Evangelicals pledge support for Sudan referendum

The World Evangelical Alliance has promised to assist Southern Sudan as it enters the final months of preparation before a crucial referendum on the country’s future.

The people of Southern Sudan head to the polls on January 9, 2011, to determine whether they will remain united with the North or gain their independence.

The referendum was one of the conditions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which brought decades of brutal civil war to an end in 2005.

Secretary General of the WEA, Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, told the President of Southern Sudan last week that the world’s evangelicals would pray for a “free, fair and safe referendum” and lobby their governments to help the country make the necessary preparations.

Amid fears that the referendum will trigger a new conflict, Dr Tunnicliffe announced the launch of a new peace fund for Sudan that will raise money to support the church’s mediation and peacekeeping work.

He also called on all governments to "respect and accept the will of Southern Sudanese expressed through the referendum".

The measures were outlined last week at a forum in the Southern Sudanese capital of Juba joined by President Salva Kiir and leaders of the church.

Dr Tunnicliffe commended the president for his engagement with the church and demonstrating a spirit of reconciliation after he offered a presidential pardon to some rebel leaders.

“The people of Sudan have suffered for many years. Now is the time for a new future that will bring peace, wholeness, dignity, freedom of belief and freedom from extreme poverty. The people of Sudan deserve nothing less,” he said.

Also present at the forum was Aiah Forday-Khabenje, General Secretary of the Association of Evangelicals of Africa (AEA). He called upon the international community to support the Southern Sudanese in holding a successful and peaceful referendum.

He said: “Sudan was embroiled in civil war for the best part of half a century. That war ended when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was agreed five years ago and it is imperative that the country does not slide back into another destructive cycle of conflict and poverty.

“We are looking to governments to honour the commitment they made to ensure that the referendum goes ahead on time and that it does not result in further suffering for the people of Sudan.”