in the south. But attempts to impose Islamic law―in infringement of several previous peace agreements―generate a hostile religious context and a cause of civil war. Persecution of the Church has been most intense since 1985. Deliberate attempts to eliminate a viable Christian presence are extreme and include bombing of Sunday church services; destruction of churches, hospitals, schools, mission bases and Christian villages; massacres and mutilation; and murder of pastors and leaders. Persecution has been especially severe in the Nuba Mountains. Whole areas have been laid waste and lands seized and given to Arabized northerners. Despite this, the number of Christians is growing―from 1.6 million in 1980 to 11 million in 2010.
Human Trafficking and Refugees: refugees (country of origin): 162,000 (Eritrea); 43,000 (Chad); 11,009 (Ethiopia) IDPs: more than 4 million (civil war 1983-2005; ongoing conflict in Darfur region) (2007) The effects of Sudan's almost constant fighting have affected all of the neighboring states. Since 2006, Chad, Ethiopia, Kenya, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda provided shelter for over half a million Sudanese refugees, which includes 240,000 Darfur residents. Sudan is also a source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking. Sudanese women and girls, particularly those from rural areas or who are internally displaced, are vulnerable to forced labor as domestic workers in homes throughout the country, and some are sexually abused by male occupants of the household or forced to engage in commercial sex acts. Sudanese women and girls are subjected to domestic servitude in Middle Eastern countries, such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, and to forced sex trafficking in European countries. Some Sudanese men who voluntarily migrate to the Middle East as low-skilled laborers face conditions indicative of forced labor. Sudanese children transit Yemen en route to Saudi Arabia, where they are used in forced begging and street vending, and reportedly work in exploitative labor situations for Sudanese traders in the Central African Republic. Sudan does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so. While the government took some steps to identify, demobilize, and reintegrate child soldiers during the reporting period, combating human trafficking through law enforcement, protection, or prevention measures was not a priority (2011).
South Sudan
History: Egypt attempted to colonize the region of southern Sudan by establishing the province of Equatoria in the 1870s. Islamic Mahdist revolutionaries overran the region in 1885, but in 1898 a British force was able to overthrow the Mahdist regime. An Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was established the following year with Equatoria being the southernmost of its eight provinces. The isolated region was largely left to itself over the following decades, but Christian missionaries converted much of the population and facilitated the spread of English. When Sudan gained its independence in 1956, it was with the understanding that the southerners would be able to participate fully in the political system. When the Arab Khartoum government reneged on its promises, a mutiny began that led to two prolonged periods of conflict (1955-1972 and 1983-2005) in which perhaps 2.5 million people died - mostly civilians - due to starvation and drought. Ongoing peace talks finally resulted in a Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in January 2005. As part of this agreement the south was granted a six-year period of autonomy to be followed by a referendum on final status. The result of this referendum, held in January 2011, was a vote of 98% in favor of secession. Independence was attained on 9 July 2011. Since January, heavy violence from the north has blanketed both nations. The United Nations reported that in the first four months of 2011, hundreds died and 94,000 were displaced due to the violence. The South Sudan-Sudan boundary represents the January 1, 1956, agreement, but the final alignment is pending negotiations and demarcation. There is still periodic violent skirmishes with South Sudanese residents over water and grazing rights among related pastoral populations along the border with the Central African Republic. The boundary that separates Kenya and South Sudan's sovereignty is unclear in the "Ilemi Triangle," which Kenya has administered since colonial times.
Basic Info: The South Sudan is a landlocked country slightly smaller than Texas. The official population is 8,260,490 according to the disputed 2008 census, but the actual number may be as high as 9.28 million. English and Arabic (includes Juba and Sudanese variants) are the official languages and regional languages include Dinka, Nuer, Bari, Zande, Shilluk. The Government of South Sudan announced in August 2010 that anyone younger than 18 years of age would be mustered out of the army, but 900 children were estimated to still be active at the end of that year. In April 2011, a conscription program was being implemented to thwart recruitment of military-aged males into other armed groups (2011). Only 27% of the population over 15 is literate.
Government: The new government is a republic and the President is Salva Kiir Mayardit (since July 9, 2011 and he won 93% of the vote). The National Council of Ministers is appointed by the president and approved by a resolution from the Legislative Assembly. The president is elected by popular vote for a four year term and the next election will be in 2015. TV is controlled by the government, but several private FM stations are operational in South Sudan and some foreign radio broadcasts are available as well.
Economy: South Sudan’s industry and infrastructure are severely underdeveloped and poverty is rampant after decades of civil war with the north. Just 60 km of the road network is paved and much of it is in disrepair. The majority of the population depends on subsistence agriculture in order to provide a living. Electricity is produced mostly by costly diesel generators and running water is scarce. The government spends large sums of money to maintain a large army, and delays in paying salaries have resulted in riots by unruly soldiers. Ethnic conflicts have resulted in a large number of civilian deaths and displacement. South Sudan depends largely on imports of goods, services, and capital from the north. However, South Sudan does have abundant natural resources and South Sudan produces nearly three-fourths of the former Sudan's total oil output of nearly a half million barrels per day. Nearly 98% of the government’s revenue is from oil. South Sudan also holds one of the richest agricultural areas in Africa in the White Nile valley. South Sudan also contains large wildlife herds, which could possibly in the future attract eco-tourists. And the White Nile has sufficient flow to generate large quantities of hydroelectricity. South Sudan does not have large external debt or structural trade deficits. South Sudan has received more than $4 billion in foreign aid since 2005, largely from the UK, US, Norway, and Netherlands, but Khartoum (the Northern Sudan’s capital) has imposed blockades on goods and capital going to South Sudan. The World Bank plans to support investment in infrastructure, agriculture, and power generation. After independence, South Sudan's central bank plans to issue a new currency, the South Sudanese Pound, allowing a short grace period for turning in the old currency. Long term problems include alleviating poverty, maintaining macroeconomic stability, improving tax collection and financial management, focusing resources on speeding growth, and improving the business environment
Information compiled from CIA WorldFactBook "Sudan", "South Sudan", VOM Canada "Sudan"
-----------------------------------------------------------
'Lost Boy' focused on helping Sudan (Nov 27, 2011)
Sudan: Story of Muslim Persecuting Christians by Former Christian Slave (September 2, 2011)
Sudan Christians Suffering Ethnic Cleansing (August 31, 2011)
Samaritan's Purse-Food Distribution-South Sudan Air Drop (Aug 11, 2011)
Okari Worship Service - Southern Sudan
Sudan: Transit fee for oil export undecided (Dec 1, 2011)
Independence for South Sudan (July 8, 2011)
Sudan: Fight for the Heart of the South (July 8,2011)
Sudan: History of a Broken Land (Jan 5, 2011)
Sudan: Fight for the Soul of the North (July 2, 2011)
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
