Wild Places East Africa: Independence of South Sudan

Independence of South Sudan

Policy Adviser to the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries in the Republic of South Sudan

From June 2011 through to the end of September 2012, I was employed by the International NGO, Veterinaires Sans Frontieres - Belgium (VSF-Belgium), as EC-funded Consultant Policy Adviser to the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries (MARF) of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan (GoRSS). My contract started on 19th June and South Sudan gained its independence, just three weeks later, on 09th July 2011. Independence made South Sudan the newest country in the World, and with the third largest national livestock herd in Africa and an estimated 65% of the 12 million population dependent on livestock for their livelihoods, Policy Adviser to the Government's livestock Ministry, an important advisory role.

During this period, from my office in the MARF in Juba, I worked closely with the Minister (Hon. Martin Elia Lomuro) and Directors of the MARF Directorates. I also travelled extensively in all of the then 10 States of South Sudan, working with all State Ministries of Animal Resources and Fisheries to develop the Country's first National Veterinary Plan (2012 - 2014) and National Policy Framework and Strategic Plans (2012 - 2016) for the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries.

On the eve of independence, on Friday 08th July, the city of Juba was alive with celebration anticipating the Independence day parade for 09th July - the outcome of the January 2011 referendum vote that had seen the population overwhelmingly (98.83%) vote for independence, with the end of the longest-running civil war in Africa. Earlier in the week I had managed to get an official Photographer's pass which gave me preferential access and enabled me to get photographs of the celebrations, that I would otherwise not have been able to make. It is difficult to describe the popular feelings of jubilation and euphoria on the day and days leading up to Independence, some of which I hope to have captured in my photographs below:

Friday 08th July 2011 - Eve of Independence in South Sudan