Aid groups say southern Sudan may return to war with elections, independence referendum ahead

Aid groups: Southern Sudan may return to war

NAIROBI, Kenya — Sudan’s volatile southern region could collapse into chaos again if the international community does not do more to strengthen the 2005 peace deal that ended more than 20 years of civil war, a group of aid agencies warned Thursday.

The first multi-party elections in more than two decades are set for April, and the groups said in a report released Thursday that a referendum on independence for the south in January 2011 also could re-ignite the war that killed 2 million people.

The 10 aid agencies — including Oxfam International, Save the Children and World Vision — also worry about disputes between the south and north over oil.

“It is not yet too late to avert disaster, but the next 12 months are crossroads for Africa’s largest country,” said Maya Mailer, a co-author of the report and policy adviser for Oxfam. “Last year saw a surge in violence in southern Sudan. This could escalate even further and become one of the biggest emergencies in Africa in 2010.”

The report, entitled “Rescuing the Peace in Southern Sudan,” said some 2,500 people were killed and 350,000 others were displaced in 2009 due to a major upsurge in violence. It warned that “a return to conflict would have devastating consequences that extend far beyond Southern Sudan.”

Sudan is holding its first parliamentary and presidential elections in all regions of the war-torn country next April. The elections are a key part of the 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of north-south civil war.

The 2005 peace deal created a transitional national unity government, but mistrust between Sudan’s former north-south rivals runs deep. The elections are also expected to pave the way for the 2011 referendum in which the oil-rich south will chose whether to become independent from the north, another critical point of the peace deal.

As part of the peace deal, the two parties agreed to work toward unity. But southerners, increasingly frustrated at the lack of peace dividends, have openly favored independence.

Many northerners fear the secession of the oil-rich south would deprive their government of the much prized oil revenues.

The agencies on Thursday urged the international community to help mediate between the parties before the elections and referendum are held. They’ve also urged the U.N. peacekeepers in the region to protect civilians from armed groups, and to offer more support to the southern Sudan government to build its security forces.

The British government said Wednesday it would give humanitarian agencies in Sudan $86 million ahead of the elections.

Britain’s Foreign Office Minister Glenys Kinnock warned that the political and humanitarian situation in south Sudan is still fragile and that millions still do not have access to clean drinking water, medicine or education.

The aid agency report, released in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said less than half the estimated 8 million people in the south have access to clean water while maternal mortality rates are among the worst in the world.

It said the entire region — about the size of France — has less than 30 miles (50 kilometers) of tarmac road. During heavy rains many areas are cut off for months at a time, making the delivery of humanitarian aid almost impossible. One in seven children die before their fifth birthday.

“After five years of peace, southern Sudan remains one of the poorest regions on earth,” said Francisco Roque, country director of Save the Children in South Sudan. “People hoped the peace would bring economic benefits and development, but this has happened far too slowly and in some areas not at all.”