Pray urgently for Sudan
On January 9 2011, Southern Sudan will be given the opportunity to vote to become the world's newest state and acquire independence from the North. The first nine days of January 2011 have been identified as a 'Period of Prayer for Sudan' by The Sudan Partnership Group, an advocacy group from the Church of Ireland.
The Referendum is a key part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 bringing an end to two decades of civil war that resulted in almost two million deaths and four million people being displaced. Under the terms of the CPA, the South was given autonomy for six years, after which a referendum was to be scheduled. The Sudan Partnership Group has been formed to act as a voice for the people of Southern Sudan in advance of the referendum.
Through the Church Mission Society Ireland (CMSI), the Church of Ireland has developed partnerships with a number of dioceses in Southern Sudan. CMSI has committed £3.05 million to be spent on projects in Southern Sudan between 2007 and 2012.
But there are fears, articulated by the Archbishop of Sudan, the Most Rev Dr Daniel Deng Bul, at the African Anglican Bishops Conference in August, that vital aspects of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement will not be met. These fears have been repeated in a statement by the Archbishop of Armagh, the Most Rev Alan Harper, OBE.
In particular, Archbishop Deng is concerned that registration of voters will not be carried out in a fair way, that the borders around Abyei have still not been demarcated and that the people of the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile will not be accorded full rights of self-determination. He also voiced concern about unresolved issues of citizenship which he alleged are being used to threaten southerners currently living in the north.
Of the £3.05 million CMSI has committed to Southern Sudan, £500,000 has been raised directly by Church of Ireland parishes and individuals to build primary schools, health centres, and to support agricultural development and teacher and skills training.
The two most populous dioceses of the Church of Ireland, Connor and Down and Dromore, both have partnerships with dioceses of the Church of Sudan. Connor has been linked with the Diocese of Yei since 2007 and Down and Dromore has been in partnership with the Diocese of Maridi since 2005.
It is within this context of extensive engagement with the people and church in Southern Sudan that the newly formed Sudan Partnership Group is seeking meetings with politicians at Stormont, in Westminster and in Dublin. They are asking what measures governments are taking to ensure the terms of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement will be followed. And the group will express its hope that should the population of Southern Sudan vote for separation from the North, governments will exert influence, both directly and through international partnerships, to ensure that the democratic will of the people of Southern Sudan is honoured without recourse to further civil war.
In an interview given by the Archbishop of Canterbury on BBC Radio Four, aired on October 6, in the context of a visit to the UK and America by Archbishop Deng, Archbishop Rowan Williams raised the spectre that renewed conflict between the northern forces of the Government of Sudan, and the population of Southern Sudan could "eclipse the suffering witnessed in Darfur."
Soon afterwards, Archbishop Harper called upon the international guarantor governments, signatory to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, to ensure full implementation of the agreement including free and fair elections. He stated: “I also call upon people everywhere, and especially in the Church of Ireland, to pray for our brothers and sisters in Sudan. Pray especially that Sudan may not fall back into a war which will destroy more lives and communities bringing further misery to a land that has seen so much horror in the recent past.”
Through lobbying government and raising awareness of the forthcoming referendum, the Sudan Partnership Group seeks to ensure that this situation does not occur.
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