South Kordofan Delegation to the U.S

June 20, 2010 (based on various sources)

A delegation of five from the state of Nuba Mountain/Southern Kordofan has been in the U.S. for several weeks. The delegation consisted of:

• Neroun Phillip Ajo Kuku, SPLM Co-Chairman for the Assessment and Evaluation Commission of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which is responsible for overseeing CPA implementation in the state, as well as the founder of the Nuba Relief, Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NRRDO);
• Mary James Kuku, Chairperson of Health Committee in outgoing state Legislative Assembly and SPLM candidate to represent South Kordofan in Women's League of National Assembly;
• Siddig Mansour, SPLM Deputy Speaker of Parliament (2005-2010) in outgoing state Legislative Assembly and current independent candidate;
• Muhammed Kortokela, Economic Chairperson in outgoing Legislative Assembly, responsible for preparing the state budget and supervising international donor financed projects;
• Tia Tutu Tutu Kafi, SPLM Commissioner for Lagawa County.

The delegation attended a leadership training program sponsored by the Buffett Center's Capacity Building Good Governance Fellowship at Northwestern University in Chicago and then traveled to Washington DC to hold several meetings with U.S. Officials and some think tanks before they returned back to Sudan.

At a public event at the Buffet Centre on May 4, Neroun Phillip Ajo Kuku and Mary James Kuku Angelo discussed current issues in Sudan. Mary James Kuku Angelo discussed "Women and Leadership in Sudan." Neroun Phillip Ajo Kuku's talk was titled, "Sudan and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA): Challenges and the Way Forward."

On June 1, the delegation was at The Aspen Institute in Washington DC for a special seminar: "Panoramas of Leadership: Values for the 21st Century?"

Neroun Phillip Ajo Kuku has served, since 2008, as the SPLM Co-Chairman for the Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC) of the CPA in South Kordofan, Sudan. The AEC is responsible for monitoring and supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan, signed between the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), the southern-based political party, in 2005, ending the decades long civil war. Neroun was the Minister for Rural Development and Water Resources (2006-2007) in South Kordofan, Sudan. He was a founder and Executive Director (1995-2005) of the Nuba Relief Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NRRDO), a major humanitarian assistance organization and the only operational Sudanese NGO in this region. NRRDO was founded to rehabilitate and provide humanitarian assistance to southern Sudanese displaced by the civil war and to this day serves approximately 400,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP's).

Mary James Kuku Angelo served as the Chairperson of the Health Committee in South Kordofan State and was an SPLM Member of Parliament (MP) in the outgoing State Legislative Assembly. She has been a leading spokeswoman and champion of women's and indigenous minorities' rights in Sudan through participation in international conferences across the world. She has spoken about women's issues before the Commission on Human Rights in New York. A teacher by training, Mary earned her diploma in Education from Khartoum Teachers' College. Mary James was the first woman to join the SPLM in South Kordofan, Sudan. She is fluent in English, Arabic, Amharic (Ethiopia), Swahili, and her local Nuba language.

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