Study ranks southern Sudan worst in the world for women and children

NAIROBI, June 17, 2004 (IRIN) — After 21 years of civil war, southern Sudan
ranks worst in the world for many key indicators of the wellbeing of women
and children, including rates of chronic malnutrition, immunisation,
antenatal care and primary school completion, according to a new study.

With net enrolment in schools at only 20 percent, southern Sudanese
children have the least access to primary education in the world,
according to the study, conducted by the New Sudan Centre for Statistics
and Evaluation (NSCSE), in association with UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The NSCSE is a technical wing of the de facto government of southern
Sudan, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

The study, entitled “Towards a Baseline: Best estimates of Social
Indicators for Southern Sudan”, says only one in five children of school
age attends class, while three times more boys are at school than girls.

The report will be posted at: http://www.unsudanig.org/Publications/assessments

Only 2 percent of children, or one out of every 50, finish primary school,
which is the lowest rate in the world, says the report. With a population
of 7.5 million, this means that only 500 girls and 2,000 boys finish every
year.

Moreover, a girl born in southern Sudan is far more likely to die in
pregnancy or childbirth than she is to complete primary school: one in
nine women die in pregnancy or childbirth while only one in 100 girls
finishes primary school.

These and many other key statistics on demographics, literacy, child and
maternal mortality, health, nutrition, water and sanitation are documented
for the first time in the report, which also reviews surveys conducted
during recent years and compares them with figures from neighbouring
countries and the rest of Sudan.

A formal census would be conducted during the interim period following the
signing of a comprehensive peace agreement, and this would provide a
baseline for planning and monitoring social progress, said UNICEF in a
press release. Until then, the statistics contained in the report would
provide “a much-needed starting point” for planning future national and
international assistance, which was expected to grow massively during the
six-year interim period.

As the government of Sudan and the SPLM drew closer to signing a
comprehensive peace agreement, UNICEF said it had urged donors, NGOs,
southern Sudanese and the de facto governing authorities in southern Sudan
to make children’s survival and development their top priority.

“We know we can make huge improvements in the lives of Sudanese children
if the peace process is a success. This generation might be the lucky
ones,” commented Bernt Aasen, the UNICEF chief of operations for southern
Sudan.