As the year draws to a close, a question I often get from journalists is what I expect will be the biggest challenges for 2011. Considering the nature of my work, this is not an easy question, as disasters often happen without prior warning.
Yet, an easily predictable challenge for next year is Sudan. As the referendum for independence in Southern Sudan nears, so is the expectation that it will mark the first big task the world will face in 2011.
This referendum is a momentous event in the history of Africa, and we all hope it will offer a peaceful, democratic and long-term solution to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Read the full entry
Number of views: 3789
This is the first thing I heard in 
Erkinoy Tumarova has tears in her eyes when she talks about the violence in her neighbourhood. A gang of armed men in masks spreading bullets and setting houses on fire killed her 5 year old niece and her elderly mother. Erkinoy and her neighbours are among thousands of innocent victims of ethnic clashes in Osh, in the South of Kyrgyzstan. The UN believes that the number of people who have been affected in some form – from loss of relatives and houses to temporary displacements – is around 300,000. 
With desertification spreading fast because of climate change, drought is affecting millions of people. This is particularly painful for Africa – because the continent has contributed least to climate change, but suffers from it the most. It is shocking, but true: droughts in Africa account for 95% of the death toll caused by natural disasters.
On Sunday, the 20th of June, the World Refugee Day is celebrated across the globe. It is a day of solidarity with those who have been displaced from their homes because of war, persecution or natural disasters. Today they include around 10 million refugees and more than 27 million internally displaced people (IDPs) seeking sanctuary within their own countries. The European Commission has made a firm commitment to help and protect people who have lost their homes wherever they may be.
I arrive in Nyala after a day in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital and most prosperous city. The contrast is so dramatic that it is hard to believe we are still in the same country. Khartoum, the city where the Blue and White Nile meet, is booming — oil revenues fuel construction everywhere. It is a capital of a middle income country and only the occasional donkey on the busy streets reminds of Sudan’s rural soul. 
