SIX MONTHS BEFORE CRITICAL REFERENDUM SUDAN IS ALARMINGLY UNPREPARED
Ahead of major summit, new report warns that inadequate preparation is harming chance of credible referendum
With six months until a referendum on Southern independence, Sudan is alarmingly unprepared according to a new report published on 14 July by a global coalition of 26 humanitarian and human rights organisations. The report calls for urgent action from African heads of state who will meet shortly at a major summit of the African Union in Uganda from 19 – 27 July. Ahead of the summit, international Sudan envoys will meet in Khartoum on 17 July.
In their new joint report Renewing the Pledge: Re-Engaging the Guarantors to the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the global coalition warns: “The clock is ticking fast towards what might be the most important date in modern Sudanese history – two referenda in Sudan that are likely to result in the breakup of Africa’s largest state.” In addition to the referendum on Southern independence, another vote will be held simultaneously in the area of Abyei, to determine whether or not it will join Southern Sudan.
A range of states and multilateral organizations, called Guarantors, pledged to help Sudan implement the CPA. The report warns that the Guarantors have only six months to fulfil that promise.
While timelines slip in the South, violence has intensified in Darfur and human rights are being trampled in the North. The report warns that, over the past year, “international attention has focused on Southern Sudan, neglecting the most important lesson of the past years: that Sudan’s multiple conflicts are best addressed holistically.” The focus on Southern Sudan has come at the expense of other important issues such as democratic transformation, the unresolved conflict in Darfur, and other marginalized parts of Northern Sudan, including Eastern Sudan and the Three Areas.
To download a copy of the report, click here
