* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
As South Sudanese celebrated independence this month, the media was already querying whether the country has any future at all
As South Sudanese partied in the streets this month to celebrate their hard-won independence, much of the world’s media was already querying whether the new African country has a future to look forward to at all.
“After the party is over, real questions remain about just how viable this new country will be,” ABC News said.
The Mirror newspaper in the UK, meanwhile, also questioned the survival chances of the new country and of a South Sudanese baby – called Independent – born just as Sudan split in two.
“The odds are as stacked against little Independent as they are against the survival of his mother country,” the Mirror wrote.
Some journalists have implied the country is starting from square one.
But this is not so, according to the country’s information ministry. "South Sudan is not starting from scratch."
South Sudan’s steps towards independence started long before July 9.
The 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended 21 years of Sudan’s civil war gave the South the right to form a southern regional government and hold a 2011 referendum on independence. Since then, the Government of South Sudan has enjoyed considerable autonomy, with an elected assembly, government and a functioning judicial system, the information ministry said.
NOT ALL DOOM AND GLOOM
Amid such gloomy media coverage, Sudan expert John Ashworth has called reports about South Sudan’s independence condescending, patronising and negative.
He also branded coverage inaccurate. For example, the Financial Times describing South Sudan’s capital, Juba, as a dust bowl. “A dust bowl in the middle of the rainy season?” Ashworth queried.
No one can deny that South Sudan – where a 15-year-old girl has a higher chance of dying in childbirth than completing school – certainly faces steep challenges.
Ashworth acknowledges the country is up against issues such as rebel groups in the south, disputes over oil, unrest in the disputed Abyei border region and citizenship.
But he argues that these problems were never going to derail independence and that the media is losing sight of some of the positive developments taking place; South Sudan rebel David Yau Yau signing a peace agreement with the South Sudanese government this year, he gives as one example.
Ashworth also lamented the fact that non-governmental organisations treated Independence Day as if it were a major security crisis – evacuating staff or implementing staff curfews. Despite apprehension about security risks, South Sudan’s Independence Day was broadly reported to have gone smoothly and joyously.
Yes, South Sudan has troubles ahead after decades of conflicts, but international support for the country could also start by focusing on some of the positives.
“We all know there are plenty of challenges facing South Sudan, but on a joyous occasion like Independence Day one might expect a bit more joy and a bit less pessimism,” Ashworth said.
“What a disappointment for the media that the day actually went pretty much perfectly.”
(Editing by Emma Batha)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
