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Ayear long project commissioned by the Sudan Peace Advocacy Coalition, investigating the impact of peace on children in Sudan. Beyond the despair of Darfur, this film provides a unique window into the lives of young people from north and south Sudan who lived in conflict but dreamed of peace. Featuring exclusive interviews with politicians from both sides involved in the peace process, Just Peace is essential viewing for anyone keen to find out more about Sudan. The ongoing civil war in Sudan has caused the deaths of nearly two million people since 1983, according to a humanitarian agency. The agency, the United States Comittee for Refugees, said that the fight for control of southern and central Sudan had killed one in five of the southern Sudanese population - either by warfare, war-induced famine or direct government or rebel policies. Jeff Drumtra, a senior policy analyst with the organisation said the death count was "a fairly conservative estimate". More than 70,000 people died in the first six months of this year alone the report said. The figures were compiled from dozens of documents and reports by many of the 40 aid agencies operating in Sudan. About 80% of southern Sudan's estimated five million people have been displaced at one time or another since 1983 by fighting between rebels from the animist and Christian south, and forces loyal to the government of the Arab and Islamic north. The report said 350,000 people were also living as refugees in neighbouring countries.
Atrocities
The report said that both the government and rebel forces had committed atrocities against the local population. But it blamed the former for the bulk of the human rights abuses. "Sudan's civil war has been characterised by an incremental ferocity that has left untouched practically no one in southern Sudan," it went on. The government had systematically blocked food supplies to the south, attacked villages and driven large groups of people to areas where they could not survive, it said. "These are not people killed in crossfire," said Mr Drumtra. "It's a very deliberate strategy on the part of the government of Sudan to depopulate large parts of southern Sudan." "What is going on in Sudan, and what has been going for the past 15 years is virtually unprecedented in terms of the devastation to human lives, property and society in the south," he said. "Even by the standards of Africa, even by the standards of war ... this loss of life and destruction of economy and society is far beyond the line."
 Map Sudan Sudan is bounded on the north by Egypt; on the east by the Red Sea, Eritrea, and Ethiopia; on the south by Kenya, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire); and on the west by the Central African Republic, Chad, and Libya. Sudan has a total area of 2,505,800 sq km (967,490 sq mi). Khartoum is the capital and largest city.
The 2006 estimated population was 41,236,378, giving the country an overall population density of 17 persons per sq km (45 per sq mi). The most densely settled area is at the juncture of the White Nile and the Blue Nile. Sudan's population is growing at a rate of 2.55 percent (2006) annually.
About 70 percent of the people of Sudan are Muslims, some 15 percent are Christians, and most of the remainder follow traditional religions. The people of northern Sudan are predominantly Sunni Muslims (Sunni Islam). Most of the people in the south either practice traditional religions or are Christians. The official language of Sudan is Arabic; English is widely spoken, and African languages are used in the south.
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