UN official says contingency aid under way for south Sudan ahead of referendum

[News_Editor]

UN official says contingency aid under way for south Sudan ahead of referendum

2010-11-16 18:08:00 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, on Monday said that relief agencies are gathering contingency supplies ahead of the south Sudan referendum which could result in the mass movement of people.

"Work is already ongoing in Sudan to preposition humanitarian assistance near potential hot spots in Southern Sudan and in the border areas," Amos said.

In southern Sudan, the voter registration has begun as citizens will vote on January 9 on whether to secede from the rest of the country. The same date, residents of the central area of Abyei will also cast their ballots to decide whether to join the south or become part of the north.

Amos expects the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their villages of origin as they have the right to go back or to settle in alternative locations of their choice. However, the Sudanese government must ensure the safe movement of the IDPs and their security.

"Ensuring that the returns take place in a free and principled manner is of course the responsibility of the Government. But the conditions need to be appropriate and their safety and security must be guaranteed," Amos added.

U.S. President Barack Obama said he was extremely pleased as the voter registration process began on Monday. He called on Northern and Southern leaders to finish the work started with the voter registration process to ensure the referendum is peaceful and takes place on time.

"Both parties also must urgently work to find an agreed-upon way forward for Abyei in the interest of lasting peace, and we call on the government of Sudan to fully fund the Southern Sudan referendum commission," Obama said.

An United Nations monitoring panel visited the registration centers in Khartoum on the fist day of registering those individuals eligible to vote next January. The panel reported that very few people registered on the first day but the amount is expected to increase.

The referendum will be the final phase in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the 2005 pact that formally ended two decades of war between the northern-based Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the south.

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