The successful launch of South Sudan’s referendum is cause for celebration, but a lot of work remains, emphasized Senator John Kerry, actor George Clooney, and Enough Co-Founder John Prendergast at a press conference in Juba on the first day of polling.
A range of issues, including how oil revenues will be split and what citizenship options the Sudanese people—northerners and southerners—will have after secession have not been resolved. “We’ve got to invest immediately in the diplomacy to address the issues that divide the North and the South,” said Prendergast.
Add onto that long list of outstanding issues the need for a resolution over the status of Abyei, a contentious border region that under the 2005 peace agreement was supposed to have its own referendum and the ongoing peace process in Darfur. Said Kerry, in a message to the people of Abyei: “Abyei is not being left behind, Abyei is not being forgotten.”
Here is a clip of the press conference:
Tim Freccia filmed and produced the video.