Three Month Countdown to Referendum

This past Saturday, October 9, marked the three month countdown to the referendum on the independence of South Sudan, scheduled to take place on January 9, 2011. There were large pro-independence rallies in both Juba and Torit. The day came in the wake of a UN Security Council visit to Juba, which included US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice.

The poster above, which began to appear in Torit a few days before the 9th, gives an idea of how seriously the South Sudanese take the referendum. In the light of the UN Security Council visit, and following his recent visit to the United States, South Sudan President Salva Kiir appears more confident about leading his people through this process to a successful completion. Both the high level meetings that took place during his time in the US, as well as the presence of the Security Council delegation, have sent a strong message of support for the South's right to self-determination and a warning to those who might try to sabotage this process. Unfortunately, the Khartoum government has responded with a more strident tone, threatening southerners who live in the north with immigration difficulties if the South secedes, telling northern youth they should prepare to enlist in the military in the event of secession, and hardening their stance against the possibility of other undetermined regions of the country (Abyei, the Nuba Mountains and Darfur) to join the South if it becomes independent.

Please join the people of South Sudan, and many others who are united with them throughout the world, in a special sustained period of prayer between now and January 9th, that the referendum proceed peacefully, and that the people of the South speak with a strong, clear, unified voice about their future, and that their voice be recognized and respected by all.

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