By Ngor Arol Garang

September 24 (JUBA) - The government of newly-independent South Sudan has appealed for international assistance to help address some of the challenges confronting provision of basic health services.

Building a health care system is seen by the United Nations as one of the priorities that the newly independent state should undertake. Health experts consider that South Sudan needs at this stage three basic things: education, better nutrition, and simple drugs. They also call for a special attention to women and children health.

September 23, 2011 (JUBA) - The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) division six commander in charge of disarmament in Lakes and Unity states, Marial Chanuong Yol, told press that disarmament is moving ahead peacefully.

Yol said that 2,201 firearms have been collected in Lakes state since the disarmament campaign began on 7 September and the “surrendering of arms is still going on.”

September 21, 2011 (KAMPALA) — Abducted children who were rescued by the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) forces in Western Equatoria state have been reunited with their parents in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

On 20 September 2011, the State Ministry of Social Development in Western Equatoria in collaboration with other partners, returned nine Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) abductees to their families.

September 17, 2011 (JUBA) - A high ranking official from the South Sudan’s governing party said Saturday that the border region of Abyei remains a contested area until his country and its northern neighbour reach a compromise that resolves their differences in a manner that will not affect rights of ancestral residents, predominantly members of South-aligned Dinka Ngok.

By Julius N. Uma

September 15, 2011 (MOROBO) - The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has embarked on a strategy aimed at reducing farmers’ dependency on imported seeds in South Sudan, as part of the new country’s drive to enhance food security among its population.

The one-year community-based seed production project is being implemented in the five South Sudan states of Central Equatoria, Eastern Equatoria, Western Equatoria, Lakes and Western Bahr el Ghazal, courtesy of a €500,000 ($692,900) from the French government.

By Ngor Arol Garang

September 13, 2011 (JUBA) - Heavy rainfall in Northern Bahr el Ghazal have forced thousands from their homes in Aweil town, the state capital, as swollen rivers washed away roads making rescue efforts difficult, government and aid officials said on Tuesday.

September 10, 2011 (JUBA) - The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), which became the official army of the newly established Republic of South Sudan in July, said on Saturday it has begun disarming civilians in Lakes state.

The spokesman of the army said South Sudan’s military is responding to an order by Lakes state governor, Chol Tong Mayay, requesting the SPLA in the area peacefully collect all types of weapons from the civilian population.

September 3, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) on Saturday declared resistance to what it described as a coup against the elected governor of the Blue Nile State, Malik Aggar, announcing intensification of its efforts to forge a nationwide alliance to execute regime-change agendas.

Sudan’s southern state of Blue Nile on Thursday became the latest flashpoint, since South Sudan seceded from the rest of Sudan in July, when clashes erupted between Sudan’s army (SAF) and forces of the SPLM-N led by Malik Aggar.

September 2, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir has declared a state of emergency in the Blue Nile State and dismissed its governor Malik Agar amid reports of aerial bombardments and concomitant displacement in the unrest-hit region.

Al-Bashir further decreed the appointment of the commander of Sudan’s army (SAF) base in the Blue Nile’s capital al-Damazin, Major General Yahya Mohamed Khair, as a military ruler of the state.