Happy New Year, from all of us at Refugees International! Before we start tackling the challenges of 2012 – and there will be many – we bring you a brief wrap-up of all things RI from the year gone by.
First, "RI in 2011: By the Numbers":
For the last two weeks, my colleagues have reflected on global efforts to combat violence against women and girls, as part of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. Today, I want to examine a vital and practical solution to the problem of gender violence: the engagement of men and boys.
The Republic of South Sudan (RoSS) is a new nation facing many challenges from without and from within. When it comes to violent conflict in the country, most international actors have focused on inter-tribal clashes, or skirmishes between South Sudan and its northern neighbor. But for far too many South Sudanese women, the greatest security threat is in the home.
It’s been 28 years since John Garang’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) rebelled against the Nimeiri regime in Khartoum, igniting Sudan’s horrific second civil war. That conflict claimed at least 2 million lives and crippled the country economically and politically. Indeed, since Sudan’s independence in 1956, its people have known little more than bloodshed and unyielding misery.
RI condemns today's attack on a refugee camp in Unity State, South Sudan. For more on this incident - and what it means for the fragile North-South relationship - we bring you this piece from UN Dispatch featuring RI Senior Advocate Peter Orr.
By Mark Leon Goldberg
Today, leaders from government, civil society, and the UN gathered at the US Institute of Peace to explore statelessness and its impact on women worldwide. The Institute's sparkling new headquarters played host to an insightful and inspiring discussion - a fitting kick-off for a week full of stateless advocacy here at RI.
Refugees International traveled last week to Agok, on the southern side of the Kirr River, to look into the living conditions of tens of thousands of displaced Abyei residents. When Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) troops attacked Abyei Town in May of this year – before South Sudan became fully independent – about 100,000 people fled to this small town and farther south into Warrap and neighboring states.
Upon our arrival in South Sudan, my colleague, Peter, and I drove to Juba port on the river Nile. There, we were greeted by the sight of two barges that had come arrived from the North eleven days earlier.