March 30, 2005

RUMBEK, Southern Sudan/GENEVA – When the scorching midday sun strikes Rumbek in southern Sudan, it often finds seven-year-old Ayen Chol drawing water from a well drilled next to shells of destroyed brick buildings.

Since the January 2005 comprehensive peace agreement, signed in neighboring Kenya between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement /Army (SPLM/A) and the Khartoum government, these children have found the freedom to move and play in the open. It is hoped that the accords, reached after nearly three years of negotiations, will end the two-decade long war, Africa's most protracted

"The peace is good," says Chol speaking through an interpreter, as other children and women at the well observe. "It will take back us to school. It will bring clothes and books. We shall now eat well."

Born during the war, and growing to this age as soldiers from both sides fought each other, forcing populations to move from battlegrounds, she receives the new developments with optimism, just like Rebecca Ajok, a mother of four who survived the 21 years of war.

Ajok delights at the knowledge that government planes will no longer drop bombs from the sky. She hopes to start a small business and attend church without fear, with her husband who has since signed up for adult education.

"You can see what has been happening to us. It was difficult to do anything with war," she says, pointing out at what was once the residence of the Anglican Bishop of Rumbek, which was reduced to a shell in past aerial bombardment campaigns by Sudanese government forces.

However, expectations such as these, which have since accompanied the signing of the peace accord are proving larger than the scarce resources available for Sudan.

In towns across the Rumbek, visited by a team of religious leaders drawn from Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and from southern and northern Sudan, March 14-19, local communities, church leaders and SPLM representatives express their frustration as they try to confront the new challenges brought about by the agreement.

"We have seen and heard from the people. The needs of the citizens are overwhelming. Support has to come quickly," says Rev. Macleord Baker Ochola II, retired Anglican Bishop of Kitgum, northern Uganda, who led the Inter-Faith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA) delegation on the solidarity visit to Sudan.

The IFAPA process was initiated by the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in 2002, with the goal to actively engage African religious leaders in conflict resolution and peace building efforts on the continent. Under the mandate of its October 2002 constituting summit of religious leaders in Johannesburg, South Africa, and plan of action, the Nairobi (Kenya)-based secretariat has organized similar visits to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Liberia. An exchange visit between landmine survivors is taking place in Northern Uganda at the end of March. Sudanese delegates will take part in the IFAPA summit, in Johannesburg, April 18-25.

Southern Sudanese expectations,' as expressed to the delegation, range from the most basic such as food, water and clothing to infrastructure construction, including roads and schools. Already some officials of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) caution that these expectations could easily turn into disappointment if the returning refugees and internally displaced persons find no humanitarian response on the ground.

"They could easily work against the peace. If they find nothing at home, they could start regretting why they returned," says Taban Emmanuel, a program officer with the Catholic Relief Services in Rumbek.

Needs are Greater Than Resources

Southern Sudan had indicated it would need about USD 500 million, for immediate humanitarian needs, but only USD 24 million had been received by the start of March.

The war in Sudan has killed an estimated two million people. Humanitarian organizations estimate that four million Sudanese have been displaced internally or were forced to leave the country. Mary Biba, Secretary of Yambio County in the south, explains that some returning refugees from Uganda lost their children to disease.

"We tried to help where we could, but with the limited resources, we had to bear this sight. It wasn't pleasant," she adds.

On 9 March in Nairobi, the Sudanese government and SPLM/A released a recovery and development plan entitled "Framework for Sustained Peace, Development and Poverty Eradication," an outcome of the Joint Assessment Mission organized by the United Nations and World Bank, in which they indicated they needed USD 7.8 billion to fund an initial post-war recovery and development plan for the country. The international community would be asked to contribute about a third of the total funds required. The Sudanese parties indicated most of the local money would come from domestic oil revenues, but some leaders in the south are opposed to this idea.

"The support cannot come from oil revenues only, because our needs are greater than what we are going to get from the oil," says Kauc Nak, secretary of the Rumbek County.

Administrators in the south say there is an acute shortage of medicines, water and food, and a possible strain on education resources, due to the huge numbers of children expected to return to school now that there is peace.

Schools under Trees the Best Option?

"The good thing is that these schools are under trees, so they can admit as many children as possible." But, as Nak asks, "is it the best way of doing it?"

Muyek Makoi a teacher in Rumbek Secondary School struggles with thoughts about classes under trees. "It's usually windy and you can imagine the suffering of these children," he adds.

Nak is categorical: southern Sudan cannot even talk of development before meeting the people's most urgent needs. "We are talking of the provision of basic services. If we have such necessities, I don't think anybody would take the option of going to war," he says.

The local administration says one out of every three injury-related cases at the hospital in Rumbek occurred during conflict over water.

However, in a country where the life expectancy is 42 years and only a quarter of the population is literate, the southerners are telling visitors to "tell the world that your brothers and sisters in Sudan are suffering and they need support."

They urgently need healthcare, food, water, shelter, clothing and education.

Lutheran World Information
Contributed by Nairobi (Kenya)-based journalist Fredrick Nzwili, who traveled with the IFAPA delegation to Southern Sudan.