Top stories from DAWNS Digest
Humanitarian Access in Darfur Exceedingly Difficult
Aid agencies are struggling to access tens of thousands of Sudanese displaced in North Darfur due to fears of further violence amidst a tribal dispute. Aid agencies are struggling to get enough help to tens of thousands of people uprooted by inter-tribal fighting over access to a gold mine in North Darfur, who are reluctant to go home because they fear further violence, Oxfam said on Wednesday. In early January, conflict broke out between two Arab tribes, the Rizeigat and Bani Hussein, over who should be allowed to use a mine near Kabkabiya in the Jebel Amir area. Half a million artisan miners have joined a gold rush across Sudan, according to the government, which estimates it made $2.5 billion from gold exports last year. The latest violence left more than 100 people dead and forced some 100,000 to flee their homes in what aid agencies say is the largest displacement in recent years inside Sudan’s troubled western region of Darfur. (AlertNet http://bit.ly/X5vUKv)
Tackle Inequality, Says UNDP Head
Expect to hear more about inequality, which is shaping up to be a big topic in international development agenda after the MDGs expire in 2015. “Helen Clark, chairwoman of the UN Development Group, has added her voice to urgent calls to address inequality, including gender inequality, in debates what should follow the millennium development goals when they expire in 2015. In a talk at the Overseas Development Institute in London on Tuesday, Clark said inequality had emerged as a key issue in UN consultations ahead of a report by a high-level panel in May on the post-2015 development framework. “Inequality is so important. There is a strong feeling among disadvantaged groups that their story is hidden in aggregate figures,” said Clark, who chairs a committee of heads of all UN funds, programmes and departments working on development.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/XBUXF7)