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Sub-Saharan Africa
A clear majority of 98.8 per cent of the people of southern Sudan voted for complete independence from the north of Sudan in a referendum held in January 2011. On 9 July 2011, the change was made official when South Sudan declared its independence and became a sovereign state. The Federal Republic of Germany has recognised South Sudan under international law, and opened an Embassy in Juba on 9 July.
After decades of civil war, the South Sudanese hope that independence will bring peace, political stability and economic and social development. The new state has a long way to go. South Sudan has no functioning government or administrative structures. It desperately needs managers and people with specialist skills, education and health services, food and infrastructure. The Republic of South Sudan will have to be largely built from scratch, with international support.
A new start after decades of war
In the past there were repeated flare-ups of political, cultural and religious tensions in the old undivided Sudan, which – until the split – was the biggest country in Africa in terms of land area. Regions in the south of the country in particular experienced political and economic neglect. In 1955, one year before the British-Egyptian condominium of Sudan became independent, the tensions exploded into a civil war that lasted 17 years.
The period of peace that followed was short-lived. When, in 1983, the partial autonomy of the southern provinces was revoked and Islamic Sharia law was introduced throughout the country, a new civil war broke out. It was not until 2005 that a peace agreement was finally signed. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement initially provided for extensive autonomy for the south of the country, followed by a referendum on the question of independence.
In April 2010, presidential and parliamentary elections were held for both the whole of Sudan and the semi-autonomous region of southern Sudan. In the south Salva Kiir Mayardit emerged victorious. Following the secession of the southern provinces in July 2011, he is now the first head of state and the first head of government of the newly independent republic of South Sudan. The long-standing President of the whole of Sudan, Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, was confirmed in office at the April 2010 elections and has continued in this post as president of the geographically reduced state of Sudan.
Since South Sudan officially seceded in July 2011 Khartoum, formerly the capital of the whole of Sudan, has been the seat of government of (north) Sudan. Juba is the capital and seat of government of South Sudan.
A great many issues still have to be resolved by the two governments, including the precise geographical border, the sharing-out of the national debt and of the income from oil reserves, and the status of the border region of Abyei. The political situation thus remains extremely unstable. In the border region in particular the conflict escalated shortly before independence, with renewed outbreaks of violence and also military skirmishes.
Development cooperation
There have been German development cooperation activities taking place in Sudan since 1972. Cooperation was suspended in 1989 because of the civil war. After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, which granted the south of the country extensive autonomy, official development cooperation was launched with southern Sudan. The priority areas are urban water supply and sanitation and support for administrative reform and decentralisation.
Development cooperation with (north) Sudan can only be resumed once significant progress has been made in the process of democratisation and on human rights, and once the Darfur conflict has been peacefully resolved. Until then the BMZ’s only engagement in the north will be within the scope of development-oriented emergency and transitional aid. Non-governmental organisations' aid projects that directly benefit the population also receive support.
The following detailed text about the "Situation and cooperation" relates only to official development cooperation with South Sudan.
German Embassy

Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
Peter Felten, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to South Sudan






