20 June 2012Last updated at 01:47

Africa Debate: Has South Sudan lived up to its expectations?

Thousands of Southern Sudanese wave the flag of their country during a ceremony in the capital, Juba to celebrate independence from Sudan.

The people of South Sudan are preparing to mark one year as an independent country. There was jubilation on 9 July 2011 when the country gained independence after decades of conflict to become the world's newest country.

A boy sits with a sick relative at a hospital in Juba, South Sudan

But after all the violence and neglect, it is one of the world's poorest countries, with hardly any healthcare system to speak of.

A classroom where English is being taught

English was chosen as South Sudan's official language, replacing Arabic, but teaching it presents a major challenge for a country which lacks resources and where most people are illiterate.

Oil leaks from a burnt processing facility in the main petroleum centre at Heglig

And South Sudan's first year has also been marred by tension and fighting with its northern neighbour. South Sudanese troops took over the Heglig oilfield, one of Sudan's biggest sources of revenue, in April. South Sudan claims the oilfield falls within its territory but later withdrew following international pressure.

Soldiers of the South-Sudan's Sudan People's Liberation Army

Heglig is just one of the borders areas in dispute and cross-border clashes brought the neighbours close to all-out war, meaning much of the new country's meagre resources were spent on the military.

People line up outside the embassy of the newly-independent South Sudan, in Khartoum in April, two days after a deadline expired for an estimated half a million ethnic Southerners to return South or formalise their status in the north.

One of the issues the two countries still need to resolve is the status of people living on the wrong side of the border. Although hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese left Sudan after the secession, some 350,000 remain.

People await food distribution from the UN mission in South Sudan for the World Food Program

Within South Sudan itself, cattle raids and revenge attacks, in which some villages were burnt to the ground, have killed thousands of people over the last 12 months. This prompted the United Nations to send food and peacekeepers to the worst affected areas in a bid to help those left hungry and homeless.

South Sudanese members of parliament take an oath in the capital Juba.

In June, South Sudan's parliament voted to suspend at least 75 senior officials accused of massive corruption, while President Salva Kiir sent a letter to the current and ex-government employees asking them to return at least $4bn (£2.6bn) of stolen money.

South Sudan president Salva Kiir and Chinese president Hu Jintao toast each other during a signing ceremony in Beijing, China, in April 2012

China has always been a close ally of Sudan but has also moved to cement ties with the oil-rich South. It has agreed to loan South Sudan $8bn (£4.9bn) for major development projects including roads, bridges, agricultural development and hydro-electric power. The funding emerged after President Kiir returned from his first official trip to China in April.

South Sudan will make its international debut at the 2012 East and Central African regional championship, the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup, later this year in Tanzania. The team, which previously lost 3-1 to Kenyan football club Tusker FC in a friendly, only became a member of world football governing body Fifa in May. BBC World Service's Africa Debate is discussing whether South Sudan has lived up to expectations on 29 June.

Africa

Africa Debate: Has South Sudan lived up to its expectations?

Share this page

Services

About BBC News