A fragile state
11 feb 2011
A referendum on independence for South Sudan was held from 9 to 15 January 2011. The final results, announced on 7 February, showed almost 99% of the electorate opting for secession. The Sudanese government accepted the outcome of the referendum the same day. South Sudan is expected to become an independent country on 9 July 2011, making it the youngest African country.
South Sudan has many characteristics of a fragile state struggling to find a balance between security, political stability and economic development.
In 2005 North and South reached a comprehensive peace agreement.
- Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Government of Southern Sudan
This was the start of the rebuilding of South Sudan following twenty years of civil war which has left behind a crippled infrastructure and disrupted government systems, a virtually non-existing economy and many displaced people.
The situation is exacerbated by the fact that most educated inhabitants have either left the country or have been killed.
A challenging situation
After the peace agreement many donor agencies stepped in to help South Sudan make the transition from emergency aid receiver to development partner.
This poses a daunting challenge for a number of reasons:
- The security situation in the country is unpredictable, due to the presence of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and tribal clashes over cattle and other economic resources.
- There are a number of unresolved governance-related issues.
- When fighting erupts, roads are sometimes closed for an unknown period of time, blocking normal transportation.
Focus on human capacity building
Human capacity building is a priority of both government and development partners. However, efforts to close the gaps seem to focus on meeting capacity needs through locally-organized short-term training courses and sending people abroad rather than on trying to establish and/or revive institutional education and training capacity within South Sudan.
Budget tied to oil
The budget of the government of South Sudan is almost completely dependent on oil revenues. Hence, it fluctuates depending on the oil price. This makes financial planning and budgeting difficult. Ministries have to wait and see what funds will be available before they can start implementing their planned investments and activities.
High prices
It is expensive to implement projects and programmes in South Sudan due to poor infrastructure and the fact that almost all materials have to be imported. In addition, the arrival of many development agencies and their staff has contributed to the rapid rise of prices for housing and other commodities.
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