South Sudan lays foundation stone for new National Archives building
Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture Kuac Wek Wol, Norwegian Ambassador Mrs. Siv Kaspersen and Vice President Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior.
© F. Mietteaux/RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Juba, the first stone of the construction of a new building for the National Archives was laid on Friday 8 July.
The project was announced as a "gift" from Norway to the country when it declared independence on July 9, 2011. But the civil war that broke out in 2013 stopped the construction of this building.
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With our correspondent in Juba
,
Florence Miettaux
After years of hiatus, it took months for the Archives to regain control of their land, which had been illegally occupied.
This was possible thanks to Vice President Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, the widow of the historical leader of the liberation struggle.
She therefore participated in the launching ceremony.
A stone's throw from the John Garang mausoleum, on the vast grounds where the building of the National Archives of South Sudan should see the light of day at the earliest within a year, a small exhibition of documents drawn from the collection has been installed for the opportunity alongside excavators and construction helmets.
The project is finally relaunched, to the great joy of the Norwegian ambassador, Siv Kaspersen: “
I am so delighted that this inauguration ceremony is finally taking place.
National archives are important for unifying the nation, connecting people to their history, and enabling learning from that history.
»
Vice-president Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior is also convinced of the importance of connecting the generations.
“
Standing here today, I don't see an empty field.
I see schoolchildren walking down hallways guided by their ancestors and feeling proud of their history.
We must continue to unite and defend our heritage, our dignity and our national identity.
»
According to Julius Banda, the director of Unesco in South Sudan, archives can indeed help the country to build itself.
“
It's important that people look at their own history, their own identity and preserve it, while moving forward with peace negotiations and nation building.
»
An opportunity to celebrate the importance of the work of archivists in South Sudan, as the young country celebrated its 11th anniversary this Saturday, July 9.
A registry office was initiated in 1972 to preserve the history of South Sudan.
Douglas Johnson, a historian, had then brought back the archives of all the provincial administrations of what was at the time a region of Sudan.
But there was no place to keep them properly.
They simply piled them up and left them like that in Juba throughout the civil war which started in 1983 and ended in 2005. From 2007, we found these documents and temporarily stored them in a tent.
Then, the British Institute, based in Nairobi, trained us in the management of physical archives: how to sort, categorize and catalog them.
The Rift Valley Institute also came to help us digitize the documents.
We really fought to preserve them.
I am particularly happy today, because we are currently renting a house which is not made for the National Archives.
When we have our building, we can really bring our archives to life.
Youssef Fulgensio Onyalla, Director of the National Archives of South Sudan
Florence Miettaux
A photo from June 2012 shows unclassified documents belonging to the National Archives in a building of the Ministry of Culture in Juba (illustration image) AFP - GIULIO PETROCCO
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