The role of internal self-determination in peace building and poverty in South Sudan (eBook)

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2021 in the subject Politics - Region: Africa, grade: A, Flinders University, language: English, abstract: Self-determination is a democratic political process in which citizens of a country determine their preferred form of statehood and government for their nation. The right to self-determination is a legal and political right for all people. Self-determination became prominent internationally during and after the First World War. It was also at the Centre of the international political agenda during the decolonisation period. From 1945 onwards, self-determination became an international principle after several international conventions defined the term and its use as a legal justification for creating new states in territories previously under colonial rule. The definition and implementation transformed the concept into a universally-recognised practice. Territories under colonial rule used this concept to seek independence, which led to the creation of more than eighty new states. The struggle of South Sudan for self-determination has a history longer than any other struggle in Africa. The struggle has roots in Sudan's pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial political events. Despite these roots, South Sudan sought secession due to fear of Northern domination and internal colonisation in post-independence Sudan and exclusion of Southerners from crucial constitutional discussions on Sudan's future based on the argument that the southerners did not have organised political parties. In seeking peace, South Sudan voted in the 2011 referendum to support internal self-determination by seceding from Sudan. Internal self-determination makes peacebuilding initiatives legitimate and sustainable. However, South Sudan experienced incidences of conflict after seceding from the North. The proposed research aims to determine the role that self-determination plays in peacebuilding initiatives and poverty in South Sudan.