The big news today in Washington circles is the announcement of President Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He revealed significant increases in military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan, as well as higher levels of assistance for both countries. There’s bound to be disagreements over whether this is the appropriate course of action, but Obama is undeniably making the region a top priority of his tenure.

For all of the young people we met in our ten days in southern Sudan, the future was bleak. To learn more about what they needed to rebuild their lives, we sought out "returnees" -- those who had returned after fleeing to neighboring countries or to other areas of Sudan during the 21-year civil war between north and south Sudan. This war only ended when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in January 2005.

President Obama has named retired Air Force General Scott Gration to be his envoy to Sudan. Amid the furor created by the International Criminal Court's issuance of an arrest warrant for President Omar al Bashir and the subsequent Sudanese government expulsion of Non-Governmental Organizations that provide support to the two and one half million internally displaced persons in Darfur, this is welcome news. 

Am Nabak is a fine place for camels. It is rocky and dry, and getting drier. The water table can't support the current population of a few camels and around 17,000 refugees from the war in Darfur, so water is brought in overland by truck. The camp is situated scant 25 kilometers from the Darfur border.  This is too close to the war zone by United Nations standards; it was only supposed to be a transit camp through which refugees passed on their way to more permanent and secure camps. But the refugees have settled in at Am Nabak and, despite the urging of the UN Refugee Agency, prefer to remain close to the border. 

We were just stepping out of our vehicle in the far reaches of Hagadera, one of three camps that make up the sprawling Dadaab camp for Somali refugees in northeastern Kenya, when it became obvious that we had stumbled upon a pocket of misery. A man waved his arms, and starting shouting, "No water! No water!"

As we walked into the area, a group quickly gathered and started the rapid fire explanation of their plight, with passionate interruptions and people struggling to be heard, testing the patience and talent of our guide, himself a refugee who arrived in Dadaab in 1992. As visitors from the outside world, in our case from Washington, D.C. and Refugees International, we had to hear their story.

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon visited eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over this past weekend.

His visit comes at a time when the security situation on the ground is quickly changing. 

In January, CNDP rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, responsible for the violent upsurge in fighting in the fall that displaced 250,000 people, was arrested in Rwanda.  Following his arrest, the Rwandan national army entered North Kivu province to conduct joint operations with the Congolese national army against the FDLR rebel group.  The Rwandans, claiming that the operations had been a success, pulled out their troops days before Ban arrived in the DRC.