1. The Government of Japan will dispatch an election observation team to Sudan to assist free and fair elections to be conducted in the general elections in Sudan scheduled to be held from Sunday, April 11 to Sunday, April 18, 2010. The team will be headed by Mr. Yuichi Ishii, former Ambassador of Japan in Sudan, and composed of sixteen members including government officials and private experts.

2. The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in January 2005 put an end to the North-South civil war in Sudan, which had lasted for more than twenty years. The CPA stipulated

A headteacher from southern Sudan explains the importance of MAG's work for the future of his country.

Emmanuel Oching is the young headmaster of the Kuleu Lights Academy, a private nursery and primary school in the conflict-ridden town of Kapoeta.

His country is still suffering the effects of more than 20 years of fighting between the Government of Sudan and armed groups in the south, which caused vast numbers of people to flee their homes and has left large areas contaminated by remnants of conflict.

As the education system in many parts

Khartoum, 1 April 2010 - Well-known BBC presenter of Sudanese origin, Ms. Zeinab Badawi, spent time with the Hakama women singing group and watched them perform at the Tayeba displaced persons camp in Khartoum North. The Hakamas had traveled from Southern Kordofan State to perform for Ms. Badawi, who is in the country to learn about the role of cultural symbols and the folk and traditional forms of communication in peace-building.

The Hakamas are a part of the UNDP and the North Sudan Disarmament Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Commission

01 Apr 2010 19:08:42 GMT

* Access to water in Middle East and N.Africa world's lowest

* Agriculture to shrink further, fuelling mass migration

By Dina Zayed

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt, April 1 (Reuters) - People in the Arab world need fuller and freer information about shrinking water supplies but their governments are withholding it for fear of fuelling unrest, a United Nations expert said on Thursday.

Arable land makes up just 4.2 percent of the Middle East and North Africa and is expected to shrink due to climate change -- a potential source of political instability, analysts say, in

One of the key threats the returning refugees and internally displaced persons of South Sudan face is the presence of landmines and explosive remnants of war. As part of UNDP's wider assistance package to Southern Sudan, and with funding from the Canadian government and in partnership with Southern Sudan Demining Commission and the Danish Demining Group, UNDP recently completed a two-month mine risk education (MRE) and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) project in high priority areas of Magwi and Loa in South Sudan's Central Equatoria State.

The project delivered critical risk education

This report is available on the ISS website and can be viewed together with Thematic Reports on the work of the PSC at www.issafrica.org. All documents referred to in this Report can also be found on the ISS website.

Peace and Security Council Protocol

'The PSC shall encourage non-governmental organizations to participate actively in the efforts aimed at promoting peace, security and stability in Africa. When required such organizations may be invited to address the Peace and Security Council' - Article 20

Note: Map production date estimated

in Darfur and Southern Sudan

Author: Maggie Fick

Enough experts analyze the agreements being negotiated by the major parties in southern Sudan's upcoming independence referendum.

A series of deals in February 2010 over elements of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA, largely went under the radar of international media attention, but offer important insights into the current dynamics of deal making between the National Congress Party, or NCP, and the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement/Army, or SPLM/A, as Sudan approaches the vital question of southern independence.

Conflict exacerbates hunger season and could disrupt cultivation

The food insecure population in Southern Sudan has increased significantly since January, following escalated inter-tribal/clan and cattle?raiding conflicts during 2009, combined with poor rainfall that led to reduced crop and off-farm production. Areas affected by conflict include Jonglei, Warrap, Unity, and Lakes states, as well as Mvolo and Mundri East counties in Western Equatoria (Figure 1).

Elections in April 2010 could exacerbate these conflicts. The continuation or escalation of conflict between now