USAID/OTI Sudan Hot Topics January 2007
Basketball Brings North and South Together During Peace Week
The overarching goal of the USAID/OTI Sudan program is to strengthen Sudanese confidence and capacity to address the causes and consequences of political marginalization, violence, and instability that has consumed the country for nearly 50 years.
Working within the context of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the OTI Sudan program focuses on promoting the emergence of responsive and effective civil authorities; peaceful dialogue within and among communities; fostering the emergence of an active civil society; increasing the availability of independent information; and protecting vulnerable populations from grave human rights violations and related abuses.
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| USAID/OTI's timely renovation of the Juba Youth Multiplex provided the venue for a North-South basketball game as part of a week-long celebration throughout Sudan to mark the second anniversary of the signing of the CPA. |
The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January of 2005 ended more than twenty years of civil war in Sudan. To bolster the CPA, efforts continue to overcome the legacy of regional, religious and ethnic differences. One key element to continuing the peace momentum includes the dissemination of the CPA and increased opportunities for young people from the North and South to meet.
On January 9, Sudan celebrated the second anniversary of the signing of the CPA through Peace Week events throughout the country, including marches, cultural and sporting events and political rallies. In supporting the observance of the two-year anniversary, USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) supported a North-South basketball tournament during Peace Week by renovating the Youth Multiplex in Juba. The tournament, as part of other commemorative activities, presented a unique opportunity to build bridges between youth from North and South Sudan, and to raise awareness of the CPA.
Basketball has always been very popular in Sudan, and the court's newly renovated stands were filled with hundreds of Sudanese fans. During the tournament, copies of easy-to-understand CPA summary documents were distributed to spectators. Raising public awareness of the terms of the CPA increases citizen support for the peace efforts. The highlight of the tournament was games in which northern and southern state teams competed against each other. This contest, unimaginable two years ago, demonstrated to the tournament participants and the wider Sudanese audience that the peace efforts are in fact generating positive results.
For further information, please contact:
In Washington, D.C: Victoria Rames, Program Manager, Tel: (202) 712-4899, vrames@usaid.gov
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