South Sudan is on its way to becoming the UN's newest member state. The process is underway against the backdrop of internal conflicts and a brewing humanitarian crisis. It was on July 9 that South Sudan celebrated its first day as an independent nation after a 50-year struggle.

The north and south of Sudan have fought two civil wars for more than five decades, and some two million people have died in the latest, from 1983 to 2005. But the new African nation is still facing many problems and challenges.

In this show we ask: What does the future hold for the newly born country? And how will its people face the challenges ahead?

Inside Story, with presenter Jane Dutton, discusses with guests: Andrea Minalla, a programme director at IKV and Pax Christi Netherlands, an international, non-profit, non-government Catholic peace movement; Ibrahim Khayat, an economist and chairman of the International Centre for Strategic Analysis; and Douglas Johnson, a historian and author of Root Causes of Sudan's civil war.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Thursday, July 14, 2011.