Africa's next deadly war does not have to happen. In little over a month, the people of Southern Sudan will vote for independence, taking with them up to three-quarters of the country's known oil reserves and placing millions of civilians in the potential path of war.
They've done it before. The north and the south fought a 20-year civil war that ended in 2005 only after 2 million people were dead.
We recently spent time in Sudan along the border between the north and south and saw what a return to war could look like. Not On Our Watch and the Enough Project team made this video from our trip to highlight the challenges Sudan faces as it works toward holding a peaceful referendum and avoiding a return to civil war.
Nicholas Kristof premiered this video on his New York Times blog. He wrote, "Let's hope that the alarms, and the latest burst of diplomacy and spotlight on South Sudan, are enough to avert a new war."
There's only one month left. It's frighteningly late, but not too late, to stop the next round of bloodshed before it starts. Renewed war in Sudan is not inevitable. A complex but workable peace can be brokered if all interested parties become more deeply involved, and the US maintains its recent focus on contributing to a solution.
Your voice in support of US diplomacy is key. There is no time to wait. This is happening now. Visit Sudan Now to get involved.
We were late to Rwanda. We were late to Congo. We were late to Darfur. We can't afford to be late again. This is our chance to actually stop a war before it starts.
George Clooney is an actor and co-founder of the NGO Not On Our Watch. John Prendergast is co-founder of the Enough Project and co-author of The Enough Moment: The Fight to End Human Rights Crimes in Africa.
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"According to Human Rights First, a leading human rights advocacy organisation, Chinese-made AK-47 assault rifles, grenade launchers and ammunition for rifles and heavy machine guns are continuing to flow into Darfur, which is dotted with giant refugee camps, each containing hundreds of thousands of people. "
http://tinyurl.com/2an7kac
Great nations like China, with important foreign policies, are in the Sudan. George Clooney should try to influence the Chinese, whose change-of-heart over the Sudan would have the greatest effect.
What is this all about? Race, religion, oil, culture, language, tribalism, ideology, foreign meddling? Any and all of the above? Who is who? Who fights whom?
The press has never given us answers to those questions...
Transparency of the referendum and how the vote will push an open the political process.
Transparency of all international aid that comes into the country, how it is spent and to whom.
Transparency of all infrastructure and construction projects.
We all know that the birth of a new nation is business and that how business is conducted plays a huge role in the strengthening or weakening of the resilience of a people. Last week a number of us working in fragile states met to discuss the Sudan issue. We gave the chance of a peaceful transition at 60% (40% civil war/war with the North). How the international community conducts itself now and over the next 5 years will be vital to the safe progress of this process.
Cheers,
Cameron Sinclair
Architecture for Humanity
I hope I am wrong and simply in a bitter frame of mind, but that's what happens when hope and progress are eclipsed by fear and stagnation. It's a shame too, because progressive policies on the economic front and on climate change would have benefitted the both the US and Africa tremendously. Between the premium on oil as we fail to embrace alternative energy and the reduced water supply due to climate change, the type of conflicts we are seeing in Sudan will become just that much harder to solve.
Kudos to Clooney and Prendergast for taking a stand. I hope their pleas for robust diplomacy are heeded and not drowned out by the noise machine.
Particularly the fact many Jewish organizations are behind this group hurts the cause of the innocent in southern Sudan and in Darfur.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/09/world/africa/09wikileaks-tank.html?_r=1&hp
Unless the Chinese step-up (which is doubtful, especially considering they've been so stingy in giving humanitarian aid) it is doubtful that the South will be ready for next month and there will probably be a return of aggressions from the North.
The Chinese have assumed no official position in addressing the problems. We can count on them being underhanded and the high likelihood of further conflict.
Thank you John Pendergast for these words. And thank you George Clooney for giving them media attention.
It is clearly in the Chinese interests to avoid a disruptive war. It is clearly in the interest of humanity to prevent massive bloodshed.
If ever there was a place for the UN to take a firm stand and a US led coalition to flex some muscle here. Now is time to make it clear that an invasion from the North will not stand,
If we could take off from our role of saber/missile rattling in the Persian Gulf and relocate a few carriers into the West Indian Ocean with high profile, war might be averted.