Friday, May 22, 2009

Finally, the Sudanese government announced the Census Result

Finally, the Sudanese government announced the census results yesterday. Population number is announced to be 39.154,490, out of which 21 percent are said to live in the south (8.260,490). Although the SPLM chairman Salwa Kiir announced the endorsement of the results before he went to attend the inauguration of South African President Zuma last week, this number is highly contested by other SPLM members, and even by the chairman himself in a meeting in Bentiu 2 days ago, as all percentages in the CPA (for power sharing etc) are based on the estimation, that Southerners are 1/3 of the population. The census of course is also most relevant for the upcoming elections, and boarder demarcations...
Reservations against the census results have been also expressed by the Beja congress and voices from Darfur.
more soon

Sudan announces details of contested census results
Friday 22 May 2009.
May 21, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government announced today the detailed results of the fifth national census that SPLM former rebels have threatened to reject. Counting the results was considered crucial to prepare next year’s elections.
The total of Sudan’s population is 39,154,490, with 8,260,490 living in the south, 21 percent of the national population, Central Bureau of Statistics head Yassin Al-Haj Abdin announced today in a press conference.
Khartoum’s population is estimated at 5,074,321 followed by South Darfur state at 4,039,594; Al Jazeera state is in the third place with 3,575,280 followed by North Kordofan with 2,920,992.
According to the announced census result, some 520,000 southern Sudanese are living in the north.
Sudan conducted its fifth Population and Housing Census, a milestone in the implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), from April 22 to May 6, 2008. It was the first all-inclusive census for people of southern Sudan since Sudan became independent in January 1956.
The conduct of the census-taking had been hindered by many problems in southern Sudan and South Kordofan. Moreover, political forces and rebels in Darfur called on the government to postpone it until the settlement of the armed conflict in western Sudan.
In southern Sudan, Jonglei State has the highest population with 1,358,602, followed by Central Equatoria State with 1,103,592, Warrap State 972,928, Upper Nile State 964,353, Eastern Equatoria State 906,126, Northern Bahr El-Ghazal state 720,898, Lakes state 695,730, Western Equatoria State 619,029, Unity State 588,801 and Western Bahr El-Ghazal State with 333,431.
Abidin told reporters that the reservations held by the Office of the Census for Southern Sudan on the results of the census had no basis and that these had been superseded by the approval of the presidency.
Southern Sudanese officials say they account for one third of the total population.
The Sudanese presidency in a meeting held on May 6 approved the result of the fifth census. However, the First Vice-President and head of the semi-autonomous government in southern Sudan Salva Kiir Mayadrit said he is unhappy with the results of the census conducted last year and called for it to be excluded from wealth- and power-sharing formulas articulated in the 2005 peace agreement.
The SPLM chairman, speaking on May 18 to the Southern Sudan Sultans conference in Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, said he is "unhappy and unsatisfied with the census results." He also suggested reverting back to the old constituency system in the elections to avoid controversy.
The head of the Southern Sudan Commission for Census, Statistics and Evaluation Isaiah Chol had complained that the numbers of Southerners in the North turned out less than expected. He also expressed surprise regarding the increase in the population of Darfur since the 1993 census.
Chol said that the Southern commission did not get the chance to document the information on the North due to lack of cooperation with the central office.
The fifth census was conducted under the supervision of an independent multiparty stakeholder body that included foreign monitors. Pali Lehohla, from South Africa and chief adviser of the Monitoring and Observation Committee assessed the census operation as a "success."
In a letter obtained by Sudan Tribune dated April 11, he suggested that Sudan’s census was a "unique experience that is worth replicating in other census undertakings especially for countries that are in conflict or emerging out of conflict."

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

NATIONAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION

SUDAN / NATIONAL ELECTIONS COMMISSION
TRT: 2:33
SOURCE: UNMIS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 08 APRIL 2009, KHARTOUM, SUDAN

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, exterior, National Elections Commission offices in Sudan
2. Med shot, sign showing the National Elections Commission
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Deputy Chairman and Spokesperson, National Elections Commission, Professor Abdullah Ahamed Abdalla:
“It is historic because it paves the way for the Sudan for the transition to democracy and real democracy – the tool for real democracy is elections. So this is a situation emanating from the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement) providing an opportunity for the people of Sudan at the end of the fourth year after the CPA to exercise their right in elections for the coming governance.”
4. Cutaway,
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Deputy Chairman and Spokesperson, National Elections Commission, Professor Abdalla Ahamed Abdalla:
“It must be fair and free and correct – and second – it is measured by the level of participation by people in this election – so in preparing these elections, the National Elections Commission takes this very seriously.”
6. Wide shot, Deputy Chairman of the National Elections Commission
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Deputy Chairman and Spokesperson, National Elections Commission, Professor Abdalla Ahamed Abdalla:
“If there is a certain problem in a certain area that will prohibit a certain process – a certain part of the process of the elections, then the national committee can look into that and can decide about what is needed to do to the extent of postponing that particular problem - not all the elections.”
8. Med shot, Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Abel Alier
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Abel Alier:
“We know in the game, there will be losers and there will be gainers – and one of the rules of the game is to take it well – take it in a sports-man-like spirit. Accept the defeat if you are defeated and promise to win next time. And greet your opponent and wish him well.”
10. Med shot, sign showing name of the Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Abel Alier

STORYLINE:

Sudan's National Elections Commission (NEC) has announced a time frame for an election which was initially expected to happen in July 2009. The proposed time frame indicates that polling will now happen for 16 days in February 2010.

Speaking in an interview nearly a week after the announcement, top officials within the independent NEC based in Khartoum said the elections would pave way for democracy and winners and losers should take it in stride.

SOUNDBITE (English) Deputy Chairman and Spokesperson, National Elections Commission, Professor Abdalla Ahamed Abdalla:
“It is historic because it paves the way for the Sudan for the transition to democracy and real democracy – the tool for real democracy is elections. So this is a situation emanating from the CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement) providing an opportunity for the people of Sudan at the end of the fourth year after the CPA to exercise their right in elections for the coming governance.”

Voters will be asked to cast ballots in six elections for the presidency of Sudan, the presidency of Southern Sudan, the national assembly, the Southern Sudan legislative assembly and governors and legislative assemblies in all of the country's 25 states. The final results will be announced on February 27.

SOUNDBITE (English) Deputy Chairman and Spokesperson, National Elections Commission, Professor Abdalla Ahamed Abdalla:
“It must be fair and free and correct – and second – it is measured by the level of participation by people in this elections – so in preparing these elections, the National Elections Commission takes this very seriously.”

Sudan's NEC was sworn in last year on November 25th, ushering in a much needed election with the hope that it will be conducted in a free and fair manner.

The commission says that it will freely allow elections observers at different stages of the process.

Speaking in reference to problems in Sudan’s vast Darfur region which has been plagued by conflict in which over 200,000 people have died and thousands others displaced, the Deputy Chairman said the NEC was at liberty to make decisions.

SOUNDBITE (English) Deputy Chairman and Spokesperson, National Elections Commission, Professor Abdalla Ahamed Abdalla:
“If there is a certain problem in a certain area that will prohibit a certain process – a certain part of the process of the elections, then the national committee can look into that and can decide about what is needed to do to the extent of postponing that particular problem - not all the elections.”

The chairman of the Commission had some advice for those expecting to participate in the elections:

SOUNDBITE (English) Chairperson of the National Elections Commission, Abel Alier
“We know in the game, there will be losers and there will be gainers – and one of the rules of the game is to take it well – take it in a sports-man-like spirit. Accept the defeat if you are defeated and promise to win next time. And greet your opponent and wish him well.”

The National Elections Commission (NEC) is an independent body responsible for organizing and conducting the elections, which represent an important cornerstone of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

It is expected that there will be many first-time voters, in a national election which will see the participation of both the north and the south.

The electoral law was adopted by the National Assembly on 7 July, and ratified by Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir on 14 July.

Observers say that the electoral process will be one of the most important, delicate and sensitive political developments for Sudan, whose current president came into power through a military coup in 1989.

http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/12661.html

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Women's Workshop Photos, April 2009
















Women's Workshop, April 2009


45 Women leaders gather to discuss gender, women’s rights, reconciliation, and the role of women in peace-building in a workshop organized by the Sudan Council of Churches.

Women leaders say:


“We have a role to play [in peace-making]—not only to eat, give birth and die.”


“We have been trained and we need to go and build the capacity of women in our homes and churches. Who will come and bring that change? Time has come for us to have that change in the south or the north, wherever we go. Money is not everything. If we are determined, we can do anything.”

Appeal from Archbishop Deng

Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS)
OFFICE OF THE ARCHBISHOP
4th May 2009

APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL DONOR AND DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY IN THE SUDAN

I, Daniel Deng Bul, Archbishop and Primate of the Province of theEpiscopal Church of the Sudan and Bishop of the Diocese of Juba, am personally appealing to the international donor and diplomatic communities, on behalf of the entire Church and the entire country,for increased support and action in safeguarding the ComprehensivePeace Agreement (CPA).

Over the past year I have undertaken major tours of Southern Sudan, covering almost all of Equatoria, Lakes State and Jonglei State.During these visits I have witnessed first hand the suffering of mypeople and the increasing fear of communities on the ground because ofa situation of ever-increasing insecurity. In the Church’s opinion,this is the biggest problem in Sudan today, and prevents any further material or economic development, as well as the free and fair elections desperately needed in February 2010 and the referendum on Southern secession scheduled for 2011.

Peoples in Western and Central Equatoria are being attacked, murdered and displaced by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), rumoured to be supplied by people within Sudan. A large number of civilians in Eastern Equatoria, Lakes and Jonglei states are armed. The proliferation of modern weapons has caused traditional tribal conflicts over cattle ownership and grazing rights to increase and escalate into far bloodier warfare all over Southern Sudan – warfare that is now damaging the unity of the people and the CPA process as a whole. Last week a large weapons cache was apprehended in Lakes State and there are rumours of trucks loaded with weaponry heading north out of Juba to fuel tribal violence in Central Equatoria State.

The only conclusion one can draw is that these are ancient disputes that are being deliberately stirred up into something much more damaging for the local people and the stability of our country as a whole. Who is doing this is still largely unknown, but it is evident from local reports received through the Church network that the arms smuggling, re-armament and incitement of tribal violence is being carried out by enemies of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

During Easter 2009, I visited Jonglei State, travelling from Bor right up to Ayod in the Nuer lands. Although I and the vast majority of the party I was travelling with are Dinka, we were welcomed, and I as a Church leader spoke about love and peace between tribes. On my return to Juba I was informed that following the visit all cattle raiding and violence in the Ayod area has ceased. I take this as proof that the Church is one of the most effective ground-level players in the peace process and as proof that our message of love and reconciliation is one that is most effective in peace building amongst the tribes of Southern Sudan.

The Church has a presence in almost all small villages in the South,coverage unmatched by any organisation, including the Government of Southern Sudan and the SPLA, which in most cases are no longer able to keep the peace on the ground. The army is largely absent from effected areas, the police are too few to provide adequate security to even the County Commissioners, let alone the people, and therefore the government is in danger. As evidence of this I cite the fact that the police in Twic East County of Jonglei State were not able to contain local violence even during my visit to the area.

I am therefore making a passionate and heartfelt appeal to those governments and organisations that form Sudan’s diplomatic and donor community, in particular the United Nations agencies and the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Netherlands, all of which have a major presence in Southern Sudan and are guarantor signatories of the CPA.

As guarantors you have a duty to prevent this nation from returning to war, and I urge you to consider very seriously the churches as key partners in the work of peace-building on the ground. This is a problem that requires an ecumenical approach – all churches need to be supported by international stakeholders in the CPA to be tools of peace building on the ground. With our community-level network that surpasses any other, we need to be empowered to spread peace in this land as I have been doing in Jonglei State last month. We must teach our people that they are part of much bigger politics of which they are unaware, but which they are destabilising. They must also be empowered to make free and fair democratic choices in the upcoming elections and referendum.

My worry, and the fear of many thousands of people I have spoken to across Southern Sudan in the past year, is that the current escalating violence will add to the current disputes between the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)over the North-South border and the Abyei Protocol, that are already threatening to cause the CPA to collapse. If the CPA is not guaranteed now, war can start again all too quickly, during which a return to peace will be incredibly difficult, the Sudanese people will be further devastated and the whole region will be destabilised.

If you are guarantors of the CPA, then why is the international community allowing this violence to continue? I beseech you to act now to prevent it and protect the peace of my people.

Yours in the love and peace of Christ,

The Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul Yak
Archbishop and Primate of the Province of the Episcopal Church of theSudan

Youth Workshop Photos, May 2009
















Youth Workshop Photos, May 2009











Youth Workshop, May 2009


Sudan Council of Churches holds Workshop for Peace:
25 Youth Leaders Seek Peace in Sudan


Khartoum, Sudan, 30 April 2009-2 May 2009: 25 Youth Leaders representing 8 Christian denominations in Khartoum attended a peace workshop organized by the Sudan Council of Churches. The leaders discussed steps forward in creating a culture of peace and advocating for human rights in Sudan.

The youth leaders envision a Sudan where all citizens share equal rights before the law, enjoy the right to participate freely in a representative government, and an end to discrimination based on race, religion, ethnicity, tribe or age. Through teaching nonviolent conflict resolution and reconciliation, the youth leaders would like to move Sudan away from a culture of war, and towards the vision of a culture of peace. The leaders learned ways to plant seeds of peace in the hearts of youth in Khartoum.


The Sudan Council of Churches is dedicated to the creation of a peaceful Sudan and the promotion of a culture of peace through providing workshops and trainings to community leaders regardless of race or religion.

Monday, May 4, 2009



Civic Education Fact Sheet

Introduction:
Civic Education is the process through which citizens will learn how to participate effectively in the governing of their nation democratically.

Terms to know:

Democracy is a system of government where the ultimate authority rests with the citizens of the nation. It is a system of government of the people, for the people, and by the people.

Citizen Participation in government is the right and responsibility of each individual.
In order for citizens to participate in the electoral process, they must be registered to vote.
Voter registration is a system used to identify eligible voters and ensure each voter votes only once to maintain the fairness of the election.
You are eligible to vote in Sudan if you are:
(a) Sudanese,
(b) eighteen years of age or older
(C) Registered in the Electoral Register,
(d) Enjoying all his or her civil and Political Rights, and
(e) Of sound mind.

Personal Identification!!

Every citizen registering to vote will need to be in possession of a personal identification document OR a certificate authenticated from the People’s Committee at the Locality or the native or traditional administrative authority. It will not be possible to register to vote or to vote without proper identification! Please encourage all community members to obtain their identification today!

What You Should Know:

Your vote is your voice.
You have the right and power to shape your country through your vote.
Your vote is a secret.
No one can purchase your vote.
Your vote, your future!




For more information on election protection and good governance work in Sudan, please visit the Peace, Justice, & Advocacy Desk website at www.sccpeacedesk.blogspot.com

Civic Educaction Fact Sheet

Kiir warns of regional conflict

Dear all,

SPLM registered as a party at the weekend. During a visit to Kisumu, where he was given a honourable doctorate, first vice president of Sudan, presidident GOSS, chair SPLM Salwa Kiir, warned of the danger that the entire region will be effected, shall the CPA fail.
At the same time, although Chad and Sudan once again signed an agreement to normalise ties (difficult to keep track, as so many were signed over the last years and never implemented), UNSG Ban Ki Moon warns of troop building in the Sudan -Chad boarder area.
.
In South Sudan, the armed conflicts go on. LRA is coming closer to the cities like Yambio, and apparently they are equipped with a number of new arms The same is reported from the Murle in Jonglei, eg.
US special envoy Scott Gration is expected for his second visit to Sudan on Tuesday, after he talked to Darfur armed groups. The US also appointed a new charge d'affaires, Robert Whitehead, who, among many other appointments, served as US rep in Juba right after the signing of the CPA.
For those of you who are interested to hear what exactly was said during the recent hearings on Abyei at the court in The Hague, please follow this link: http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1318.

Communique from Yambio

Antwort an: yambio2002@yahoo.com

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this communique has delayed due to some difficulties in getting to internent in Yambio State, we are sorry for the delayments.

The ECS Diocese of Yambio convened its Diocesan Standing Committee Meeting from Thursday 16- Sunday 19th April, 2009 with a big Sunday service. The meetings listened to and discussed reports from all the Archdeaconaries and Parishes, under Yambio Diocese. More attention was drawn to the insecurity and atrocities caused by the LRA which have resulted to displacement of many of the parishes special those along the Sudan Congo and Sudan Central Africa Republic boarders.
Such atrocities include looting, destroying of property and abducting women and Children and recruiting them against their will into their forces carrying out brutal killings.
The displacement of citizen has happened during rainy season, when the citizens are supposed to cultivate and produce enough food and save people from hunger. As all the food crops produced by the people last year and other properties have been destroyed, the displaced citizens
have become miserable victims of poverty and starvation.
Not only have the L.R.A. atrocities affected Yambio Diocese, but also caused the inlux of refugees from from ther Democratic Republic of Congo into Yambio Diocese and other parts of Western Equatoria State.
The influx of the refugees has greatly increased the population in Yambio Diocese and also other parts of Western Equatoria State as well. Consequently essential services have become inadequate.
The Ambororo (Arab normads from Chad) are other source of insecurity in the northern part of the Diocese, which indicates that the Diocese is being squeezed by the two enemies from both sides. Besides insecurity Ambororo pose a great danger to environment their cattle
destroys crops as well as the fertility of the land. These Arab nomads are armed to the teeth and killing the citizen when they complain about their crops or when they go hunting or collecting honey from the forest.
The Church feels great concern and alarm about this precarious security situation which is continuing unattended to, therefore the Church appeals to Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) to address the situatuion. The Church and the citizen of Western Equatoria appeals
to the President of Southern Sudan to come and vist Western Equatoria state to see for himself the suffering of the people caused these foreign elements. If part of the body develops a desease, the whole body is affected because it can not carry out its full fucntions.
Therefore, as Yambio Diocese in the integral part of Western Equatoria State, in particular and of Southern Sudan general, it means that the insecurity affects the whole Southern Sudan.
It is quite a blessing that the Government of Southern Sudan has gigantic, gallant forces, the SPLA at its disposal. The Church is acknowledgeable that our gallant forces has been put in place to repulse any foreign aggression in order to protect its citizen and
resources, but unfortunately this is not happening as it could be, as
a result this has compelled the youth to take bows, arrows and spears to defend themselves their land and citizen against the L.R.A. who are armed with morden Automatic Weapons. However, these forces are comparable to the huge and sophisticated Sudan Armed Forces against whom the SPLA successfully defended their people during the 21 years
of civil war.
It is the hope and confidence of the Church that the Government will expedite response to the cry of the Church on behalf of our people.
The church also appeals to the International Community to intervene and support the displaced as well as the refugees in Western Equatoria State by providing urgent relief to rescue the situation.


Signed
The Rt. Peter Munde Yacoub
Bishop of Yambio Diocese
Episcopal Church of the Sudan