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Story Publication logo October 10, 2011

South Sudan: Land of Cush

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Sudan In Transition

"Sudan in Transition” brings in-depth coverage of the cultural, political, economic and legal...

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Cattle camp of Bir-Diak of the Pakam clan of the Dinka tribe, Lakes State. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Cattle camp of Bir-Diak of the Pakam clan of the Dinka tribe, Lakes State. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Cattle camp of Bir-Diak of the Pakam clan of the Dinka tribe, Lakes State. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Bir-Diak cattle camp of the Pakam clan of the Dinka tribe, Lakes State. The social structures of the pastoralist societies are based on the possession and successful retention of cattle. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Bir-Diak cattle camp of the Pakam clan of the Dinka tribe, Lakes State. Cattle keepers refused to surrender their weapons during the last disarmament program because they need to defend against cattle raids. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
End of the day in the cattle camp of Bir-Diak. The plastic tarpaulins serve as shelter. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Bir-Diak cattle camp of the Pakam clan of the Dinka tribe, Lakes State. Cattle keepers refused to surrender their weapons because they need to defend themselves against cattle raids. The raids cost many lives each year. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Traditional dance to the sound of percussion instruments for the young Dinka of the Pakam clan in the Bir-Diak cattle camp. The men dance and show themselves to the women of the clan. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Sunday mass at the church in Gogrial, Warab State. Southern Sudan is mainly Christian-animist. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
The maternity ward in the hospital in Pibor, supported by MSF-Doctors without Borders, in Jonglei State. Maternal mortality in South Sudan is one of the highest in the world. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
A mother with her child in the hospital in Pibor in the Jonglei State. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Inside a prison in Juba, the capital of the new nation. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye, South Sudan, 2011.
A patient is treated for Kala Azar disease in Pibor hospital in Jonglei State. Kala Azar is a highly infectious and fatal if left untreated. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
A patient in the emergency ward at the hospital of Aweil, supported by MSF-Docters Without Borders in Northern Bahr-El-Ghazal. Access to health care is a major challenge for South Sudan. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
A young boy who lost a leg due to lack of care after being bitten by a snake. Access to health care is a major challenge for South Sudan. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
A women waiting for a consultation at Aweil Hospital, Northern Bahr-El-Ghazal State. South Sudan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world–with one in seven women likely to die due to pregnancy-related causes. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Students in a village school in Owachi, located on the banks of the Nile in the Upper Nile State. According to the International Rescue Committee, women's literacy in South Sudan stands at just 2 percent, and a 15-year-old girl has a greater chance of dying in childbirth than of completing her education. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Believers from different churches in Bentiu, capital of Unity State, walking to the stadium to attend the an ecumenical prayer service with Rick Machar, vice-president of South-Sudan. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
An oilfield of Great Nile Petroleum Operating Corporation in Unity state. The oil extracted here is pumped through a pipeline to Port Sudan. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Shopkeeper of Geng Petroleum gas station is looking at the customers. Opened the day before, the gas station is the first one owned by a Bentiu inhabitant. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
The first day of the referendum on January 9, 2011. Bentiu residents in Unity State standing in line at a polling station before voting. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Paintings on the walls inside Juba's prison. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
At the end of the day, Martin Lou Lawrence, a mechanic who works on water pumps near the Nile River, looking at the last trucks which are filling up. Juba city, South Sudan capital, has no running water system. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
After a long journey by bus from Khartoum to Bentiu, people gather their belongings from trucks. They have returned to vote for the referendum. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
On the banks of Gilo River in Pibor, Jonglei State. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Fire broke out in the city of Abyei after it was seized by northern Sudanese troops, forcing thousands to flee. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Abdellah Kuma looking after his daughter Orchelim. She just had her right arm amputated. Her house in the Nuba Mountains in Southern Khordofan was bombed by the Sudanese Armed Forces while she was preparing breakfast for her family. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. Sudan, 2011.
A view of the town of Malakal, located on the banks of the Nile, in a sensitive area of the Upper Nile State. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Villagers hide in the mountains to protect themselves from the Sudanese Armed Forces' bombardments in Southern Khordofan. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. Sudan, 2011.
Sabrino Mayol and his son Blue, along with the rest of the family, found shelter in a building next to the church in Mayan Abun, Warrap State. They ran away from the fights between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Abyei. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
Raby, 8, at the transit centre of Wau, Northern Bar el Ghazal. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye, South Sudan, 2011.
Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.
A cattle keeper on patrol at dusk in the cattle camp of Bir Diak of the Pakam clan from the Dinka tribe, Lakes State. Image by Cedric Gerbehaye. South Sudan, 2011.

The historic referendum and eventual secession of Republic of South Sudan may be cause for optimism, but peace in the fragile state remains elusive. Unresolved issues between North and South Sudan are cause for worry, especially in Abyei—an area strategically vital to the oil resources on which both sides depend.

But stability in Abyei isn't the only problem for the newly independent South Sudan. The country is rife with tribal conflicts. Cattle raids between rival clans are common, and many tribes have refused to surrender their weapons to South Sudanese authorities. After decades of war, the country lacks the infrastructure needed for economic growth and societal development. Only four percent of the arable land in South Sudan is used for farming, raising concerns about food security.

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