The conflicts in central and eastern Africa are so intertwined that I sometimes confuse myself when taking in my daily dose of displacement and humanitarian news. For example, this week, MINURCAT, the UN peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad, deployed peacekeepers to a town in northeast CAR to protect Sudanese refugees from a Central African rebel group. Similarly Uganda’s national army has been allowed to operate in the CAR, Sudan, and DRC in an effort to track down the Ugandan-bred Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group. Throughout 2009 and with increasing intensity in recent months, the LRA has attacked villages and camps in southern Sudan, DRC, and CAR. CAR, itself is host to refugees from Sudan, Congo, and Chad, despite the fact that internally displaced Central Africans have described their current situation as one in which, “God alone is watching us. There is no security.”

The long awaited release of the new US policy on Sudan outlines several key points that lay the framework for lasting peace there. With a focus on a comprehensive approach to Sudan, the US administration recognizes the importance that peace in Darfur, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and border safety play in establishing and maintaining stability for the people of Sudan. It is refreshing to see a US strategy that takes a holistic approach, recognizing the commitment made to all Sudanese people and the strength of US leadership in the international community.

It is estimated that almost every civilian household in Juba, south Sudan, holds at least one gun.  Just a few years after the resolution of decades of civil war in south Sudan, it is clear that civilians still feel unprotected by the state and find it necessary to take the responsibility of protection upon themselves. Just a few months ago, I learned of a similar situation with residents in Karamoja, Uganda who were reluctant to disarm because they felt weapons were their only form of protection.  I also remember feeling the same type of concern in the Central African Republic, when I encountered villagers who had created ‘self-defense units” in order to ward off bandits. These are all clear examples of the extreme gaps in the day-to-day safety civilians feel.

Since the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, refused to sign the Final Peace Agreement last fall, the international community has been debating the best way to bring an end to the decades-long violence by the LRA. However, while the focus has been on whether or not to pursue a military strategy, the crucial need for redevelopment in northern Uganda has slipped to the wayside. The Lord’s Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009, which was introduced in Congress this past May, lays a good foundation for how the United States and the international community should approach this situation.

During the 1994 mass migration of Rwandan refugees into the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, what many people didn’t realize was that there was also an influx of Rwandan refugees into Uganda. This week, fifteen years after the earth shattering Rwandan genocide, 20,000 refugees are finally returning home. Even though this is an important step towards the full restoration of a severely fractured society, one cannot help but wonder why has it taken so long?

More than 3 million Somalis are dependent on external assistance; over 1 million are internally displaced; and another 500,000 and counting have sought refuge in neighboring countries. Yet, as the humanitarian situation in Somalia continues to deteriorate, the world is focused on a lone “pirate” in New York. I can’t help but question where our humanity and moral resolve lies.

About one month ago, the ICC began trying former Congolese warlord, Thomas Lubanga, who is accused of forcing children to fight during the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) war that ended in 2003. He is accused of abducting about 30,000 children under the age of 15 and as young as 9, training them to become soldiers and using them as porters and sex slaves.  Today, the DRC continues to suffer from violent conflict and has been deemed by many as "the worst place to be a child."

While riding down the roads in the northwestern region of the Central African Republic (CAR), I felt like a celebrity. Children repeatedly rushed out of their homes when they heard our pickup truck rumbling through the dusty, bumpy roads and drowned us in a chorus of “Bonjours” and “Baraallahs” (the local greetings in CAR), while waving fervently.

This past May, Refugees International conducted a mission in Afghanistan to assess the humanitarian response to the needs of Afghan returnees. Amid preparations for the trip, we were very concerned about the security situation in Afghanistan and took extra lengths to ensure that our staff would be safe.