South Sudan's problems extend beyond security

GENEVA, Switzerland, July 20 (UPI) -- About 1 percent of the people of South Sudan have a bank account and less than 10 percent finish primary school, a U.N. humanitarian official said.

South Sudan became the world's newest nation July 9 and the 193rd member of the United Nations last week. Independence was part of a peace agreement reached in 2005 that ended a brutal civil war in Sudan.

Officials have expressed concern about violence along the border between the two Sudans. Satellite imagery reportedly indicates there are mass graves related to ethnic violence in South Kordofan state along the border, though officials in Khartoum denied civilians were targeted in any attacks.

Lisa Grande, the U.N. deputy humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, told delegates in Geneva that, apart from the conflict, South Sudan had some of the worst developmental indicators on Earth.

She noted that South Sudan was able to build basic forms of government and recently built more than 3,700 miles of new roads. Attendance in primary schools was up and much of the country was considered polio free.

Nevertheless, only 4 percent of the arable land in South Sudan is used for farming, 1 percent of population has a bank account and only 20 percent of the population has ever visited a formal healthcare facility.

"A 15-year-old girl living in South Sudan has a higher chance of dying in childbirth than completing school," she said.