South Sudan Gets UN Nod: Hard Road Lies Ahead
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 1:49PMThe international community is less than 24 hours away from recognizing South Sudan as the world’s newest state.
UN Security Council today recommended the new Republic of Southern Sudan as the 193rd member of the United Nations.The General Assembly will vote tomorrow to officially recognize the Republic of Southern Sudan at UN headquarters in New York , where the country’s flag will be raised during a special ceremony.
After over two decades of civil war, Southern Sudanese overwhelmingly voted in favor of independence from the North in a referendum earlier this year.
Although the vote was meant to be the culminating point of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South, both countries still have to deal with a number of unresolved issues, such as the question of citizenship, demarcation of borders and ongoing violence in regions like Southern Kordofan and Abyei.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon urged both Northern and Southern leaders to continue working towards a peaceful solution to the unresolved elements of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
“A viable South will need a viable North and vice versa. Together South and North must face their common future as partners, not rivals” Ban Ki Moon told Security Council members.
One of the poorest and least developed regions in the world, Southern Sudan will also face the difficult task of providing basic services to a growing population with little existing infrastructure available through out the country.
Ban warned UN member states that now was not the time to end funding to Southern Sudan, and called on the international community continue providing much needed resources.
“In many ways our work has just begun. Institutions of government are weak. There are tremendous challenges on every front: social services, health, education” said the Secretary General. “At the day of its birth, South Sudan ranks at the bottom of almost all human development indicators. Like any newborn, South Sudan needs help. Our responsabilities are enormous.”