Conditions for children reach crisis point in Southern Sudan
Three years after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed between north and south Sudan, thousands of children are still facing death.
Wednesday 9 January 2008
One in four children in Southern Sudan dies before the age of five, mainly from easily preventable diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea. Tens of thousands of families still have very limited access to basic healthcare, with just one trained doctor for every 100,000 people.
The 2005 peace agreement promised to direct proceeds from Sudan's rich oil reserves to help rebuild the country's destroyed health and education systems. Yet three years on, communities struggling to survive after the country's 20 year civil war have seen little change.
"The fighting may have stopped but the living conditions for children in Southern Sudan are still horrific. Thousands of children are still dying every year because they can't get any treatment. For this country to succeed there has to be a functioning education system. Yet only 2% of children ever finish primary school because of the lack of schools and trained teachers," said Patience Alidri, Save the Children's Southern Sudan Country Director.
Key conditions of the peace agreement have also not yet been met, such as the drawing of the new border between north and south Sudan.
Patience Alidri added: "Communities here are desperate and it's aid agencies such as Save the Children that continue to provide most essential services. There is no clarity over where money from the oil fields is really going.
This growing crisis in Southern Sudan has been overshadowed by the conflict in Darfur, but if no stability or progress is achieved in the south, any peace agreement in Darfur will also be threatened and children will continue to be the greatest victims."
Save the Children is calling on:
- UK and US governments, Arab States, the UN and the AU to ramp up efforts to get the Comprehensive Peace Agreement back on track immediately. The agreement was signed amid consistent and sustained pressure from international governments, and this has been allowed to dissipate.
- the government of Southern Sudan to commit more funding to building up education, health and protection services
- the British government and other financial backers of Southern Sudan, to increase their funding of basic services through NGOs working on the ground
- the British government and other financial backers of Southern Sudan to give more money and advice to the Southern Sudanese government to protect children. This would include referral systems, putting in place social workers and family support systems.
