Polling day in Juba

Wilma stands in line with her son Alafe waiting to cast her vote.

Plan in Australia’s Disaster Response Manager Rohan Kent reports from Juba, where southern Sudanese are voting in a referendum on their future.

Five hours is a long time for little legs to be standing up outside, especially when the mercury has been steadily climbing into the high thirties. A stern little face peers out at me from behind his mother’s legs, sizes me up and then after careful consideration, decides that I am not a threat. Confidence and curiosity now get the better of this little boy and he points to the camera in my hand. It’s hard to refuse his cheeky grin, and so I take out my camera and together we take close-up pictures of my driver’s legs and feet – all to the amusement of the onlookers around us.

It’s the 9th of January, 2011 and the beginning of a week-long voting period for the nearly four million registered voters in southern Sudan. We are at a polling station near the mausoleum of the late Dr John Garang de Mabior, one of Sudan’s original advocates of independence for the South. Although the heat is overwhelming, the mood remains positive amongst the crowd who patiently await their turn at being a part of history.

Wilma, the boy’s mother, wasn’t going to miss this opportunity and was determined to vote on the very first day of the voting process.

"Independence is the change for a new life," she says. "Yes, there have been challenges – so many challenges – and we will be a new nation that needs your support.  But, we are also a resilient people and this is our chance to shine."

Plan’s southern programs have been operational since 2007, but Plan has already been recognised as a credible development partner by the Government of southern Sudan and major donors. Already the dedicated team from the southern offices are becoming well known for the provision of education, youth livelihood and community-led total sanitation.

Wilma explains that growing up in Sudan has had its challenges, primarily those associated with the decades of civil war, the most recent of which ended in 2005. Natural hazards, including floods and prolonged droughts have also battered the predominantly rural communities. For Wilma, education has been especially difficult to access, with a lack of facilities, qualified teachers and physical access to educational services all restricting her right to education.

Wilma feels it is important to cast this vote – not only for her own future, but also in the hope that independence will bring more sustained educational opportunities for her son Alafe, who has since discovered the zoom function on my camera, and has progressed to now taking close ups of our driver’s knees.

It’s a similar story to what we have been hearing all around us today. Increased quality education services for the children of the south is a high expectation among the voters, but also from those young people we talk to on the streets, who are still a few years off from legal voting age.

Like other agencies, we have been planning for this historic event for a while.

We are now looking to expand our current contingency plan to support returnees. Following another recent in-depth assessment it is becoming clear that education as well as other key areas – including livelihoods recovery, food security and water, sanitation and hygiene – are developing as key urgent gaps in Plan operational areas as the population swells with those permanent returnees from the North and surrounding countries. More support will be needed to manage not only the long-term expectations of the populations, but also the immediate, basic needs in order to sustain people in a dignified manner.

There is little in the way of shade at this polling centre queue that Wilma and Alafe are in, as they continue their slow walk to the voting booth. The dust and grass continue to be kicked up by the voters in line, or by impromptu celebratory dancing by youth groups or by individuals who have recently realised their right to vote. Wilma and Alafe are still about an hour away from casting their vote for ‘two’, but another hour is a small price to pay in order to have their voices heard. 

It will then be up to us – the international community in partnership with people like Wilma and Alafe – to ensure that their voices continue to be heard, as they continue on their journey out of humanitarian crisis and into sustainable long-term development.

To support our work responding to emergencies around the world, donate to our Children in Crisis Fund

For all media enquiries, please contact:

David Cook
Media Officer
Plan International Australia
Mobile: 0448 816 900
Email: david.cook@plan.org.au