06/08/2009

Available for over a year

Four years after a peace deal was signed between the predominantly Muslim North of Sudan and the mainly Christian South, Assignment asks whether the bloody civil war really could resume in Africa’s biggest country. While the world's attention has been focused on the western Sudanese region of Darfur, the south has been struggling to establish itself as a viable self-governing state. In the Southern capital, reporter Grant Ferrett discovers that the region’s oil income is being spent on defence and security, rather than schools and hospitals. Despite the years of peace, the region has 90% illiteracy among women, the world’s lowest recorded rate of child vaccination, and the highest rate for deaths in pregnancy. Internal disputes have repeatedly flared into violence in recent months. And to add to the volatile atmosphere, a referendum in the south on whether to become independent is due to be held in 18 months. But with most of Sudan's oil wealth located in the south, will the north allow it to break away? Producer: Andy Denwood, NCA Manchester.