South Sudan

A bishop with children who have fled South Kordofan. Photo: ECS 2011

South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011 after a referendum was held in January last year, with almost 99% of the population voting for independence. The poll was a result of a 2005 peace agreement to end more than two decades of civil war between north and south Sudan.

There has been ongoing conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which has resulted in thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs), fleeing from the violence in region of Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile States.

The Episcopal Church of Sudan (ECS) comprises about 6 million members across the whole of Southern Sudan, as well as several parts of the north. The church is therefore represented at the grassroots level in the most remote rural areas, as well as its base in the southern capital of Juba.

It will be a challenge for the church to fulfil its intention of becoming a force in the rebuilding of what has become a new state. The church is highly respected by the southern government, and was very strongly involved in mobilising the people to vote in the referendum, as well as helping them to prepare for the huge influx of IDPs from the north.

For Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul Yak, the priority of the Church and its current key focus is to provide emergency support to the people affected by ongoing violence and to that end they have set up a task force to determine how best to do this.

Currently this task force is based in the south, and includes Sudan Development Relief and Advocacy (SUDRA), Health and Education representatives among others. But the plan is also to create a task force in the north. The two will liaise closely.

ABM launched an emergency appeal for the ECS last March and will continue providing assistance to the church through three new projects this year.

The Sudan Emergency Relief Campaign has been reopened due to the state of emergency that was declared on 29th April 2012. Please continue to support the ECS and the Sudanese people with your gifts and prayers.

ABM's projects in South Sudan are:

Health Commission Support Project
School Girls' Boarding House Project
Sudan Emergency Assistance Fund