The National Democratic Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to support and strengthen democratic institutions worldwide through citizen participation, openness and accountability in government.

Sudanese living in the resource-rich border region between the north and south of the country have bleak views of their current situation and the future, according to focus group research released this month by NDI. Focus group participants from the state of Southern Kordofan consider their security and development situation to be deteriorating. Still reeling from an upsurge of violence last May, residents of Abyei are pessimistic about the possibility of sustained peace. Participants from Blue Nile state feel more hopeful about their prospects.

The report, titled Losing Hope: Citizen Perceptions of Peace and Reconciliation in the Three Areas, summarizes findings from 62 focus groups conducted in Southern Kordofan, Abyei and Blue Nile in the spring and summer of 2008. Some 731 Sudanese participated in the research designed to gauge citizen perceptions of progress toward a permanent peace since the 2005 signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Losing Hope is the most recent in a series of NDI reports on Sudanese focus group results. Previous reports include:

• Intergovernmental Relations in Southern Sudan, Sept. 2008

• A Place to Call Their Own: Southern Sudanese Comment on the Hard Work and Struggles of Self-Governance, Sept. 2007

• Lost in the Middle of Peace: An Exploration of Citizen Opinion on the Implementation of the CPA in the Three Areas of Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, Feb. 2007

• Searching for a Path to Peace: Reaction to the Death of John Garang and One Year of the CPA, April 2006

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Published on April 2, 2009