On 9 July 2011 the world witnessed the birth of a nation - South Sudan, Africa’s 54th country. In an interview with UN Women, South Sudan’s Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare Agnes Lasuba weighs in on the country’s independence and what it means for women. 'The women of South Sudan played various roles to achieve independence. During war they picked up arms. Others were mobilisers and others were taking care of the wounded, the sick and the elderly. And others were yearning for peace and they took it upon themselves to lobby other people and other countries, so that there could be peace for them and for their children,' says Lasuba in the interview.

Independence celebrations in Juba, discrimination against civil servants of southern origin by the Sudanese government, the Arab world’s troubled relationship with South Sudan, secession in the DRC and criticisms of the Caine Prize for African Writing feature in this week’s review of African blogs, compiled by Dibussi Tande.

South Sudan’s independence is ‘a dream come true’ for the country’s people, but ‘to avoid turning that dream into a nightmare, the new nation’s leadership will need to adopt a line of governance that reflects greater commitment to human rights, public freedoms and justice for all,’ cautions Aloys Habimana.

What does a 'clean slate' mean for South Sudan, wonders Gado.

The United Nations should ensure that peacekeepers have a strong mandate to protect civilians and should increase the number of troops deployed to South Sudan, a global coalition of eight international nongovernmental organisations said. The UN Security Council is expected to authorise a new peacekeeping mission in South Sudan to succeed the current United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). The UN secretary-general has recommended increasing the number of troops from the current 5,000 to 7,000. However, some member states have urged lower troop levels, citing cost concerns.

While top government leaders of the world's newest nation, South Sudan, have announced plans to make the country not only the 'hub' of Africa but also the bread basket for the Eastern African region, the Civil Society Taskforce is stressing the need for creating a just, peaceful and equitable society. The new independent state needs hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in order to connect its territory, which is the size of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania combined with expensive roads and bridges. It plans to build refineries and pipelines to transport its crude oil to the international market, reported the Sudan Tribune.

Mother of eight, Jessicah Foni, 36, hopes that independence will mean a hospital will soon be built in her village. Foni, who has travelled from a remote village in South Sudan to the state’s capital to celebrate independence, lost two babies at birth because of the lack of medical facilities in her area. South Sudan has one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world. Out of 100,000 live births, 2,054 women die.

A lack of proper primary care facilities in South Sudan means doctors are often overworked. And a lack of money means they are under-equipped, as well. The government in Juba does not give them enough to buy the supplies they need, and donations from the international community do not fill the gap. The health ministry has plans to open a network of primary care centres - roughly one per 15,000 people - but none are fully operational. And the military and police hospitals are closed, forcing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and officers to seek care from civilian facilities.

July 9 is Independence Day in the Republic of South Sudan. Below are the words of the country’s new national anthem, which you can also

What does the future look like?

North and south Sudan have signed an agreement to demilitarise the disputed Abyei region and allow in Ethiopian peacekeeping forces, former South African president Thabo Mbeki said on 20 June.

‘The history of Sudan is a complex one which can’t be reduced to a linear narrative of south versus north,’ writes Yohannes Woldemariam. Can South Sudan resolve the sticking points standing in the way of successful secession?

More than 80 rebels and civilians were killed when insurgents attacked a camp in south Sudan, the army said on Tuesday (10 May), in the latest violence to mar preparations for the region's independence. In a separate incident, unknown attackers shot and wounded four Zambian UN peacekeepers in the contested Abyei region on Tuesday, another north/south flashpoint, the United Nations said. People from Sudan's oil-producing south overwhelmingly voted to secede in a referendum in January, promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north.

Reflecting on the context behind South Sudan's exercise in self-determination and the potential sources of political violence following the country’s independence, Mahmood Mamdani explores Sudan's longer-term historical experience – the role of imposed administrative identities under the colonial system, migration, religion, slavery and the emergence of a politicised Islam – and the contemporary challenges around rethinking political citizenship.

At least 31 people were killed in a clash between south Sudan's army and rebel militia fighters, the army said on Wednesday (20 April), the latest violence to unsettle the region ahead of its independence in July. Twenty southern army soldiers were killed on Tuesday in a clash in the oil-producing Unity state with fighters loyal to Peter Gadet, a former senior southern army (SPLA) officer who rebelled this month, the military said.

More than 800 people have died in south Sudan violence since January and almost 94,000 people fled their homes, posing a major challenge for the fledgling state, the top UN aid official for the region warned. The nation in waiting has seen an upsurge in bloody clashes since January's largely peaceful referendum, in which southerners voted almost unanimously to split with the north. The number of people displaced by violence has doubled in the past month to 93,780 people, according to figures released by Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan.

About 34,000 southern Sudanese have fled their homes after tribal clashes over land, water and cattle in recent weeks, a humanitarian official said, adding to southern troubles before independence in July. The oil-rich south voted overwhelmingly to separate from the north in a January referendum, promised as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war in Sudan. At least two million died in the war, which destabilised much of the region.

Two factors may shape the coming transition period in Sudan more than any other, says a new briefing from the International Crisis Group. '...first, the degree to which the South’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) allows an opening of political space in which a vibrant multi-party system can grow; secondly, the will to undertake democratic reform within the SPLM, as intra-party politics continue to dominate the political arena in the near term.'

Unregulated large-scale land acquisition in south Sudan by foreign companies threatens the rights of the people, with an area bigger than Rwanda earmarked for use by outside businesses, a report warns. Investigations commissioned by Norwegian People's Aid calculated that between 2007 and 2010, 'foreign interests sought or acquired a total of 2.64 million hectares of land (6.52 million acres) in the agriculture, forestry and biofuel sectors alone.'

Hundreds of residents have been left homeless in Juba town following demolitions at Custom Residential Area. The demolitions came following a week long notice given to the residents to vacate the area. Authorities of Central Equatoria State warned the residents that the State government wanted to use the land for constructing a government building.