South Sudan became the world’s newest country in July 2011 after nearly 99 percent of voters chose independence from Sudan.Fifteen years later, most of the major promises that came with independence remain unfulfilled.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listSouth Sudan remains one of the world’s most fragile states.Oil finances nearly 90 percent of the government’s revenue, but the country remains wracked by deep inequality and violence: 82 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, and political jostling between rival groups has left the young nation in a perpetual state of conflict. A woman poses with her three-year-old daughter in their house, which is made out of straw, bamboo and plastic sheeting, at the Protection of Civilian site (PoC) in Bentiu, South Sudan, on February 15, 2018 [Stefanie Glinski/AFP]Elections have never been held since independence, millions remain displaced, and the country’s economy depends on pipelines running through Sudan, the very nation it fought to leave. ‘A failed promise’Jok Madut Jok, 57, a professor and director of graduate studies at Syracuse University, is from Warrap, South Sudan, and still has family in both rural and urban parts of the country.Jok says he recalls the joy of the time when South Sudan broke away to establish a new beginning. It was a moment of hope. Today, though, he feels as though he has been denied all that was promised at the time.“South Sudan at the moment is a failed promise,” he says. “Sou …
