Lost Boys Hopeful to Rebuild South Sudan

[Montréal, Québec, Canada -2°C] I can imagine the emotional depth and confused sense of belonging/alienation that must come from a return visit to one's homeland ofter a very long and forced exile. At least I think I can. The documentary film by Jen Marlowe, Rebuilding...

Global Campaign: Drumbeat for Peace in Sudan on 5th Anniversary

Sudan is at a crossroads. Again. January 9, 2010 marked the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). The CPA ended 21...

Landmine Removal Frees Land for Agriculture

] UNMAO's Mark Argent and I at mine removal site outside of Juba near E. Rejaf. Notice the MineWolf in upper left of photo. (March 2009) [Montréal, Québec, Canada -2°C] In a previous post from Juba, Southern Sudan, I wrote about a UNICEF managed and...

Preliminary Voter Registration Results for Sudan

Preliminary voter registration results have been released in a December 13 statement by Al Hadi Muhammad Ahmed, Head of the National Election Commission’s Registration Committee. “The total of the registration up to now is 15,778,154. This percentage is 81% of the...

Southern Sudan: Oil Exploitation vs Wildlife Protection

To the surprise of researchers, wildlife remains plentiful in southern Sudan's Boma National Park, despite a long civil war, which ended in 2005. Here, a herd of elephants move through a grassland in the park. (Miguel Juarez for NPR) [Montréal, Québec, Canada -2°C] Before...

Voter Registration Verification Begins in Sudan

National Elections Commission voter registry poster December 10, 2009 is the beginning of the seven-day display of Sudan’s Voter’s Registry. It is a time for people to confirm that their names are on the registry. Not much information about registration results is...

Popular Protest and Sudan’s Electoral Law Reform

It’s refreshing to see a major international media network devoting and entire show about the present situation in Sudan four months before the country holds its first multi-party general elections in 24 years. Al Jazeera’s Inside Story asks if Sudan’s elections can...

Sudan Voter Registration Ends with Rally and Arrests

Today is the last day for voter registration in Sudan’s first multi-party presidential and legislative elections in 24 years to be held in April 2010. Opposition parties called for a rally on Sunday in the country’s capital, Khartoum. The ruling National Congress Party...

Logistical Challenges Facing Sudan Elections

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed by the Khartoum regime in the north and rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), based in the south of Sudan, is approaching a decisive and possibly its most difficult-to-implement phase so far: the April 2010 elections....

Video Portrait #1 From Southern Sudan : Rose Achan Beryl

This is Rose Achan Beryl’s story. During a 7-week visit to Southern Sudan, I interviewed about a dozen Southern Sudanese men and women. Each one offers an intimate view of their lives during the 21-year civil war and since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in...

Berlin Wall Gone but Separation Walls are Growth Industry

The celebration of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was one week ago today. With that behind us, it is now time to acknowledge that the construction of separation walls throughout the world is on the increase. According to l’Observatoire de géopolitique...