By Jessica Anderson and Maureen Vaught, Rotary International News

 

A literacy project sponsored by U.S. Rotarians in conjunction with the International Reading Association (IRA) is helping Sudanese refugees rebuild their communities by equipping them to teach future generations. 

The Southern Sudan Teacher Training Initiative provides refugees of the country's decades-long civil war, who are known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan, with teacher training materials, guidance, and support to help them teach students in kindergarten through eighth grade. 

"People returning from refugee camps to rebuild their lives in Duk County are hungry for books and school supplies," says John Dau, a Lost Boy, humanitarian, and founder of the John Dau Foundation. 

The first phase of the project began in August 2009 when members of the Rotary Club of Ellensburg Morning, Washington, and IRA members met with two lead teachers from Sudan and sponsored their participation in the IRA’s Pan-African Reading for All Conference. 

"The Sudanese educators benefited from the experience by becoming aware of what is possible and learning what is happening on their continent in the field of literacy," says IRA member and Ellensburg Morning club president Judy Backlund.  

The second phase in late 2009 provided literacy assessment tools and basic teaching strategies via Flip Video™ camcorders.  

Teacher training will begin in early 2011, when 10 teachers are taught literacy teaching strategies, which they will then share with other teachers. The third phase will include evaluation, follow-up, and support.  

The project aims to benefit more than 3,000 students living in Duk County. 

Since 2002, Rotary International and the IRA have worked together to promote literacy in communities around the world. Rotary clubs and districts have collaborated with IRA councils at both the community and international levels to create literacy centers in Pakistan, provide books to new parents in the United States, and build schools in Ecuador.  

To celebrate International Literacy Day, 8 September, Rotary clubs are encouraged to develop a relationship with their local IRA council.  

Clubs can invite IRA members to present at a club meeting, or club members can offer to make a presentation to a local IRA council about Rotary’s Avenues of Service. Learn more about the IRA or find a council serving your area. 

As part of its celebration of International Literacy Day, the IRA hosted a one-hour webinar focusing on the role of literacy in improving the lives of women and girls. "Building Support for Effective Reading Instruction" featured Backlund; Richard Carson, Rotary representative to the Organization of American States; and Patricia Edwards, IRA president.

The IRA also planned a panel discussion 8 September in Washington, D.C., with Edwards and USAID Director of Education David Barth on the subject of early literacy instruction and teacher preparation globally

- Source: Ghanaian Chronicle

IOM Press Briefing Notes

 

IOM and the UK Embassy in Sudan have signed an agreement to kick-start a project that will support effective migration management in Africa's largest country.  The agreement, signed by British Ambassador, Nicholas Hays, and IOM Chief of Mission in Sudan Jill Helke, is aimed at strengthening Sudan's capacity to manage its borders with Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
With the programme to be run in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior, Major General Ahmad Atta Allaman, General Director of Migration and Passport, attended the signing.

IOM and the UK have already worked together on migration management programmes in various countries around the world. The £300,000 (USD 462,000) British-funded programme will strengthen and develop border and migration management skills of Sudanese officials. This will be done through training and the provision of essential equipment such as the Personal Identification and Registration System (PIRS) and fraudulent document detection material at key border points.

The year-long project represents a new area of work for IOM in Sudan, where work has traditionally focused on emergency and post-emergency response.

Source: International Office of Migration (IOM)

Maggie Fick, South Sudan Watch Security

 

JUBA, Sudan—The sun was setting at the standard Equatorial time of just after 7pm, and I was bumping along a potholed road with my trusted motorcycle taxi.  Another day in Juba beginning to draw to a close. Then, my driver Issa said to me over his shoulder, “Do you have any good news from today?” This is not the first time in the 11 months that I have known Issa that he has said something to me that has struck me as powerful, insightful, or simply startling in its honesty. Since I changed jobs last month and became a journalist, Issa has begun asking me about my reporting almost every day. He’s curious about the status of the high-level political negotiations that will partly dictate the future of Sudan and relations between the country’s north and south. He’s worried about insecurity along the north-south border because he heard things were getting tense in the Abyei region; he knows the people of Abyei are worried they are not going to get their referendum. He wonders why the army has deployed more security resources to the bridge in Juba across the Nile. When he hears something on BBC or from his fellow boda driver friends, he often asks me if I’ve heard the same things. So it wasn’t very unusual for Issa to ask me about the news on that recent evening, but something about the way he said it made me realize that I had very little good news to report to him.

Post-referendum negotiations between the National Congress Party in Khartoum and the South’s ruling SPLM are moving forward quietly on some fronts, while the most contentious aspects of these discussions—related to post-referendum wealth-sharing and citizenship rights—aren’t likely to see progress any time soon, given that both sides will need to cede ground they aren’t willing to give up in order to reach agreements. Meanwhile, with the southern and Abyei referenda just over four months away, voter registration is not yet in sight given the delays in appoint the secretary-general of the southern referendum commission. 

The commission for the separate Abyei vote has not yet been formed due to political deadlock between the parties. I could go on, but these are just a few of the challenges plaguing the holding of a peaceful and credible referendum in January. I have no qualms in saying that it seems likely that one of the two parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is responsible for mounting the bulk of the obstacles currently blocking progress toward holding the two referenda votes. This party has historical, existential, political, and strategic reasons for seeing these votes obstructed. Referring to the political dispute over the north-south border, the latest International Crisis Groups report notes that “strategic motives have…been behind NCP delays past and present” in demarcating this contested border. This is arguably the most contested outstanding element of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement aside from the southern referendum itself.  

I hope that the record will show that lack of political will, and good will in general, of one of these two parties has stymied implementation of the peace accord since it was signed in 2005. Moreover, this lack of will could hinder the ability of the Southern Sudanese to exercise their internationally-recognized right to determine their political destiny on January 9, 2011.

By Heba Saleh

Washington Post Foreign Service

CAIRO - A previously unknown group of activists in Egypt is putting up posters and collecting signatures urging Gamal Mubarak, the son and presumed successor of the country's leader, to run for president in next year's election.

The posters promoting Suleiman labeled him "the alternative." An online statement presumed to be from the anonymous activists appealed to Egypt's "honorable army" to save the country from "the shame and disgrace of the succession which the president's son seeks."

The posters were taken down within hours by the authorities, who also banned newspapers from reporting on them.

Suleiman, 74, has never expressed an interest in being president and is not thought to be behind the poster campaign on his behalf.

Constitutional changes adopted in 2007 in effect bar independent candidates from running for president. The largest opposition force in the country is the banned Muslim Brotherhood, whose candidates run as independents.

- Financial Times

CBC News

 

Calgary police are investigating whether three indecent acts committed early Saturday morning are related.

In each case, young women were groped by a man who exposed himself to them.

Shortly after midnight, two women in their late teens were walking in the area of 13th Avenue and Second Street S.E. when they were approached by a man who exposed his genitals. He then grabbed the buttocks of one woman.

The women screamed and hailed a cab, which took them out of the area.

At 3:40 a.m., a 28-year-old woman was walking southbound on 14th Street toward 22nd Avenue S.W. when a man approached her, exposed his genitals and rubbed against her.

She screamed and pushed him away, at which time the suspect ran northbound.

At about 4 a.m., a woman in her 30s was walking southbound on Fifth Street near 21st Avenue S.W. when she was approached by a man who reached out and grabbed her breast. He appeared to be masturbating.

The woman pushed him away, shouted and left the area. The man was seen walking toward 21st Avenue.

In each case, the victims called police immediately. Officers arrived and patrolled the area but didn't find a suspect.

None of the women were injured.

Calgary police said in a news release that this type of behaviour can escalate if not stopped.

Anyone who may have witnessed these incidents, or who has any information, is asked to call police at 403-266-1234 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

 

Birdwatch News Archive

The Chairman of Southern Sudan Muslims' Council, Al Tahir Bior, has commended the Sudanese Muslims for advent of Eid El Fittr, wishing a lasting peace to all southerners.

The Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA) has endorsed the nomination of the SPLM-DC member, Onyoti Adigo Nyikwec, as the Head of opposition in the Assembly on Tuesday.

ONE of the world's most brutal terrorist groups, Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is on the move from the Congo, terrorising civilians.The below listed report from Time.com, Tuesday, 07 September 2010, contains a shocking video entitled "The Lord's Resistance Army Hunts Children in Sudan".Click here (and wait for end of short advert) to hear Ed Robbins reporting for Time.com from Western Equatoria State, southern Sudan.Replay the video and listen carefully to a message for everyone. The message is from a deeply traumatised Sudanese boy. The boy's name is Moses. Moses was abducted, attacked, hurt all over and stabbed with a bayonet by LRA terrorists. The terrorists forced Moses to kill a young girl. The girl was aged 7 or 8. If he did not kill the girl, they would kill him. The heart wrenching message from Moses says:"I'M ASKING EVERYONE PLEASE, PRAY TO MAKE IT END"See further devastating reports and photos here below.- - -Balancing Counterterrorism and Democracy in UgandaTime.com - Tuesday, 07 September 2010By Ioannis Gatsiounis in Kampala, Uganda Photo: Mourners bury Alice Kyalimpa, a victim of the July 11, 2010, terrorist attacks that tore through a restaurant and rugby club in Uganda's capital Ronald Kabuubi/Reuters. Source: Time.com report September 07, 2010 "Balancing Counterterrorism and Democracy in Uganda". To view the full report, click on the link above or visit http://www.time.com. If the report has moved, click here [insert link] to view a copy filed on September 07, 2010 at Uganda Watch, a sister site of this blog Sudan Watch.- - -LRA KILL 8 IN YAMBIO, W. EQUATORIA, S. SUDAN -More Ugandan PDF forces to be deployed WES Yambio: LRA Raid And Kill 8 citizensReport from South Sudan Analysis (SOSA) - Monday, 06 September 2010: (YAMBIO) – Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have killed 8 people during weekend raids in Southern Sudan’s Western Equatoria state, a local official said.Around 6 LRA fighters attacked the market village of Rii-Bodo on Saturday, killing 8 civilians, said Lexon Amozai, State Director of Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Western Equatoria State.The horrifying murders come in the wake of an LRA ambush at a near-by small stream of Nahua.On Friday the rebels launched a similar assault on the village of Gangura.“They killed 8 people there, among them two women. There were no soldiers deployed there, so they attacked the civilians,” Mr Amozai said.A Uganda-led coalition including Congo and South Sudan launched a joint offensive against LRA strongholds in Congo’s isolated Garamba National Park on December 14 after LRA leader Joseph Kony again failed to sign a deal to end his rebellion. However, the operation has failed to arrest Joseph Kony.In the same weekend related attacks were carried on Sunday at James Diko and Naakiri Bomas under Bangasu payam during a final funeral of one of the LRA Victims.Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes.Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro, state governor of Western Equatoria state with deeply sorrow and regrets expressed his dissatisfaction for the death of 8 WES citizens of Rii-Bodo on Saturday.In a press statement, Col Bangasi said that, “it is painful to see such barbaric killings by the notorious LRA fighters on the innocent citizens of western Equatoria more especially as referendum gets around the corner.”He called upon all the youth to stand up in order to provide security to the state from the marauding LRA and the state Government in collaboration with the UPDF and SPLA.Security sources say soon the state government “will deploy forces around the payams and Bomas.”Bakosoro assured the citizens that, “more forces of the Ugandan People Defense (UPDF) forces will be deployed around the most attacked areas of the Bomas.”He cautioned the forestry department to ensure that “all timber cutters are removed from the forest of the state because it makes no sense for the LRA to be killing people leaving them (timber companies) unharmed hence some might be spices of the LRA.”Meanwhile the Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement Agencies Colonel Wilson Sidigi said that he will ensure that support is given to the villagers’ security.Sidigi promised that he will organize with the County Commissioners of Yambio and Nzara to encouraged the youth to stand firm as the security of the State is in the hands of every citizen of the state.- - -LRA Kill Eight In YambioReport from SRS - Sudan Radio Service - Tuesday, 07 September 2010: (YAMBIO) – About eight people were killed in attacks allegedly perpetrated by the Lord’s Resistance Army over the weekend in outskirts of Yambio town.The Western Equatoria state Minister of Information and Communication, Gibson Bullen Wande, spoke to SRS from Yambio on Tuesday.[Gibson Bullen Wande]: “The LRA appeared between Gangura and a place called Baite, attacked the village and killed three people, so now we are seeing how we are going to handle it. Then on Saturday in the evening, the LRA appeared about 7 kilometers away from Yambio town in a place called Riibodoo. They came into the house of a chief with his in-laws. All of them were beaten to death and one person was abducted. So the total number of people that we have established to have been killed during the two attacks of last week has now come to eight so far.”Gibson Bullen Wande was speaking to SRS from Yambio on Tuesday.- - -LRA rebels kill eight in South Sudan raid, local official saysReport from Sudan Tribune - Tuesday, 07 September 2010By Richard Ruati - excerpt:(YAMBIO - September 6, 2010) - The Ugandan rebels Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has killed eight people in raids over the weekend in South Sudan’s state of Western Equatoria, a local official has said.The LRA, which is a sectarian religious and military group from northern Uganda, has a history of committing atrocities in the region.It began as an Acholi tribe rebel movement seeking to overthrow the Ugandan Government. What it stands for now is a matter of debate but in 2005 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its first five arrest warrants for LRA leader, Joseph Kony, his deputy and three of his commanders.Around six LRA fighters attacked the market village of Rii-Bodo at about 2:00 am (local time) on Saturday, 4 August, and killed civilians, said Lexon Amozai who is the state director of the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Western Equatoria State. The murders took place after an LRA ambush at the nearby Nahua stream.On Friday, the rebels launched a similar assault on the village of Gangura. "They killed eight people there, among them two women. There were no soldiers deployed there, so they attacked the civilians," Amozai said.A Uganda-led coalition including Congo and South Sudan launched a joint offensive against the LRA strongholds in Congo’s isolated Garamba National Park on December 14, after LRA leader Kony again failed to sign a peace deal. However, the operation has failed to arrest Kony.On Sunday, August 5, related attacks were carried out in James Diko, Naakiri Bomas and during the funeral of one of the LRA victims in Bangasu. [...]Security sources say that the state government’s deployment of "forces around the payams [villages] and Bomas,” is imminent.- - -"I'M ASKING EVERYONE PLEASE, PRAY TO MAKE IT END" Photo: Gulu victim. The LRA use torture to instil fear. Uganda's rebel LRA has become synonymous with torture, abductions and killings. (BBC photo/Sudan Watch archives) Photo: Two young boy's get treated for severe burn wounds in the Lira hospital in northern Uganda, Feb 23, 2004, after a massacre believed to be committed by the LRA in the Barlonyo camp 26 kilometers north of the town that killed at least 200 people. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo/Sudan Watch archives) Photo: Ochola John was deformed by rebels from the LRA. (BBC) Click here to read the victim's heartbreaking testimony published in a BBC News online report dated 29 June 2006. If the report has moved, click here to read a copy filed on 30 June 2006 at Uganda Watch, a sister site of this blog Sudan Watch. Photo: Leader of the LRA peace delegation Martin Ojul, left, is welcomed back home at Koch Goma in Amuru. (AP Photo/Time.com) Source: Report from Time.com - Saturday, 10 November 2007, by Alexis Okeowo in Gulu. Excerpt:Sixteen years ago, Irene Abonyo was held down to the ground and her lips and ears viciously sliced off by rebels in northern Uganda. But 70-year old Abonyo is in a forgiving mood. She attended a steamy, overcrowded town-hall meeting to see, on better terms this time, one of the world's most terrifying rebel groups, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). After a dialogue, she went over to shake the hand of a former LRA fighter. He held her hand, but refused to have his picture taken with the disfigured woman. "I will still forgive," Abonyo explains. "They are embarrassed of what they have done." Full story at: www.time.com- - -"I'M ASKING EVERYONE PLEASE, PRAY TO MAKE IT END"Last month, Human Rights Watch said the LRA had killed more than 250 people in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo over the previous year and a half. It said nearly 700 others were kidnapped and forced to be either soldiers or sex slaves. Full story at Voice of America News, Tuesday, 07 September 2010 - LRA Kills 8 in Southern Sudan. Photo: Southern Sudanese wait for food, shelter, security and medicine at the village of Nzara, along Sudan's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, on 18 August 2010. Thousands have fled their nearby villages since a recent series of attacks by guerrilla fighters believed to be from the Lord's Resistance Army. (Peter Martell/AFP/Getty Images) Full story at www.time.comThank you for reading Sudan Watch. 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 0 0Authors: Editor

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