AFRICA/SUDAN - Peace at risk in South Sudan say 10 NGOs working in the country

Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – Peace is at risk in southern Sudan. This it was has been revealed by a report submitted by 10 NGOs, including some Catholic ones, working in the region. According to the report, entitled "Rescuing the Peace in Southern Sudan", "the next 12 months will be critical for the future of Sudan. As the country marks the fifth anniversary of the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended a devastating civil war, southern Sudan has seen a major upsurge in violence. In 2009, some 2,500 people were killed and 350,000 fled their homes." In early January 139 people were killed in an attack on the Nuer tribe, rivals of the Dinka. In the attack, which also caused 54 injuries, 5 thousand head of cattle were looted.
The document states that the violence stems from several factors that intersect each other, "tensions between northern and southern Sudan, including over CPA implementation, have resulted in clashes within joint north–south military units. Competition over natural resources combined with widespread ownership of small arms is fuelling violence between southern Sudan’s many tribes. The region also continues to be badly affected by attacks from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a vicious rebel group with origins in northern Uganda.”
Under the agreements of 2005, the southern Sudan, has an autonomous interim administration until a referendum in 2011 to determine whether the region will become an independent country from Khartoum. Representatives of former guerrillas of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (MPLA) have joined the central government in Khartoum, but this year there will be elections and that too is a factor that raises tension between the two Sudanese components.
In the background remains the control of Sudanese oil resources, mostly concentrated in southern regions or in areas disputed between north and south Sudan. But there are also other factors such as lack of infrastructure (roads and water works) that increase tensions among the southern Sudanese tribes over control of fertile lands and water, in addition to the disappointment of the people for the lack of development in large areas of the region. To stop the spiral of violence, according to the authors of the report, there should be an increase in humanitarian aid to local populations, providing support to the structures of the Church and local NGOs (both, the report said, "are often the only entity capable of reaching rural communities and have a unique understanding of their needs") and a strong development program supported by the international community should be launched. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 8/1/2010)