LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Sudan: Southern Sudan
built 655 days ago
In addition to extending the UN Mission in Southern Sudan (UNMIS) for 6 months, the Security Council calls on the Secretary General to appoint "urgently" a new special representative for Sudan. The resolution ... expresses concerns over the restrictions imposed on UNMIS, and urges Khartoum to implement immediately its commitment to support, protect and facilitate all humanitarian operations in Darfur. It further calls upon all rebel groups who have not done so, to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement.
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In 2006, Sudan's population reached an estimated 41 million. A new census is planned for 2008. The population of metropolitan Khartoum (including Khartoum, Omdurman, and North Khartoum) is growing rapidly and ranges from 6-7 million, including around 2 million internally displaced persons from the former southern war zone as well as western and eastern regions affected by drought, conflict, and marginalization. In Darfur, there are an estimated 1.8 million internally displaced persons and another 220,000 refugees in neighboring Chad--200,000 in 12 camps and 20,000 in the border area.
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The war that has plagued Sudan is one of the longest in the 20th century. In the last 48 years, Sudan has experienced only 11 years of peace. And this has come with a huge cost: over2 million deaths, 500,000 refugees and almost the entire southern population displaced during the course of the war. The diplomatic isolation throughout the years has been a catalyst to impoverished living conditions and the devastation of famine, which raged through the south during the 1990s. Major epidemics of malaria and meningitis ... threaten the region frequently.
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In its first report last month to the U-S Secretary of State, President Clinton, and the Congress, the U-S Commission on International Religious Freedom named Sudan as the nation of top concern in regard to religious freedom. The report accused the government in Khartoum of using force to impose Islam on non- Muslims, and called for sanctions against Sudan. Earlier this year, U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright condemned the Sudanese government's bombing of a hospital and an air attack on a Catholic school that killed 14 children in the southern Nuba Mountains. But Mrs. Albright has said the United States is doing everything possible to end the war and has been making an effort to engage the Sudanese government in a constructive dialogue. Officials at the Sudanese mission to the United Nations were not available for comment despite repeated calls by V-O-A. In the past, the government has said its attacks are justified in its battle against rebels in the south.
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With the consent of the British and Egyptian Governments, Sudan achieved independence on January 1, 1956, under a provisional constitution. This constitution was silent on two crucial issues for southern leaders--the secular or Islamic character of the state and its federal or unitary structure. However, the Arab-led Khartoum government reneged on promises to southerners to create a federal system, which led to a mutiny by southern army officers that launched 17 years of civil war (1955-72).
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With a view to catalysing action to address key environmental problems in the country, the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan requested UNEP to conduct a comprehensive assessment of Sudan's environment. This report presents the findings of the Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment of Sudan and provides detailed recommendations for follow-up action. The sectors investigated include natural disasters and desertification, linkages between conflict and environment, the impacts of population displacement, urban environment and environmental health, industry, agriculture, forest resources, freshwater resources, wildlife and protected areas, marine environments, environmental governance and international aid.
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Southern Sudan