Author: Laura Heaton

A weekly round-up of must-read stories, posted every Friday ...

If you knew your family savings or retirement funds were financing a government’s genocidal campaign, would you keep sending money? JPMorgan Chase is faced with this question right now ...

Under the glaring lights of the Amahoro ‘Peace’ Stadium, Emmanuel* hummed along with the genocide song. “You know this one?” I asked. “Not really. We heard it already this morning, remember?” he replied. “It’s a good one, good message. I think it will be famous and we will hear it again next year,” he said. Rwandans marked the anniversary of the genocide on Thursday, April 7, with commemoration events, a day off from work, and some chilly April rain that seemed appropriate for the somber mood ...

A weekly round-up of must-read stories, posted every Friday (or on occasion, on Saturday) ...

Of the many issues left to be worked out between North and South Sudan before secession, the question of citizenship is one of the most personal and, among those with strong links to both North and South, urgent. The northern and southern governments are currently locked in discussions over a host of issues that will face the two countries and their citizens, and, given the high stakes, the talks have transpired largely out of the public eye. Absent public reassurances from the NCP or the SPLM, many Sudanese remain in the dark about their legal status and rights after the ...

A weekly round-up of must-read stories, posted every Friday ...

The Sudan advocacy community was on high alert – though cautiously quiet – when news publicly emerged late last week that one of the main suppliers of food aid in West Darfur would be forced to close down operations. On Friday, Catholic Relief Services said that its food program would end this month, leaving 400,000 people without monthly food rations. By Monday, CRS announced that it was given permission by Khartoum to resume services and that it would work with the local government to begin distribution quickly. The incident played out publicly over the last several days, but the controversy ...

After stalling out last year, peace negotiations on the troubled region of Darfur are set to begin again next month. The A.U.-U.N. mediation team announced that talks between the Sudanese government and various rebel groups would start on April 18, and while timelines have carried little weight in previous rounds of the Doha process, this week saw some encouraging movement by rebel groups to consolidate their positions heading into the talks. The paper commitments don’t necessarily instill much optimism, but some calculations may be shifting along with developments in the wider region ...

A weekly round-up of must-read stories, posted every Friday ...

A weekly round-up of must-read stories, posted every Friday (or on occasion, on Saturday) ...