This event has been scheduled to mark the imminent independence of the Republic of South Sudan on 9 July, following January’s referendum in which people of the south voted to separate from the north after decades of civil war. The legacy of Sudan’s wars is enormous. The north-south conflict alone cost the lives of 1.5 million people and the continuing conflict in Darfur has driven two million people from their homes and killed more than 200,000.Millions of displaced southerners are returning to a homeland where 22 years of war have destroyed infrastructure and where there is urgent need for reconstruction and development. The new government of South Sudan will face huge challenges – a severe lack of infrastructure, some of the worst development indicators in the world, and a substantial dependence on international assistance for basic services.And as tens of thousands flee violence which has erupted in the border regions of South Kordofan and Abyei, the new nation will face formidable obstacles in achieving peace and stability following its declaration of independence.

This joint video conference event, cast in London and Juba, has been organised by the Humanitarian Policy Group and the Associate Parliamentary Group for Sudan to explore what lies ahead for both Sudans – north and south.