After five decades of guerrilla struggle and two million lives lost, the flags are flapping proudly here in this capital. The new national anthem is blasting all over town. People are toasting oversize bottles of White Bull beer (the local brew), and children are boogieing in the streets.
“Free at Last,” reads a countdown clock.
But from the moment it declares independence on Saturday, the Republic of South Sudan, the world’s newest country and Africa’s 54th state, will take its place at the bottom of the developing world. A majority of its people live on less than a dollar a day. A 15-year-old girl has a higher chance of dying in childbirth than she does of finishing primary school. More than 10 percent of children do not make it to their fifth birthday. About three-quarters of adults cannot read. Only 1 percent of households have a bank account.
I see no way South Sudan can become a viable country. It will only subsist on international aid.
#1 evan: much hinges on the leadership development among the South Sudanese in Western countries. The Diocese of South Dakota and others helped a “Lost Boy”, who had finished technical school and become a pilot here, to bring water wells, motorized grinding mills and a school to his village in S. Sudan. The wells and mills allow girls to attend school because hauling water and hand grinding grain were absorbing most of their time.
I’m currently working with leaders in the S. Sudanese community here to set up a collaborative model of prenatal coaching that could be taken back into villages.
You are right to raise the viability queston. There is a staggering lack of infrastructure, and international aid will be indispensible in the near future.
From what I’ve read, much of the oil is in the south, but the refineries and the pipelines are in the north. An equitable revenue sharing agreement lived out in peace seems to me to be crucial for the south to give them the ability to build infrastructure and be less dependent on international aid. However, they have a long way to go in everything. I’ve heard there are only about 2,000 miles of paved roads in the whole country. Cessation of fighting in the Nuba mountains and around Abyei seems to be critical for the south. I hope Susan Rice and our government leaders make peace a priority and that we weigh in on this situation. The WSJ has a short but informative article on Sudan today (7/8).