Fears and taboos hinder many people in remote areas of Southern Sudan from understanding vital aspects of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), including the census, elections and 2011 referendum.

Take Vitale Didimoi, a 68 year-old community adviser in Kapoeta South County (Eastern Equatoria State), who fears that elections and the referendum -- on the south's continued unity with the north or secession -- will bring back ""neo-colonialism" or northern rule. "I will not vote or I will shoot the ballot box," he says defiantly.

Similarly, Laude Stephen, a 19 year-old youth leader in Mvolo County (Western Equatoria State), mistrusts the Abyei referendum (on whether the area should continue its shared north-south administration or switch to a southern one), believing the results will be loaded against Southern Sudan. He worries, like many southerners, that large numbers of northerners will come into Abyei to join the Misseriyas and outnumber the Ngok Dinkas during the referendum, biasing it against the south.

What both Vitale and Laude fail to understand is that, according to the CPA, only residents of either Southern Sudan or Abyei will be eligible to vote in the two referendums. As for the elections, the CPA stipulates that they are to be free and fair, with candidates from both northern and southern parties having an equal chance of being elected.

The two southerners may also be unaware that representatives of both north and south, as per the CPA, are currently debating the elections law. Moreover, both north and south will be equally represented on the National Elections Commission, which will be organizing the elections and referendum.

Added to lack of CPA awareness, traditional beliefs among certain tribes may hamper CPA implementation. Take the forthcoming population census, for instance. Mary Akilu, a women's group representative and member of the Toposa tribe in Narus County (Eastern Equatoria State) said, "My children will not be counted because they will die." Her belief stems from the deeply rooted Toposa belief that a head-count is taboo.

To overcome such obstacles, the UNMIS Public Information Office has been traveling to remote areas to educate people on issues like the census, elections and referendum. Its outreach team in Juba reached over 1,500 people in East, West and Central Equatoria states in 2007. Similar workshops are being held in 2008 throughout the 10 states of Southern Sudan.

The workshops also cover wealth and power sharing, the ceasefire, security arrangements and the resolution of conflicts around Abyei as well as in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. People trained at the workshops -- heads of departments, religious leaders, women groups, youth, chiefs, local administrators, and the organized forces (police, army, prison and wildlife officers) -- are encouraged to pass on what they have learned to the people.