Sudan: Republic of South Sudan will become the newest country of world today, July 9th 2011. It is formally separating from Sudan today. It will have a “brotherly relationship” with the Republic of Sudan. Rebels feel it as a “very great moment”. President of Sudan promised his support to the newly independent nation.

The freedom has been achieved by the rebels after five decades of guerilla struggles. The new capital will be Juba where the atmosphere is full with the sentiments of freedom, joy and patriotism. The new national anthem is chanting all over the capital.

But when this phase of joy and celebrations is over the country has to face the ground realities. The newest country is going to be one of the poorest countries as well. Its birth in the 21st century is victory of its people but the socioeconomic backwardness is that inherited glitch that this country seems to bear for long. The present situation in this country is that over ten percent children die before their five years are completed.

The literacy rate is also one of the lowest in the world: around 25 percent only. In this age of information technology when the world is discovering about the possibility of life on other planets, only 1percent of the population here has a bank account. The mortality rates related with birth are high but the rate at which children are admitted to schools is low.

Apart from this the ethnic and political crises are still likely to impede the country for long. Beyond the formal pleasant celebrations the nature of its relations with Sudan itself is a question hidden in the womb of times.

But for the time being the people represent change. They have brought change and they are undergoing change. They have traveled long distances; they have fought for decades; they are getting a new life and new opportunities with the freedom. There are people who are changing their profession or are being given new responsibilities for the nation. Mr. Aguto, a young fellow who has been a soldier since his childhood now wishes to be a doctor. “I have that spirit,” he explained. At present he is working as a clinical officer at a government hospital.

“There was one night I delivered six babies, six babies in one night!” he said. “I was so happy. I was making development here. I was showing that I had skills.”

The country really needs doctors today. Thousands of people have been killed in last one year. There had been ethnic violence and there had been rebel violence. The terrific life the population here was facing seems to be over with these settlements.

The scene at the hospital where Mr. Aguto works gives us a description of the country itself. In one bed here is a young man with a huge cast on his leg. The man became a victim of the North Sudanese army in May this year. There is another man moving with a walker. Both of them belong to the border area.

“This is just tribal fighting,” Mustafa Biong Majak, a South Sudan government spokesman, said. He looked not bothered about the ethnic conflicts going on. “Let them die.”

Nuer and the Dinka have been the tribes to be engaged in fighting for long. There are fears that the fighting will continue despite this freedom.

Hunger is such a challenge in this country that the government soldiers are found steeling food from US trucks.

The areas are not very far from the capital where bandits loot the farmers every now and then. And the money is spent more on security than on food and development. Though it is a common scenario the world over but for South Sudan it may prove fatal. Government here spends about $700 on security.

Only oil can be a source of relief in this country. The new country will produce 375 thousand of oil per day. A formula is being worked out as to how the oil will be divided between the two countries. There are forests rich in many natural aspects to add to the resources of the country.

Sudan had got freedom from Britain and Egypt in 1956. Most of the population here is Christian. The freedom to this country is brought through a voting held in January this year. The votes in favor of this division counted 99 percent.

With a history of subjugation but struggles, the country has to start from level zero. The new challenges before the new government will be that of security and the ethnic violence first.