Southern Sudan: Results Show Nearly Unanimous Vote For Independence

Virtually every voter in Southern Sudan’s January 9th Independence referendum cast their ballot in favor of seceding from the North, according to results released by the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission on Friday. The Commission’s most recent count was at 98.7 percent in favor of independence.

With the independence referendum accepted as most observers expected, the focus will not be on other issue that are harder to manage.

In the months and weeks leading up to to the vote, tens of thousands of Southern Sudanese who had been displaced by years of fighting returned South, often to areas along the border with the North. Southern Sudan remains one of the poorest regions in the world, and some aid groups have voiced concerned that a large influx of internally displaced people could put a strain of the new state’s already weak infrastructure. 

 The new state and the government of Sudan in Khartoum will still have to deal with a number of unresolved issues in the coming months, including oil revenue sharing, citizenship and the status of disputed areas like the Abyei border region, where violence broke out during the voting.

Panel Believes Quality Education In Sudan Is Within Reach

Sarah Mamula - Talk Radio News Service

Sudan’s educational system is taking giant steps towards improving its quality, but a panel of experts said Friday at the United States Institute of Peace that there are still many more obstacles to overcome.

Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005, the northern-based National Congress Party (NCP) and the southern-based Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) shared government control of Sudan. When the interim period ends, Southern Sudan will have the option to vote and secede from a united Sudan, an outcome experts said is likely to occur. According to the panel, tough challenges lie ahead for a newly recognized state, and overhauling the education system is a major priority for the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS).

“Right now, we are in the process, in Southern Sudan, of creating a quality education system for the first time in the history of Southern Sudan,” said Marc Sommers, Associate Research Professor of Humanitarian Studies at The Fletcher School and expert on the region.

Senior Education Adviser at the Academy for Educational Development Elizabeth Leu said enrollment in primary and secondary schools has nearly doubled since 2005. Despite this success, Leu said the high dropout rate is one of many problems facing the education system.

“In 2009, there were almost half a million students in primary schools, in grade one. In grade eight, there were only 18,000 students,” said Leu. “A lot of students are entering school and very quickly dropping out.”

Some major issues Southern Sudan is currently facing includes training and paying teachers and balancing the gender disparity. According to Leu, 85% of males in Southern Sudan enroll and only 57% of females enroll. 

Experts said the Southern Sudan’s government has a lot of work ahead of them, but remain optimistic that the progress being made will continue.

“I just see a lot of new energy and commitment within the education sector,” said Leu.