Sudan

Since achieving independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule in 1956, Sudan has known few years of peace. Soon after independence a long, brutal civil war began between rebel groups in the South and the Northern Government in Khartoum, which left over 2 million Sudanese dead and four million displaced. The war continued — albeit an eleven year respite — until January 9, 2005 when a historical peace agreement was signed by the government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement. The two parties have agreed to a federal system of power and wealth sharing in exchange for peace. Southern Sudan will have the option to secede from Sudan in 2011.

The people of Sudan continue to suffer the brutal effects of this war. The little infrastructure that did exist in South Sudan has largely been destroyed in the decades of conflict. International support and aid is crucial for the comprehensive peace agreement to succeed and for bringing economic and social development to the region and rebuilding civil institutions.

In the midst of finalizing the north-south comprehensive peace agreement, however, conflict broke out in Sudan's westernmost province, Darfur. The Darfur region consists of three states — North, South and West Darfur — with a population of nearly 6 million people, nearly two-thirds of whom now require emergency aid. Since 2003, over 200,000 people have been killed, more than 2 million people have been displaced within Sudan and 230,000 live as refugees in Chad and northern Central African Republic.