In January 2011, Southern Sudan will hold a referendum to determine whether it should remain part of the Sudan or become an independent country.

The referendum is part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in Naivasha, Kenya in 2005 between the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Government of Sudan represented at that time by the ruling party the National Congress Party (NCP).

The Interim Constitution and the Southern Sudan Referendum Act also states that Southern Sudanese have the right to self-determination through a referendum vote to be held at least six months prior to the end of the CPA interim period – January 9, 2011.

As the same time and under the same agreement, Abyei, the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905, will also hold a referendum on whether to become part of Southern Sudan.

Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile will also hold ‘popular consultation’ where they will renegotiate political, administrative, and constitutional arrangements with the central government as part of the CPA.