One year ago today, southern Sudanese emerged out of the civil war spanning two decades and causing over 2 million deaths to stake their claim as the world’s newest nation. But freedom comes with a price and on South Sudan’s first anniversary, the unstable government is scrambling to meet basic needs on tight funds while skeptical civilians watch and wait. More than food and water, civilians are asking governing officials for peace and protection.
From the article:
That the citizens of the world’s newest nation are making such demands is both a sign of progress and an indication of how far South Sudan has to go. Cattle raids are centuries old in the region. The expectation that a central government can and should halt them is much newer.
For decades, Sudan’s southerners fought the country’s predominately Arab rulers in the north. More than 2 million people died before the fighting ended in a peace deal in 2005. In a referendum promised by the pact, 99 percent of southerners chose to secede. And on July 9, 2011, the flag of South Sudan was raised over Juba, the rickety new capital.
