A New Nation is Born
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By Ban Ki-moon
July 9, 2011 — This Saturday, July 9, the Republic of South Sudan will
join the community of nations. Foreign dignitaries will converge on
its capital, Juba, to watch the new country raise its flag and
inaugurate a first president, Salva Kiir Mayardit.
For the more than eight million citizens of South Sudan, it will be a
momentous and emotional day. In January, they voted in an historic
referendum to separate from the rest of Sudan. That they did so
peacefully is a credit to both the North and South Sudanese
leadership. Yet nationhood has come at steep cost: a staggering number
of lives lost and people displaced in a 21-year civil war that ended
only in 2005. When the assembled presidents and prime ministers board
their official planes to return home, the challenges that remain will
be daunting indeed.
On the day of its birth, South Sudan will rank near the bottom of all
recognized human development indices. The statistics are truly
humbling. It has the world’s highest maternal mortality rate.
Estimates of illiteracy among the female population exceed 80 percent.
More than half of its people must feed, clothe and shelter themselves
on less than a dollar a day. Critical issues of poverty, insecurity
and lack of infrastructure must all be addressed by a relatively new
government with little experience and only embryonic institutions.
I came to appreciate the sheer scale of these challenges, for myself,
when I first visited South Sudan in 2007 – an area of 620,000 square
kilometers with less than 100 kilometers of paved road. Within this
larger context, the risk of increased violence, harm to civilian
populations and further humanitarian suffering is very real.
At the same time, South Sudan has remarkable potential. With
substantial oil reserves, huge amounts of arable land and the Nile
flowing through its centre, South Sudan could grow into a prosperous,
self-sustaining nation capable of providing security, services and
employment for its population.
Alone, South Sudan cannot meet these challenges nor realize its
potential. Doing so will require partnership — a full (and on-going)
engagement with the international community and, most especially,
South Sudan’s neighbours.
First and foremost, the new leaders of South Sudan should reach out to
their counter-parts in Khartoum. Strong, peaceful relations with the
North are essential. A priority for both countries is agreement on
their common border, sustainable relations to ensure both states can
benefit from the oil revenues in the region, and cross-border
arrangements to continue their strong historical, economic and
cultural ties. Recent instability in Southern Kordofan and Abyei have
strained North-South relations and heightened political rhetoric. Now
is the time for both the North and the South to think of the long-term
benefits of working together, not short-term political gains at the
other’s expense.
South Sudan must also reach out to its other neighbours. Across the
globe — and in Africa, especially — the trend is towards regional
partnerships. South Sudan will be strengthened by becoming an active
participant in the regional organizations of East Africa and
developing durable trade and political ties throughout the continent.
Finally, South Sudan must reach out to its own people. It must find
strength in diversity and build institutions that represent the full
constellation of its broad geographic and ethnic communities. The
basics of any modern, democratic state must be guaranteed: free
expression, full political rights, inclusive institutions that extend
benefits to citizens of rural areas as well as regions affected by
conflict.
In the 21st-century, the international community has increasingly come
to recognize the responsibilities of governments to their citizens,
including the protection of political space and democratic rights. The
popular uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East have shown what
can happen when governments are inattentive to the needs of their
people.
The United Nations is committed to assisting the government of South
Sudan meet its many responsibilities. That is why I have proposed a
new United Nations mission in South Sudan: to help build the
institutions that the country needs to stand on its own. In doing so,
let us remember that the United Nations is only one part of a broader
set of partnerships that the government should develop — with the
North, with its neighbours in the region and beyond and, most
importantly, with its own people.
On July 9, I will join other leaders in Juba to mark the birth of
South Sudan. The last thing a new nation needs is a celebration as it
springs into existence, only to then be forgotten until the next
crisis. Our purpose is to do more than celebrate this milestone. It is
to highlight the international obligation to stand by the people of
South Sudan as they seek to build a stable, strong and ultimately
prosperous nation.
The writer is Secretary-General of the United Nations
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