The Future of South Sudan

While this is an exciting period for the people of South Sudan, the future presents them (and their neighbors in the North) with many difficult challenges. The status of Abyei and postreferendum issues between North and South—such as citizenship, oil sharing, border demarcation, currency, and debts, among others—are yet to be resolved.

On March 14th, the International Peace Institute held a meeting that brought together experts working on Sudan from the UN Secretariat, UN member states, the African Union , and the NGO community to discuss the postreferendum environment and statebuilding in South Sudan. In particular, the discussions focused on strategies that the UN, its member states, other multilateral institutions, and NGOs can pursue to help the parties to resolve postreferendum issues and the Abyei impasse, and to assist the people of South Sudan in building an effective, inclusive, and legitimate state.