PROJECTS:
On January 9, 2005, after 21 years of civil war, Southern Sudan gained regional autonomy from the Government of Sudan with the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement ending the Second Sudanese Civil War. Southern Sudan is made up of ten wilayats, or states, fomerly part of the provinces of Equatoria, Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile. The Sudanese People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) has chosen Juba as the capital of Southern Sudan and independence is a possibility for the future. USAID and other organizations have moved to create a centralized bank in Juba and the region is being reorganized for status as a nation state; however, the conflicting views of different factions, such as the SPLA, make the future of this prospect uncertain.
The southern region has a population of around 6 million and a predominantly rural, susbsistence economy. The region has been negatively affected by war for all but 10 years since independence in 1956, resulting in serious neglect, lack of infrastructure development and major destruction and displacement. More than 2 million people have died and more than 4 million are internally displaced or have become refugees as a result of the civil war and war-related impacts. Education has, at best, been sporadic.
The current leader of the SPLA/M and First Vice President of the country is General Salva Kiir. Kiir replaced Dr. John Garang as First Vice President on August 11, 2005 after Garang was killed in a helicopter crash on July 30, 2005, only 3 weeks after being sworn in. Garang and Kiir left the Sudanese military to found the rebel SPLA in 1983 and have fought for the rights of the South and Southerners since that time. Calm appears to have returned to the country after several days of riots in the north and in the southern city of Juba following Garang's death.
