US is first to recognise South Sudan independence
R. Barrie Walkley, the U.S. Consul General in Juba, said on 8 June that the U.S. is ready to recognize the independence of South Sudan, which voted overwhelmingly to secede from the north in a referendum held in January.
In the presence of local dignitaries and international donors, Walkley spoke at the opening ceremony of the first permanent Council of Traditional Authority Leaders (COTAL) in Rumbek, the capital of Lakes State.
\"On behalf of the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, I am happy to hand over this office to the Government of Southern Sudan.\"
\"On behalf of the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, I am happy to hand over this office to the Government of Southern Sudan, particularly the Lakes State government,\" to help the state government tackle insecurity. He added that the American people would continue to lend their support to the people of South Sudan.
As the leading international donor to Sudan, the US government has provided nearly $10 billion in aid to Sudan and eastern Chad since 2005.
The aid effort has focused on a definitive end to conflict in Sudan, including human right abuses and genocide in Darfur, and implementation of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended over twenty years of civil war.
Supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the center, with a capacity to host 300 people, will provide an administrative headquarters, meeting space and centralized court for chiefs to resolve disputes in one of South Sudan’s most volatile regions.
