Discussions in Washington Spotlight Long Road Ahead for South Sudan
Posted by Stefani Jones on Jul 18, 2011
There was a myriad of events in Washington last Thursday that focused
on South Sudan’s newly-gained independence, all attempting to answer
one question: Now what? The lineup of Sudan-focused events included a
Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, a White House conference
call, and panels at the United States Institute of Peace, or USIP, the
Society for International Development, and the Heritage Foundation.
While the panels and individuals represented different organizations
and ends of the political spectrum, they all reached a strikingly
similar chord on what was at stake in the two Sudans.
The ongoing violence in (North) Sudan was at the top of statements all
around. In his opening remarks during the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee hearing, Senator John Kerry started off the day with a focus
on the increasingly dire security situation, expressing grave concern
over allegations and evidence of mass graves in South Kordofan. U.S.
Special Envoy Princeton Lyman expressed his concern over “credible
allegations of targeted and ethnic-based killings and other gross
human rights abuses” in the volatile state that sits atop the world’s
newest international border.
But conversations also reached far beyond problems on the border and
dove primarily into the huge challenges that South Sudan faces on the
path to becoming a prosperous nation. Each panelist at the USIP event
laid out the long-term problems facing South Sudan, including the
issues of corruption, underdevelopment, and national identity. Enough
Co-Founder John Prendergast described poor governance and corruption
as the Achilles’ heel of South Sudan, pegging the country’s fate to
whether its new government will fully share its wealth and deal with
dissidence in a respectful and democratic way. Panelists at the
Heritage Foundation echoed similar concerns, pointing to the
management of oil and disputes between communities as possible sources
of corruption.
At the end of the day, Traci Cook of the National Democratic
Institute, or NDI, highlighted a problem that could prove to be a
major barrier to success: the expectations of the South Sudanese
themselves. She presented a public opinion study at the USIP panel
showing that most South Sudanese expected dramatic development to take
place within the next two years, far below the projections of the
international community. Even in a country facing as many challenges
as South Sudan, leaders have the difficult job of living up to the
sometimes unrealistic expectations of their constituents. But while
this expectation could prove problematic, it also serves as a
reflection of the hope and potential of the new nation; while everyone
on Thursday discussed South Sudan’s many obstacles, no one had
forgotten about the incredible will and determination that led to its
creation.
Photo: Enough Co-Founder John Prendergast speaks at a United States
Institute of Peace event on South Sudan (William Fitzpatrick/ USIP)
* Darfur and Southern Sudan
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* Sudan Now
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