After 26 years of civil war, the 2005 peace treaty between the Sudanese government and rebel forces should have been start of better things for the long-suffering people of Southern Sudan.

However, 4 years later, whilst the conflict has abated in many areas, progress on improving standard of life seems slow at best and barely recognizable in many areas. Here are a few facts of life for the people of Southern Sudan:

- 3 surgeons in a country of 40 million +
- 1 doctor per half million people
- 92% female illiteracy
- 27% of girls attend primary school
- 1,000 primary school pupils per teacher
- 3% of people have access to sanitation
- 1 in 6 pregnant women die in childbirth.
- A 15-year-old girl has a higher chance of dying during pregnancy than of completing school.

An estimated 96% of the primarily Christian population in Southern Sudan want independence from the primarily Muslim North and a fundamental element of the peace treaty was a referendum on independence scheduled for 2011.

However, with Southern Sudan being the source of most of the countries foreign exchange revenue from oil, the government is accused of continuing to destabilise the region.

Read the full story on the Observer website.

SOS Children’s Villages operates two child support centres in Sudan, one of which is situated in the Southern Sudanese town of Malakal in an area heavily affected by the civil war.

There are an estimated 1.7 million orphans in Sudan – around 1 in 10 of all Sudanese children.

Help SOS continue it’s work by SPONSORING A CHILD IN SUDAN