A member of the Bangladeshi medical corps checks a patient's blood pressure in Kator. Photo by Victor Geri Ayub, NDI resident officer.
Doctors and nurses from a U.N. hospital in South Sudan are treating patients in Munuki and Kator, two communities outside the capital that had no access to health care until now. The presence of the hospital staff grew out of a town hall-style meeting that was a first-time opportunity for residents of those communities to meet with their elected members of parliament.
MPs take questions during the dialogue in Bor.
The first-time opportunity to question their elected members of parliament (MPs) was so important to residents of South Sudan that some of them brought their own chairs to standing-room-only constituency dialogues organized in November by the South Sudanese Network for Democracy and Elections (SuNDE), a nonpartisan coalition of community groups.
As the people of South Sudan undertake the task of building a new nation, public opinion research conducted by NDI shows they are optimistic about South Sudan’s future while also concerned about the fundamental challenges it faces.
Author:
Traci D. Cook
Publisher:
National Democratic Institute
Published Date:
11/23/2011
Resource Type:
Focus Group
Language:
English
Source:
Voice of America
Article Link:
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Published Date:
09/01/2011
Traci Cook, Southern and East Africa advisor at NDI, sits down with Voice of America to talk about the findings of the Institute's upcoming focus group research report. Cook discusses the type of nation Southern Sudanese are hoping to create — democratic, peaceful, with an emphasis on equality, fairness and responsive government. But above all, she says, the Southern Sudanese expressed the desire for unity, to be united as Southern Sudanese first, with tribal affiliations coming second.
Voice of America | Link to story »
"The U.S. based National Democratic Institute (NDI) has just released a study formulated from focus group discussions that took place right across the ten states of South Sudan. The study, conducted in March and April of this year, asked people what aspirations and fears they have as South Sudan emerges as a new nation.
Source:
Africa Now!
Article Link:
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Published Date:
07/20/2011
Citizens of South Sudan celebrated their long awaited independence day on July 9, 2011 after more than five decades of armed struggle with the North. The mood in Juba was optimistic despite the ongoing disputes between the North and the South and the tremendous challenges ahead for the people of South Sudan as they build a new nation.
As South Sudan celebrates its first week as a new nation, preliminary focus group research released today by NDI shows that citizens of the world’s youngest country have growing expectations for their government.
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