Southern Sudan: An Historical Overview
For centuries the word “Sudan”, which
means “Land of the Blacks”, was used to describe the entire region
of the southern Sahara, from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea.
Throughout this time, the country that is now Sudan consisted of a
number of independent nations.
In
the early nineteenth century Muhammed Ali, the Ottoman Sultan’s
viceroy in Egypt, invaded and gained control of the northern part of
Sudan. In 1881 Mohammed Ahmed, the Mahdi (a mysterious holy man and
head of a religious group), started a rebellion in the south. In
January 1885, the Mahdists captured Khartoum, killed the British
governor, General Charles Gordon, and gained control of the entire
country. In 1896 British and Egyptian forces decided to reconquer
Sudan, largely to foil French designs in the region. They defeated
the Mahdists at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, overthrew their
regime, and signed a condominium agreement to jointly administer
Sudan.
Sudan became independent in 1956, although a civil war was already
imminent because of unrest in the predominantly Christian south over
the growing political and economic dominance of northern Islamic
Sudan. The country’s first democratically elected government was
overthrown by a military coup in 1958, ushering in decades of
authoritarian rule in Khartoum. Under the Addis Ababa peace treaty
of 1972, the government did allow the south to be a self-governing
region. There followed a decade of hope for Sudan. The country
received aid from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund
and the United States, for projects that included plans to use water
from the Sudd for irrigation as well as sugar production. In 1978
oil was discovered in Bentiu in southern Sudan.
 Much of this potential wealth was squandered by General Numayri’s
regime. In 1983 the government imposed sharia law (the Islamic legal
code) throughout the country, and split the southern region into
three administrative provinces. Civil war broke out again between
the south and government forces; the south was now led by John
Garang and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army. Brigadier-General
Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir seized power in 1989. By the early
1990’s the Bashir regime stepped up the war against the southern
rebels, and continued to suppress political opposition. From the
late 1980’s through the 1990’s millions of southern civilians were
displaced and forced to flee the country, living in refugee camps
across east Africa. It was from these refugee camps that many of the
Lost Boys and Girls were relocated in communities across the United
States. As a result of this longstanding conflict, basic services
such as health care and education have completely collapsed in
southern Sudan.
However, there are now signs of hope for the region. As a result of
peace talks in Kenya in 2002, it was agreed that southern Sudan
would be granted a six-year period of administrative autonomy and
not be subject to sharia law. In January 2005 a key peace deal was
signed between the government and rebel groups led by the Sudan
People’s Liberation Army, designed to bring a permanent end to the
fighting.
Unfortunately conflict continues in Darfur, western Sudan, where
militias backed by the Sudanese government are committing crimes
against humanity. The government of Sudan and allied Arab militia,
called janjaweed, are implementing a strategy of ethnic-based
murder, rape and forcible displacement of civilians in Darfur. A
January 2005 United Nations report confirmed that genocide is
occurring in Darfur. This conflict risks destabilizing the region,
especially the uneasy peace which has ended more than twenty years
of war in the south. In addition, the untimely death of John Garang
in 2005 has robbed the south of its strongest leader.
Project Education Sudan believes that rebuilding the
educational infrastructure of southern Sudan will pave the way for
self-sufficency, prosperity, health, and autonomy in the region.
Project Education Sudan will support indigenous southern Sudanese
organizations that are working to make primary and secondary
education available to all in the region. |
