Catholic Relief Services Opens New Office in Juba, Suda

Normally, a ribbon-cutting isn't considered a momentous event. But when Catholic Relief Services President Ken Hackett inaugurated the agency's new office in Juba, the capital of southern Sudan, in May it was a tangible sign: going forward, CRS would literally stand beside the people of southern Sudan, in solidarity, as they began striving to create a new life of peaceful prosperity.

CRS President Ken Hackett meets with Salva Kiir, president of southern Sudan, in Juba. Photo by CRS Staff

As the government of southern Sudan sets up here, so do international groups that will work hand-in-hand with it. Catholic Relief Services, which started supporting programs in Sudan in 1972, has eight field offices across the region. The Juba office will become the central point for those outposts.

Sudan has known only 11 years of peace since it gained independence in 1956. More than 2 million people were killed in brutal civil wars, with another 4 million displaced, internally or outside Sudan's borders. In January 2005, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army reached a peace agreement that established a federal system and an equation for wealth sharing. Under the accord, voters in southern Sudan may decide in 2011 whether to secede and create an independent state.

Looming challenges and indications of optimism can both be seen in Juba itself, a former garrison town held tightly by the government of Sudan in the midst of a southern stronghold. Few buildings, except squatters' huts of mud and straw, have gone up since southerners lost the city in the early 1980s. Buildings that are still standing are in critical shape. Some would say the people of Juba are too; cut off from most of the world, they eked out livelihoods on dangerous land, following the dictates of northern soldiers who occupied the town.

Until 2005, the landmines ringing Juba presented an inviolable obstacle to entry by road. People and supplies arrived on planes, and prices reflected the airfare. Now, commercial trucks have started coming in, tempted by business interests to take the risk that roads are de-mined enough for passage. Businesses and employees may follow the construction material, food and other commodities that those trucks carry.

Sudanese Archbishop Lukudu Loro is welcomed at the inauguration of CRS' office in Juba, Sudan. Photo by CRS Staff

A year from now, Juba will be different. Vacant plots of land on the outskirts of town are staked out for embassy compounds and other important buildings. The government has started re-apportioning land, handing out parcels and planning the relocation of squatters.

But the tasks ahead aren't easy, in Juba or across the region. During a 21-year civil war, an entire generation lost the chance to go to school, instead spending their childhoods fighting, or protecting themselves and their family. Many of the few roads that exist are mined, and armed groups still terrorize parts of the region. In addition, a population that waited anxiously for peace is now waiting restlessly for progress, and the fledgling government will have to act quickly. As one leader of the new government put it, "A lot is desired of us."

For years, CRS has provided a range of services in southern Sudan, from emergency relief to education, clean water and agriculture support. The opening of CRS' office in Juba won't reduce those efforts, but it may focus them as the southern Sudanese begin taking on more of those responsibilities in their post-conflict society. Opening an office in the capital town is a way a flagging the U.S. Catholic Church's intent to stand beside them through that process.