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Gros plan sur le maintien de la paix en 2012 avec quatre exemples à l'appui : ceux du Soudan, du Soudan du Sud, de la Côte d'Ivoire et d'Haïti, sans oublier les nouvelles tendances du maintien de la paix. Celles-ci consistent à revoir les chiffres à la baisse, ceux du personnel du maintien de la paix et des ressources déployées sur le terrain.

QU'il s'agisse de besoins croissants de certains pays en aide à l'établissement de l'État de droit en périodes post-conflits, comme en Haïti, ou de leurs besoins en aide au maintien et à la consolidation de la paix ainsi que de la gestion des groupes armés comme au Soudan, les opérations de maintien de la paix doivent s'adapter aux nouvelles réalités du terrain, non sans tenir compte de la crise financière internationale. Telle est la conviction d'Hervé Ladsous qui à l'automne 2012 a mis l'accent sur la nécessité d’une souplesse et d’une coordination accrues entre acteurs internationaux pour permettre aux missions de maintien de la paix de répondre aux besoins des pays, alors que pèsent sur elles des contraintes financières de plus en plus sévères.

À ce jour 16 missions de maintien de la paix sont déployées dans le monde. Et le budget des opérations de maintien de la paix pour l’année fiscale allant du 1er juillet 2012 au 30 juin 2013 est d’environ 7,23 milliards de dollars – soit moins de 0,5% des dépenses militaires mondiales en 2010.

Dans les années à venir, le maintien de la paix à l'ONU devra davantage miser sur la qualité et l'adaptation aux besoins réels du terrain.

Rétrospective de Maha Fayek; avec des extraits sonores d'Hervé Ladsous, Secrétaire général Adjoint des Nations Unies au maintien de la paix

Highlights

• New arrivals to Jamam camp report aerial bombardments

• Uptick in shelter blazes in Yida prompts fire safety training

• Number of individuals from Aru County, DRC seeking safety significantly decreases

Weekly registration: 17-23 December 2012

1. During the current week (17 - 23 December) 978 individuals have been registered;

2. Out of 978 individuals, all are new arrivals and no new births.

3. 65.9% of new arrivals are minors and 34,1% are above 18 y.o.

4. 54.9% are female,45.1% are male;

5. Rejections: 8 individuals have been rejected for the following reasons:

   • 5 recyclers;
   • 1 active combatant;
   • 2 visitors;

6. The registration team has identified:

   • 11 Separated children/UAM (SC)
   • 71 Women at risks (WR)

INACTIVATION:

1. No individuals have been inactivated currently this week

By Genine Babakian

KABUL, Afghanistan, 27 December 2012 - During this year’s World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, thousands of worshippers in hundreds of mosques across Afghanistan listened to and participated in discussions that focused on preventing child marriage and corporal punishment, and on the importance of birth registration – all through the lens of Islam.

“According to Islamic principles, if we want to build a prosperous nation, we must build prosperous families. Children are the future of the families and upcoming leaders of our nations,” said director of Islamic education with the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs Murtaza Hamid, in support of the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children.

Working with religious leaders

Launched in 2008, the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children works with diverse religious communities, governments, civil society organizations and United Nations agencies to accelerate efforts to protect children around the world and use their influence to bring about change that will enable children to play, learn and grow in a safe and healthy environment. Inspired by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children is observed on 20 November to coincide with the Convention’s anniversary and Universal Children’s Day.

Working with religious leaders is a key component of UNICEF’s efforts to protect children, particularly in rural areas where religious leaders have great influence.

In Kabul, at an event co-sponsored by the Government of Afghanistan and UNICEF, 500 religious leaders from around the country came together to discuss how they can use their influence to protect children from violence. The event was one of dozens of UNICEF-supported activities that took place in various countries to celebrate the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children.

Focus on non-violence

Last year, the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children adopted a three-year theme of violence against children, a broad topic that touches upon many themes, including non-violent discipline/positive parenting, birth registration and child marriage.

In a statement prepared in honor of this year’s World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, Archbishop Desmond Tutu identified child marriage as a form of violence against girls that denies their fundamental human rights. “Every year, more than 10 million girls are married as children. They enter a union in which they are likely to suffer violence and abuse, and which can cause untold psychological harm,” he said. “That is why, on this year’s World Day of Prayer and Action, I call on the community of faith to do everything in our power to end child marriage and ensure that girls can fulfil their God-given potential.”

Interfaith activities around the world

Building on its long history of working with religious communities from all faiths on issues that affect children, UNICEF supported activities all over the world to mark the 2012 World Day of Prayer and Action for Children, including:

Islamic Republic of Iran - In coordination with the National Body on the Convention on the Rights of the Child (NBCRC), a half-day event focusing on addressing violence against children (especially within religious communities) was organized. The Minister of Justice, members of the NBCRC Coordination Council, comprising more than 16 government and non-governmental organizations, main religious leaders and media participated.

Liberia - With support from UNICEF, the Religions for Peace–affiliated Inter Religious Council and partners organized a candle-lighting event in observance of the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children. The event brought together the Liberia Council of Churches, the Liberia National Muslim Council, government ministries and civil society organizations. Candle-lighting ceremonies, organized in many communities, are meant to shed light on hidden forms of abuse and exploitation that children suffer and end the silence surrounding this abuse.

Panama - Under the theme of ‘Violence Free Adolescence’, activities planned by UNICEF, together with the Global Network of Religions for Children, included religious services from various faiths focusing on a violence-free adolescence, a resolution signed by major religious and indigenous leaders addressed to media organizations calling on them to highlight the positive role adolescents play in Panamanian society, in-person activities during which adolescents shared their prayers and reflections on a violence-free adolescence and a radio programme featuring a spokesperson from the Catholic church and the UNICEF Panama Representative.

South Sudan - World Day of Prayer and Action for Children activities focused on ending child marriage and on a call for action for the Government to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Main participants included religious and traditional leaders, parliamentarians, policy-makers and opinion leaders.

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Gros plan sur l'humanitaire en 2012, une année qui a connu son lot de drames et de crises qui ont affectés des populations suite aux conflits armés, aux catastrophes naturelles ou encore au changement climatique.

Le Mali, la République démocratique du Congo, la Somalie, le Soudan et le Soudan du Sud, la Syrie, le Pakistan, l'Afghanistan, le Myanmar ou encore Haïti, sont autant de pays qui ont nécessité un appui humanitaire en 2012.

Dans cette rétrospective nous regardons l'étendu des besoins humanitaires à travers le prisme du CERF, le Fonds d'intervention d'urgence des Nations Unies, et revenons sur chacune de ces régions en crises, pour mieux comprendre leurs diverses particularités.

(Extraits sonore : Jean-Marie Garelli, Directeur adjoint du CERF, le Fonds d'intervention d'urgence des Nations Unies; Mathieu Szeradzki, l'un des porte-paroles du Programme alimentaire mondial; Hélène Caux, porte-parole à Dakar du HCR; Laurent Duvillier, porte-parole régional de l’UNICEF pour l’Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre; Yvon Edoumou, porte-parole du HCR; Elisabeth Byrs du Programme alimentaire mondial; mise en perspective Cristina Silveiro).

I. Introduction

1. The present report is submitted pursuant to the request of the Security Council contained in the statement issued by its President on 26 September 2001 (S/PRST/2001/25), in which the Council requested me to keep it regularly informed of the activities of the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in the Central African Republic and the situation in that country. The report builds on my previous report (S/2012/374) of 29 May 2012, and provides an update on developments in political, security, socioeconomic, humanitarian, human rights, child protection and gender issues as well as on the activities of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA).

Key messages:

• In West Africa, food prices were stable or decreased in November as staple food availability continued to improve with the ongoing marketing season. Some earlier-­than-­anticipated price increases occurred in region’s urban centers and structurally-­deficit zones due to limited commodity flows from surplus­producing areas.

• In East Africa, most staple food prices followed their seasonal trends in November— increasing with the progression of the lean season in Rwanda and Tanzania and generally decreasing elsewhere as supplies from ongoing harvests continue to arrive on markets. November 2012 grain prices in Sudan were relatively high due to high inflation and high transport costs, and localized conflict that have jointly disrupted the marketing system.

• In Southern Africa, food prices rose steadily in most reference markets as the lean season progressed in November. Localized production shortfalls and rising fuel costs have maintained strong upward pressure on staple food prices in deficit areas of southern Malawi, central Mozambique, and southern Zimbabwe.

• In Haiti, maize and bean prices continued to increase in November as a result of poor Primavera harvests and crop damages from tropical storms earlier in the year. In Central America, food prices were stable or decreased seasonally between October and November due to the availability of supplies from recent local and regional harvests.

• In Afghanistan and Tajikistan, food prices were stable or continued to increase between October and November due to strong demand for winter stocks and the high costs of regional imports.

• International maize and wheat prices in key reference markets remained stable at high levels between October and November 2012 due to tight global supplies (Figure 1). Vegetable oil export prices continued to decline in November as 2012/13 global production prospects continued to improve.
International rice and fuel prices remained stable.

December 29, 2012 (BOR) - Seven people have been killed and two wounded in a raid in Mareng, the Duk county headquarters, Phillip Thon Leek, the area member of parliament told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

The attack, which took place on Friday, is suspected to have been carried out by Murle raiders loyal to rebel leader David Yau Yau. Over 180 cows, according to Thon, were stolen during the raid.

Yau Yau rebelled against South Sudan’s ruling party (SPLM) after elections - in April 2010 when, as an independent candidate, he lost his bid to represent the Gumuruk–Boma constituency in Pibor county at the Jonglei State Assembly.

Juba accuses Khartoum of supporting Yau Yau, a claim Khartoum repeatedly denies.

Thon, an ex-Governor of South Sudan’s Jonglei state, said he was in close contact with the County Commissioner since the attack occurred, adding that the army and youth in the area are still perusing the raiders in an attempt to recover the stolen cattle.

Among the people killed, two were from Pan-Lual, two from Pathel and one from Duor areas of Duk while two are yet to be identified, the lawmaker said.

He however said he believes the two unidentified bodies were “probably from Athoon” of Duk.

“He [commissioner] hinted to me that the those pursuing fell into a Murle ambush and three persons are feared to have been killed,” Thon, who represents Duk in the National Legislative Assembly.

“This attacking rebel force must have been a well organised, formidable one given their tactics in countering the pursuers,“ he added.

This month alone, Mareng has witnessed seven similar incidences related to cattle raid, John Tiop Lul, one of the youth leaders in Duk, told Sudan Tribune.

Attempts to reach the commissioner of Duk were unsuccessful.

Jonglei has long been subject to cattle rustling violence. A proliferation of small arms in the wake of more than two decades of civil war and mass migration after South Sudan’s secession has made cattle rustling more prolific and bloody.

(ST)

Weekly registration: 24-30 December 2012

• During the current week (24 - 30 December) 917 individuals have been registered;

• Out of 917 individuals, all are new arrivals and no new births.

• 61.7% of new arrivals are minors and 38.3% are above 18 years

• 52.1% are female,47.9% are male;

• Rejections: 10 individuals have been rejected for the following reasons:- 3 recyclers;- 7 active combatant;- 0 visitors;

• The registration team has identified:- 13 Separated children/UAM (SC)- 45 Women at risks (WR)INACTIVATION:

• No individuals have been inactivated currently this week

DUBAI, 31 December 2012 (IRIN) - The Middle East continued to boil in Year 2 of what was once an Arab “Spring” with the ever-worsening conflict in Syria, toxic spillover into Lebanon, deadly clashes in Egypt, proliferation of weapons in Libya, assassinations and bomb blasts in Yemen, emboldened insurgents in Iraq and continued protests in Jordan.

While much of the world has been consumed by quickly changing political and security developments in the region, longer-term humanitarian issues have also been simmering under the surface - and sometimes in plain - but neglected - view.

Here are 10 of the main issues IRIN highlighted this year:

Syria’s refugee crisis: The number of Syrians registered as refugees in neighbourhing countries skyrocketed from 10,000 at the beginning of the year, to half a million today, despite some borders being less than open. The UN has launched appeal after appeal to help the refugees living in basic conditions in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, even Iraq, and increasingly Egypt, but funding has consistently been insufficient to meet the rising needs - largely due to politics and donor fears. In the meantime, refugees have been vulnerable to harsh winters, labour exploitation; child work; early marriage and political tensions.

The humanitarian toll in Syria: Syria has made the headlines daily in the past year, but most news reports have focused on rebel advances or diplomatic efforts to end the nearly two-year conflict. Meanwhile, the quality of daily life inside the country has spiralled downwards - and fast. In early 2012, alarm bells rang over food security; by year end, even in the capital Damascus people were having a hard time finding bread. Farmers have been especially hard-hit. At least two million people are now internally displaced, and the problem was exacerbated in July when fighting hit Damascus. Winter has brought a whole new series of challenges for the displaced. Healthcare is hard to access. Many people forget that Syria was home to more than 1.5 million refugees - mostly Palestinians and Iraqis - who have become more vulnerable because of the crisis. With millions of people affected, the aid operation has struggled to keep up with the quick increase in needs because of insecurity, a lack of funding, drawn-out initial negotiations with the government over access, and questions around the capacity and impartiality of the major player in the response, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The result is a new kind of humanitarianism - through local activists and illegal cross-border aid, which has raised some eyebrows in the aid community.

Regional spillover: The Syrian crisis took on regional implications this year, as Lebanese sects with Syrian alliances shot at each other; Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and Syria sought a piece of the pie; and Syrian shells hit southern Turkey. The US military even sent troops to Jordan to prepare for a possible widening of the conflict. The Iraqi government says the conflict in Syria has emboldened insurgents at home; increased the flow of weapons across the border; and heightened sectarian tensions. Some analysts have predicted a Sunni-Shia war that would draw in Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, armed groups in the occupied Palestinian territory and engulf the entire region.

A forgotten crisis in Yemen: Meanwhile, the poorest country in the Arab world slid further into crisis this year. A crumbling economy has driven more and more people to the point of desperation. If they were not already, the numbers are now staggering: The UN estimates that more than 13 million people - over half the population of 24 million - need humanitarian assistance. More than 10 million people do not have secure access to food; 13 million do not have access to safe water and sanitation; and nearly one million children are acutely malnourished. After Arab Spring protests in 2011, a new government was born in 2012, ending the 22-year-rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh, but many complain of little change in Yemen. The new government has faced innumerable challenges in its first year, including the demands of minority groups, lingering corruption, and political divisions, as remnants of the old regime try to cling to power.

These more recent challenges add to Yemen’s long-standing threats: Houthi rebels in the north, al-Qaeda-linked militants in the south and a southern secessionist movement. Despite these deterrents, 2012 saw record numbers of refugees and migrants head to Yemen, where - rather than refuge - they often found more trouble.

Sectarian clashes in the north and military operations in the south brought the number of internally displaced people to nearly half a million. The government declared in June that it had rooted out militants who had taken control of parts of the south, but people have struggled to return to their homes due to landmines, limited basic services, including health care, and continued insecurity. Access for aid workers to former conflict areas has increased, but funding is not yet fully secured. Yemen is in desperate need of immediate assistance to avoid becoming the next Somalia.

Continued violence in Iraq: Iraq slipped out of the headlines as the US pulled out its troops at the end of 2011, ending a nearly nine-year occupation. But 2012 was no less violent for civilians. A surge of violence in January, in the weeks after the withdrawal, had many Iraqis reconsidering their options. Insurgent dynamics have changed post-withdrawal; Shia groups have become less active, while Sunni groups appear to have resurged, with several high-profile coordinated bombings across the country throughout the year. But the main driver of violence continues to be dysfunctional and polarized politics. The situation is likely to get worse in the lead-up to elections in 2013 and 2014, and as the situation in neighbouring Syria deteriorates further. Hundreds of thousands of people remain displaced by the war, and tens of thousands of Iraqi refugees returning from Syria could further destabilize the country.

The stalling of Libya’s transition: Libya held its first democratic elections since the ousting of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, but a power struggle between Libya’s budding new government and a web of revolution-era militias continued to plague Libya’s transition to stability after the toppling of Gaddafi in late 2011. Tens of thousands of Libyans remained displaced months after the fighting ended, afraid to return home because of lingering ethnic tensions. Clashes in southern tribal areas rocked the country in the early months of the year; and many minorities were unsure if the revolution would finally bring them more rights. Libya’s policy towards migrants, who were violently targeted in the months following the revolution, remained harsh. Many of them, along with Libyan refugees and failed asylum seekers, are still stranded on the Egyptian border.

The price of Egypt’s revolution: It has been another gripping year in Egyptian politics, as debate and controversy surrounded the withdrawal from power of the ruling military council; the election of a new president, the disbanding of parliament, and the drafting of a new constitution. Increased polarization within Egyptian society led once more to a series of fatal clashes on the streets throughout the year. The political turmoil has prevented the much-hoped-for economic revival, with foreign currency reserves dropping by more than half, unemployment rising, poverty increasing, and the budget deficit at US$27.5 billion and growing. The poor have been the hardest hit. In the short term, the revolution has yet to bring tangible gains; on the contrary, it has led to fears of rising malnutrition; fuel shortages; child abductions; and a rise in religious extremism. The new constitution was passed in a referendum at the end of the year, but opposition remains high. Next year is likely to be as unpredictable as the past two.

Never-ending challenges for Palestinians: Changes in Egyptian politics raised hopes in the Gaza Strip that a five-year blockade by Egypt and Israel would be eased. (New Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement is close to the Islamist rulers of Gaza, Hamas). But significant changes have yet to take effect, with Gazans continuing to depend on underground tunnels to smuggle in supplies. This has left Palestinians continuing to face food insecurity, an aid-dependent economy, and Israeli settlement expansions in the West Bank. This year, Gaza had the added misery of a severe fuel shortage and related energy crisis, with the UN predicting in August that Gaza could be uninhabitable by 2016. It was in this context that in November, Israel launched (with the stated aim of halting rocket-fire from Gaza into Israel) large-scale air attacks which killed dozens of civilians, displaced thousands of others, and left communities on both sides of the border reeling. The legacy of the eight-day military operation is still not clear; at the end of December, Israeli officials said they would start allowing construction materials to enter Gaza daily via the Kerem Shalom crossing. Despite the high needs, aid agencies have traditionally struggled to provide aid amid tight Israeli restrictions; but this year, aid agencies in oPt began resisting the status quo.

Migrants in Israel: Throughout 2012, Israel hardened its stance towards migrants. In January, it introduced a new law designed to stop what it calls “infiltrators” and by spring, public opinion had significantly shifted against migrants, leading to attacks involving Molotov cocktails, mob beatings and police crackdowns. In April, Israel began deporting South Sudanese asylum seekers who previously had protected status in Israel.

The coordination of humanitarian aid: When Valerie Amos became UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs in 2010, one of her priorities was to increase partnerships between the UN and other players in the field. After years of mistrust between the mainstream humanitarian system and aid agencies in the Arab and Muslim worlds, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in 2012 signed memorandums of understanding with Qatar and Kuwait. OCHA’s liaison office in the Gulf has set up a new web portal as a link between Gulf donors and the UN, and Gulf countries are moving towards increased coordination in aid and emergency preparedness among themselves. Aid agencies in the Muslim world are also trying to make better use of the billions of dollars given in alms and charity every year.

ha/cb

Tue, 1 Jan 2013 21:25 GMT

• Summit will seek way to resume vital oil flows

• Kiir says willing to pull back troops from border

• Bashir says wants to improve ties (Bashir, Kiir set to meet in Ethiopia, changes dateline)

By Ulf Laessing and Carl Odera

KHARTOUM/JUBA, Jan 1 (Reuters) - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan will meet on Friday to discuss how to improve border security and resume vital oil flows, both sides said on Tuesday as the feuding African neighbours signalled possible concessions.

Read the full article on AlertNet

December 31, 2012 (KHARTOUM) - More than a million Sudanese currently live in constant fear of bombing and artillery attacks in the country’s rebel-held territories, an aid organisation linked to one of Sudan’s main rebel groups said in a report published on 30 December.

The report, compiled by the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (SRRA), paints a horrifying picture of the fate of more than one million Sudanese reportedly living in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Established in June 2011, the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (SRRA) serves as the humanitarian arm of the Sudan People Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), leading all humanitarian interventions in areas controlled by the rebel group.

The agency describes the report as its first definitive assessment of the situation in the ’Two Areas’ since the SPLM-N began fighting the Sudanese government in June 2011 in South Kordofan and in Blue Nile began just over two months later.

Under the 2005 peace deal that led to South Sudan’s secession in July 2011, Blue Nile and South Kordofan - where many had fought with the southern rebels against the Khartoum government - were given special dispensation and their own accord within the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

However, the elements of the CPA regarding the "Two Areas" were not fully implemented before South Sudan’s secession and the Sudan Armed Forces demanded that the northern sector of the SPLM - now the SPLM-N - disarm or move south of the new international border.

Over 200,000 people have been displaced into South Sudan and Ethiopia by the conflict but many remain in the conflict-affected areas. There have been attempts by the United Nations, African Union and Arab League to negotiate between the two sides in order to allow humanitarian access to rebel-controlled areas but so far no international aid has been allowed to enter.

The report says there are 515.707 civilians who reside in the rebel controlled area in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states

79.550 IDPs are in the rebel territory in Blue Nile where the total of civilians is 98.003 people,. In South Kordofan the number of IDPs in the SPLM-N areas reached 436.157 people while the total of civilians in its controlled zones is 995.200.

The report, according to Philip Neroun, the Director of the SRRA seeks to give a better understanding of the conflict in the Two Areas.

“The ultimate objective of this report is to generate awareness and responses within the national, regional and international communities about the dire humanitarian situation to ensure that humanitarian access to the ’Two Areas’ is granted by the Government of Sudan with immediate effect,” Neroun told Sudan Tribune by phone from Uganda’s capital, Kampala.

“The Government of Sudan is impeding humanitarian access to its citizens in need. And many lives are at risk”, he added.

In Blue Nile’s Wadaka payam [district], the reports claims that about 1,205 people, half of them children, have starved to death.

According to the report, 959 bombs were reportedly dropped on Southern Kordofan, between June and the end of December 201, killing about 101 civilians and injuring 189 persons, the majority of whom were children and women.

“This record is just a partial glimpse of the overall picture across Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states,” the report adds.

Meanwhile, the rebel-linked-agency says it is “deeply” concerned about the suffering of the citizens who are the main victims of the conflict and their immediate humanitarian needs, as well as the long-term disruption of their socio-economic development.

The health sector, for instance, reportedly faces serious challenges, with the report citing a serious shortages of drugs and medical supplies, lack of immunization programmes, few qualified health cadres, especially medical doctors and poor health information and surveillance systems.

The Sudanese government has, on several occasions, consistently refused to allow aid agencies access to civilians in rebel-held areas, while talks mediated by the African Union have failed to persuade his administration. Khartoum believes as in previous Sudanese conflicts aid and humanitarian assistance will also be used to provide the rebels with supplies.

In February 2012, the United Nations, the African Union and the League of Arab states presented a tripartite proposal for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to war-affected civilians in the two border states.

However, while the SPLM-N accepted the proposal, without preconditions, the Sudanese government rejected the decision, giving several preconditions in order for the proposal to be realised.

In April 2012, however, the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) called for the parties to accept the proposal and enter negotiations under meditation Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) - an East African regional body - based on the Framework Agreement agreed in August 2011.

Khartoum ripped up the framework deal that could have stopped the conflict spreading to Blue Nile and perhaps paved the way for the resolution of the fighting South Kordofan. However, hardliners in Khartoum were unhappy that the Framework Agreement recognised the SPLM-N as a legitimate political party.

The SPLM-N, in November 2011, formed a coalition with the three main Darfur rebel groups and have since maintained that they will only negotiate with the government as a bloc rather than as individual movements.

However, in May 2012 the UN Security Council (UNSC) endorsed the African Union Peace and Security Council’s proposal that the August 2011 Framework Agreement should form the basis of resolving the conflict and providing humanitarian assistance to those in SPLM-N areas.

The Sudanese government indicated its acceptance of the tripartite proposal in June, five months after the SPLM-N but still the agreement has not been implemented much to the ire of the movement’s leadership, who blame Khartoum for creating a deliberate impasse.

“The international community must urgently answer the scale of the suffering to ensure the faithful implementation of the Tripartite Initiative and the UN Security Council Resolution 2046 by the Government of Sudan,” said the SRRA Director.

An estimated 520,000 people, according to a recent UN report, have been displaced or severely affected by conflict in South Kordofan besides some 205,000 refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile, who are now in South Sudan and Ethiopia.

(ST)

SRRA’s Special Report on: The Humanitarian and Human Rights Situation of the IDPs and War Affected Civilians in the SPLM/A-North Controlled Areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States - December 2012

December 31, 2012 (BOR) - Cattle raiders in South Sudan’s Jonglei State killed two and wounded two others in an attempted cattle raid on Nyirol County on Friday, the area’s commissioner said Monday.

Isaac Kuach Duouth said the cattle rustlers killed a mother and her a child, while another mother child were wounded in Waat Payam [district] of Nyirol County.

Commissioner Kuach, received information of the attack while traveling to the state capital, Bor. The raiders are suspected to members of the Murle tribe from Pibor County.

The cattle rustlers escaped with some raided cattle and goats, he said, but South Sudan’s army (SPLA) managed to rescue them. Some of the raiders received some injuries when they exchanged gunfire with SPLA forces, according to the Commissioner. However, he declined to mention the number of casualties on the side of the attackers.

Nyirol is one of the three Jonglei counties predominantly populated by the Lou Nuer tribe.

This time last year between 4,000 and 6,000 armed young men from the Lou Nuer tribe entered Pibor County in an attempt to return cattle and abducted people taken over the previous year.

In the last two years, around 2,000 people have died in the fighting between Jonglei’s various cattle herding groups. After the conflict between the state’s ethnic groups reaching a peak in between December 2011 and February 2012, South Sudan’s President announced a disarmament campaign in order to stop the violence.

However, some groups avoided the process and did not attend the inter-communal peace conference held in May. Jonglei is also suffering from a rebellion in Pibor County.

DEVELOPMENT PRIORITY FOR 2013

Commissioner Kuach said that due to heavy rains and flooding for over eight months of the last year, his county has not made the progress he had hoped for in terms of development.

He said he hoped that “at the end of February there will be resumptions of constructions beginning with commissioner’s residential home and some other small projects in the county".

During the rainy season there was no way of transporting health services to Nyirol County, he said, except with the assistance of the United Nations Mission In South Sudan (UNMISS) helicopters, which usually help them in delivering services to county by air.

"The health services given to us are not enough but better than nothing," Kuach said.

“They have the great expectation of improving their conditions of agriculture", he said, adding that people had "increased their efforts on agriculture projects [so] as to get rid of poverty.”

Michael Ruot Koryom, a member of South Sudan’s national parliament in Juba, recently visited the county with Commissioner Kuach to see for himself the situation in the area that he represents.

The MP said that the lack of good roads remains a major challenge to the Nyirol County traders in transporting their goods to the county for sale.

He urged his people to adopt peaceful coexistence within their communities so that everybody has peace and stops acts such as cattle raiding, child abduction and the killing of innocent people.

Koryom urged Jonglei State’s communities not to carry out attacks on themselves and call for the South Sudanese army (SPLA) protecting civilians from raiders and the rebels in Pibor.

(ST)

By Konrad Bark, IOM Mission in South Sudan | Juba Office

“Refugees are the richest people in Maban” commented a trainer of home health promoters as the Toyota Land Cruiser we were in began to reach the outskirts of the largest, and continually expanding, Doro refugee camp in South Sudan’s Upper Nile State.

Maban County, in Upper Nile State, has a local population of approximately 110,000 people. However, since fighting broke out in the neighbouring Sudanese state of Blue Nile, refugees began making their way by foot, at times walking for up to one month before reaching safety, to Maban County.

The scale at which this has taken place this year has resulted in the creation of four refugee camps in the county, with a current total population of 112,020. The humanitarian community has devoted phenomenal resources and efforts to provide life-saving assistance to these refugees. IOM has been particularly active to make sure adequate water supply, sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion activities are in place at Doro.

However, the uneven provision of assistance, vis-à-vis the host community, has fuelled tensions over scarce resources between the two populations on several occasions this year. To mitigate these frictions, IOM has carried out humanitarian activities that benefit Maban’s host community both directly and indirectly. In Bunj Town, where the county’s headquarters are situated, IOM has repaired two hand pumps and installed two solar stands that include 12 panels allowing for motorized pumping at a major water collection point for the town’s residents.

In mid December, IOM began drilling two new boreholes in areas accommodating host community members and returnees who have recently arrived to Maban from Sudan. In addition, an assessment was carried out by IOM in October that identified 24 boreholes in Maban County requiring rehabilitation, and plans are in place to complete these rehabilitations by early 2013.

With the support of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), IOM has also been able to work with partners through the Rapid Response Fund (RRF) in order to address the urgent needs of Maban’s most vulnerable local communities.

In Bunj Town and also in remote areas where few humanitarian agencies are present, the American Refugee Committee (ARC) has established four oral rehydration posts that not only distribute oral rehydration solutions to host community members suffering from diarrhoea, but also teach them how to make the solution themselves so that upon the completion of the project, its benefits will be sustained.

The programme will also rehabilitate ten boreholes that will benefit more than a thousand households. Hygiene and home health promoters will also be spread key hygiene messages and distribute hygiene kits to extremely vulnerable host community individuals (EVIs).

On 14 December, the International Cooperation for Integrated Rural Development (CiDRi) and their local partner, Maban Relief and Development Organization launched a second RRF initiative to support Maban’s host community.

This project will rehabilitate 17 boreholes in very remote locations in Maban County that are currently not accessing safe drinking water. The benefits of supporting local partners are great, as their local knowledge will ensure the success of the project, and the technical support that they are given by CiDRi will strengthen the capacity of Maban’s local population to become self-sufficient in the future.

“The risk of tensions between the local population and refugees is compounded by the impact that large numbers of refugees have on an underserved host community that was already affected by very poor access to basic social services prior to the arrival of refugees to Maban”, explained IOM South Sudan’s Head of Operations, Fabien Sambussy.

With donor support (notably from USAID/OFDA and the Common Humanitarian Fund), IOM is committed to providing assistance to the host community. The dry season has already begun and poor harvests due to widespread flooding in Maban during the rainy season implies that the needs in Maban are likely to continue rising, as should the efforts of the humanitarian community.

January 1, 2013 (BOR) – Four people were killed, two wounded and children rescued in attempted abduction in three raids across Bor County in South Sudan’s Jonglei State on Tuesday in the latest series of attacks blamed on men from neighboring Pibor County loyal to rebel leader David Yau Yau.

One attack occurred in Makuach payam [district], the closest administrative center east of Bor, the Jonglei State capital, at around 5pm local time, according to authorities and witnesses.

The attackers "were in a military uniform and about fifty in number,” said Philip Mabil Duot, the civil administrator of Makuach payam.

Speaking to the Sudan Tribune on the phone from the payam headquarters, Mabil said he “saw the raiders approaching, gathering cattle and gunning down three young men” a small distance away from where he was sitting.

One person was also wounded and an unknown number of cattle stolen. An army force from the area was still pursuing the raiders by 7:30pm local time, Mabil said.

In Kolnyang payam, south of Makuach and about 30km east of Bor town, villagers marching to celebrate of New Year’s Day were attacked and three children abducted.

One child escaped and returned to their parents an hour later, while others were rescued by the army and local youth after fierce fighting three hours later, relatives say.

In Cuei-keer, a sub-district of Kolnyang, one person was killed and another injured when gunmen attempted to raid some cattle from the area.

Bor County authorities say the attacks seem to have been coordinated to coincide with the festival period. There is a growing fear among civilians that the area in which rebel David Yau Yau operates are expanding from his home county of Pibor into other areas of Jonglei.

Yau Yau rebelled after losing his bid to become a member Jonglei State legislative assembly in the 2010 general elections. He denounced his insurgency in 2011 accepting a presidential amnesty and becoming a General in the South Sudanese army (SPLA), but re-launched his fight against the government in April 2012.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), pledged recently to sweep out the rebels during dry season.

Jonglei State is South Sudan’s largest state and also one of the impoverished nation’s least developed. Roads in the state are notoriously bad making it hard for the SPLA and police to maintain security.

Ethnic violence over resources and pastures for animals has killed thousands since 2005 when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed, ending Sudan’s 21 years of war between the north and south.

A comprehensive disarmament program, code-named Operation restore Peace, was launched in March 2011 in Jonglei State by South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir.

A community peace conference in May last year brought together the state’s ethnic groups, but some groups, including Yau Yau’s, did not attend and, despite some periods of without raids, the problem of raids has continued albeit at a lower level.

Jonglei State governor Kuol Manyang Juuk has said that 2012 was “much better” compared to previous years. According to the United Nations, around 2,000 people have died in conflict between the state’s ethnic groups in over the last two years.

NEW YEAR MARCHES IN BOR

Meanwhile, New Year’s Day was marked with gunshots fired in the air at midnight in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state.

Thousands of people marched in the afternoon of 1 January to welcome in 2013.

(ST)

MABAN, 2 January 2013 (IRIN) - The earth in Maban County, South Sudan, is already dry and cracked, and even a faint breeze raises a haze of brown dust.

The trials of the rainy season - flooded homes and impassable roads - are over. But as the weather changes, and the emergency response transforms into a longer-term humanitarian relief effort, new worries weigh on the minds of refugees and aid workers alike.

"In the dry season there is no water for the animals to drink, and there is no grass to eat," Khalifa Chapa said, sitting outside his hut in Doro camp, which, with more than 44,000 residents, is the largest of the region's refugee camps.

Fighting between the SPLA-North and the Sudan Armed Forces began South Kordofan, Sudan, in June 2011. The conflict spread to Blue Nile State in September of that year. It is ongoing, driving refugees like Chapa into South Sudan.

Dying cattle

Four months ago, the 45-year-old father of seven fled Blue Nile State, with 10 cows.

By the time he reached Doro, he had nine; he had slaughtered one for food en route. Now, he has seven. Two of his herd have already died, and the dry season is only beginning.

"The cows are coughing, then they have the diarrhoea. This is reason that they die," he explained.

Indeed, the number of livestock deaths has risen over the past few months, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Maban told IRIN.

In a single week in late December some 300 goats and cattle died, says the mission's protection officer, Myrat Muradov.

Diseases, such as Rift Valley fever and rabies, are a major cause of livestock mortality; a joint initiative is underway to vaccinate animals.

Limited resources

Lack of food and water is another major cause of death, and a source of conflict.

Humanitarian workers point out that at the end of the rainy season, the grass should be tall. Instead, it is short, making it difficult for refugees and the local community to maintain their livestock herds.

Additionally, the influx of refugees to the region has increased demand for, and decreased supply of, grazing land.

"This is likely to cause tensions between the host community and the refugees over water for the cattle. and over agricultural land, because that's the last land that could provide food for the cattle," explained one humanitarian worker in the area who preferred to remain anonymous.

Chapa says members of the host community have killed the cattle of refugees that were found to be feeding on crops. The local community has also demanded money as compensation from the owners of the cows, he said.

"Yes, there have been a few protection incidents. Cattle have been stolen, and refugees have been prohibited from grazing cattle. The host community has to be consulted," UNHCR's Muradov told IRIN.

The agency has taken steps to address the problem, establishing in October a host community and refugee relations committee in each of Maban's four camps.

According to Muradov, temporary solutions have been devised at Batil and Gendrasa camps, with grazing lands identified for refugee use 5km east of the Gendrasa.

"The number of reports of complaints has significantly decreased," he said.

The mass livestock vaccination campaign in part aims to protect refugees' assets by addressing the high mortality rate among cattle, goats and sheep. But it is also intended to smooth relations between the refugees and the host community, as the locals' cattle will also be immunized through the project, according to Pumla Rulashe, press officer with UNHCR's mission in Maban.

Muradov says 40,000 to 50,000 animals have already been vaccinated through the programme, conducted jointly through UNHCR, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, South Sudan Department of Agriculture and Vétérinaires sans Frontières-Germany.

In Doro camp, land for cultivation is a bigger issue than access to grazing for livestock, according to Muradov. But he reports that progress has been made in designating an area where refugees can grow crops, with the agreement of the host community. State authorities in the area have endorsed the initiative, he adds.

Still, "we are at the beginning of the dry season, and the further we go the more challenges we will face," he said.

Window of opportunity

Humanitarian response teams are gearing up to address the challenges of the months ahead. But they also see the dry season as a window of opportunity.

They had anticipated a resurgence in the arrival of Blue Nile refugees. But that has not happened, and focus is shifting instead to improving services for those living in the camps.

"There has been no big influx as anticipated," Muradov said. "People are trickling through the border; 340 persons have arrived since the contingency [plan] was activated three weeks ago. For now, we have over 112,000 refugees here, and we need to look into ensuring their longer-term needs."

Central among those needs is the relocation of refugees from UNHCR tents, which serve as emergency shelters, to more permanent dwellings. Schools and hospitals also need to be upgraded to semi-permanent and permanent structures.

The NGO GOAL, which runs sanitation and health projects in three of the county's camps, plans to install 1,500 household latrines in Batil camp before the rains return and interrupt construction.

"Given the rains and flooding, sites may become inaccessible and latrine pits can collapse during excavation," said Evelyn Moorehead, GOAL's emergency coordinator.

The dry season also presents an opportunity to import materials by road; the rains typically sever road access to Upper Nile County, forcing budget-strapped aid agencies to fly supplies in.

"Flying up bulky and heavy inputs such as diesel in private aircraft is significantly more expensive than driving it up during the dry season," Moorehead said.

nff/rz

[END]

South Sudan, 2 January 2012 – A community is only as good as its teachers. There is no substitute for a trained and committed teacher to promote quality education. JRS learned this valuable lesson in more than 15 years promoting education in South Sudan.

JRS shaped its contribution in South Sudan – first as a region at war and later as a new country – according to need. For years, JRS concentrated on propping up the educational infrastructure: constructing and renovating classrooms, dormitories for girls, laboratories and libraries; supplying teaching and learning aids; building the capacity of school management bodies; providing desks, chalk and blackboards and paying the school fees of girls and vulnerable boys. Teacher training was provided too but JRS had no mandate to enter a classroom to supervise the teachers and learners.

Beneficiary communities in Nimule, Lobone, Kajo-Keji and Yei appreciated the JRS contribution. But an evaluation carried out in 2010 revealed that more needed to be done. Providing materials is not a sine qua non for learning. Literacy, numeracy, mathematics and sciences were found to be poor in primary and secondary schools. Among the problems identified were uncoordinated workshops for teachers.

JRS decided to set up school development teams (SDTs) to bring about positive transformation within the school by the school. Each SDT consists of three experienced and committed teachers who were trained and supervised by JRS and who in turn mentor, train and encourage their colleagues. After training SDT members, JRS followed up with monthly meetings at the school level. Characterised by a personal approach and focus on specific issues, the meetings proved helpful for the teachers, who said they acquired knowledge and confidence. In all, 36 primary schools and 16 secondary schools benefited.

The move paid off. JRS developed tools to assess progress and carried out a shared assessment with government education officials and SDT members. They found team teaching had been introduced in schools; joint JRS and government supervision had improved; and there was marked progress in making lesson plans. A ringing endorsement was the result of the 2011 South Sudan Certificate of Secondary Education, which revealed that seven out of the 10 best schools were supported by JRS. Students and teachers say SDT was one of the factors contributing to this good performance.

Another positive step – recommended by experts – taken by JRS has been to support primary schools in the use of local mother tongues as a medium of instruction; these schools registered gains in literacy and numeracy.

What will happen now that JRS is withdrawing? In August 2012, during a training workshop, teachers and government officials pledged to support SDTs. However other steps must be taken to motivate teachers. A grade-three teacher earns about 200 Sudanese pounds per month (equivalent to US$50). "We cannot send our children to decent schools yet others send their children to school outside South Sudan," said one teacher. And another: "We have an obligation to educate and feed our family as others do". Teaching is a last resort for job seekers due to the low pay.

Other challenges abound. The home environment is not conducive to learning. Very few houses have electricity and poverty is rife: one harvest a year does not provide enough food for home consumption and to generate an income too. The infrastructure of pre-independence South Sudan had been destroyed by years of civil war. Education is not isolated from other social systems; fixing the problems of formal education must go hand in hand with tackling those in health, security, agriculture and other services. Yet education is a key to development in all senses. Unless huge investment is pumped into improving our schools, low levels of literacy will persist in South Sudan.

Dr Biryaho Francis is JRS South Sudan education coordinator. This article appeared in the last issue of Servir. Click here to read more.

By Chris Niles

NEW YORK, United States of America, 31 December 2012 – It’s been another challenging year for UNICEF and its partners – responding to a wide range of humanitarian needs under less-than-ideal financial circumstances.

Watch UNICEF's year in review.

But significant gains have been realized, particularly in the fight against disease and child mortality.

Strides against disease and child deaths

Substantial progress has been made towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 4: Globally, the number of under-5 deaths has declined from nearly 12 million in 1990 to 6.9 million in 2011.

That means 14,000 fewer children are dying every day.

The end of both HIV/AIDS and polio is in sight. The world has committed to ending new HIV infections by 2015, thanks to simpler drug regimens and the success of programmes that prevent mothers from passing the virus to their children.

In September, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hosted the most important meeting on polio eradication in the past 20 years. Although polio remains endemic in Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan, infections were reduced by 99 per cent between 1988 and 2011.

At the meeting, world leaders recommitted to eradicating the disease.

“If we do not make history and eradicate polio in the coming months and years, then history will, rightly, judge us very, very harshly,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.

Partnerships

2012 was a year of innovative partnerships. A Promise Renewed mobilized a broad international coalition to end preventable child deaths. Since its launch in June, more than half the world’s nations have signed the commitment.

UNICEF is also committed to the Scaling up Nutrition movement, which brings together 30 countries, 27 global leaders and more than 100 organizations to tackle the issue of the 165 million children under 5 who are stunted.

Helping children survive and thrive

In the field, UNICEF responded to a wide range of humanitarian disasters in 2012.

More than one million children are affected by conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic. UNICEF is getting urgent supplies to them, as well as to the more than 200,000 refugee children in neighbouring countries.

The drought crisis in the Sahel was one of the biggest challenges. More than 18 million people faced food insecurity in the region. An estimated 1.1 children were in danger of death. In some countries, food insecurity was exacerbated by conflict, displacement and cholera. By the end of September, UNICEF had reached more than 730,000 severely malnourished children under 5 with life-saving treatment.

In Pakistan, more than 100,000 children and women affected by flooding and insecurity received help and protection.

UNICEF responded to renewed violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where, in 2012, the number of internally displaced persons was the highest it had been since 2009. More than 3,000 separated children were reunited with caregivers.

And, amidst the challenging first year of independence in South Sudan, with political tension, an influx of refugees, and inter-tribal conflict, more than 350,000 children were reached with emergency water and sanitation.

“We can be proud of our work every day to help children survive and thrive; to help girls achieve their potential; to protect children from violence and exploitation; to vaccinate every child and to eradicate polio; assure life-saving supplies; forge more diverse partnerships to accelerate results and so, so much more,” said Mr. Lake.