Monday, August 22, 2011

Troubling inflation hits S.Sudan

The people of S. Sudan do not lack for enthusiasm at becoming an independent nation. However, serious problems grip the young country. Since July 9th, when South Sudan split from the North, the Khartoum government has actively worked to de-stabilize the region.  There is evidence that Khartoum is supplying dissident groups in the South with weapons, ammunition, and other goods (or should we say "bads").

Khartoum has also stripped all Southerners residing in the north of their Sudanese citizenship and rights, causing massive movements of internally displaced to the South.  To make matters worse, the North has blocked the transport of needed food, fuel and other materials to the South, sparking huge jumps in prices for everyday commodities.  In the town of Narus, where Mercy Beyond Borders supports a girls' boarding school, a bag of maize is up 300% in 2 months; a drum of petrol has risen 62%,  a bag of sugar now costs 6,000 Kenyan shillings--about $75 USD, an impossible sum where the average person's income is less than $1/day.

As challenges mount, so does the determination of the people to make their newfound freedom work. Mercy Beyond Borders stands with them.

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