When I got home from my visit to south Sudan, a few friends asked how my trip was to Darfur. This is a common error as most people don’t understand that Darfur is only one region of Sudan. With all the much-needed attention devoted to solving the crisis in Darfur, the challenges facing millions of south Sudanese who survived 21 years of war [1] have taken a back seat. Yet, we will not see peace in all of Sudan – including Darfur – if war returns to south Sudan.
I wanted to visit south Sudan to see first-hand what problems the people there are facing on a daily basis and to get a better sense of what challenges the international aid community is facing in helping the young government there maintain stability throughout the country. Up until the recent expulsion of aid workers in Darfur, the statistics on humanitarian conditions in the South were surprisingly worse than in Darfur. For example, only 10% of children in south Sudan are fully vaccinated against diseases, while nearly 30% of children in Darfur have received their vaccinations.
We arrived in Juba on Feb 19th, and the following morning flew to Agok -- a town where residents of Abyei fled after fighting broke out last May. We spoke to a number of displaced people there who complained of basic needs not being met. Food, medicine, schooling -- things that we take for granted everyday. Clean water is available from wells, but there aren’t enough wells. The women who have to collect the water are forced to walk long distances and stand in line at water pumps for long periods of time. This causes tension. There needs to be an easier way to access water.
In Bor, where heavy fighting took place throughout the 21-year war, nearly everyone there had returned home after years of exile and were struggling to rebuild their lives. Children go to school but there are not enough teachers. In most of the classrooms, there were few chairs and in one of the classrooms, there was not a single desk. Children hurry off to school carrying their plastic chairs, which gives new meaning to the expression, "Hang onto your seat."
But the greatest threat to these children is the danger of being abducted on their way to and from school by rival armed tribesman. These are not isolated incidents, but a very real threat. There are around 300 child abductions reported every year in Jonglei state. We saw nothing in the way of security other than villagers armed with AK-47’s.
Many people returning to their villages have spent years in cities like Khartoum and refugee camps in Kenya. For them there are difficulties readjusting to life on the farm. Many of these returnees have developed new skills but are unable to put them to use.
The problems these people face are many and yet they ask for very little. We visited villages and spoke to proud community leaders who only asked for training to help cultivate land that has been unused for many years. Another community leader told us that just one tractor would make a huge difference.
There is no quick fix to the problems facing south Sudan, but there is hope. I met many good people in south Sudan working for the UN and various aid agencies, but they are under funded and running on "petty cash," according to one UN official. And from the looks of things, I believe it. In an area larger than the state of Texas there are only 10 miles of paved road. Providing access to clean water, education and health care are all major issues. And most important, is the need for security.
A great deal of effort was put into ending the war between the North and South through the establishment of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. There is a responsibility on the part of the U.S. as well as the other countries who helped to broker the agreement, to see it through and support it. This agreement was signed four years ago, and the future of Darfur is linked to its success. Yet, as one UN official pointed out, all too often when the fighting stops, it’s assumed that the work is done. But in fact the hard work of keeping the peace is just beginning.
The signing of the agreement ended the war. Now work has to be done to sustain the peace and prevent a return to war.
Read more from Refugees International’s 30th Anniversary Guest Blogger Series. [2]