This week we have a little bit of humanitarian and aid worker stereotyping and a look at what DR Congo will be like if peacekeepers have to leave ahead of schedule. Exciting? We think so:

We're trying something a little new and wanted to share with you some thoughts on our issues from people other than ourselves. Every so often we'll be bringing you links to some of the things we're working on or reading about here at Refugees International. Occasionally, we may even share things that have made us laugh.

“What Khalil first heard were helicopter sounds…and then the children started running.”

Earlier this week a decision from The Hague determined the boundary between north and south Sudan around the town of Abyei. This particular decision stems from an agreement signed last year, but it marks a part of the peace process occuring in Sudan. Benchmark goals like an election in April of next year and a referendum in 2011 are part of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) – a document that marked the end of 21 years of war.

Today, nearly four years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended over 26 years of brutal civil war, southern Sudan continues to be a place of acute poverty and underdevelopment.  Juba, the capital of the south, is a town consisting of ramshackle, hastily put together homes and a steady stream of goats and dust through what could charitably be considered streets.

Today marks the launch of AFRICOM, the U.S. Africa Command that was created to consolidate and coordinate U.S. Security programs in Africa, but which could also lead to a greater militarization of aid on the continent. In July, Refugees International released a report that highlighted the disparity in funding between the Defense and State Departments. AFRICOM is just one example of how the Pentagon controls an increasing amount of foreign aid that used to be directed towards civilian agencies.

Today marks the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. China holds unrivaled influence with the regime in Sudan. Join us in urging China to use its leverage to persuade the Sudanese government to allow into Darfur the full protection force outlined by UN Resolution 1769. All of us should urge China to work with the United States, France and the United Kingdom to support UN and African Union initiatives in Darfur, Southern Sudan and Chad. This cooperative work on the peace process needs to be comprehensive.

What do you get when, at a 17 to 1 ratio, US spending on the Global War on Terror far outweighs the funding for diplomatic, development and long-term capacity-building programs, combined?In a report released yesterday by RI’s peacebuilding program manager Mark Malan, we outline exactly what’s happening now, and what’s at risk of happing in the very near future.

Refugees International’s new report, Uprooted and Unstable: Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq is getting nationwide media attention, including this clip on NBC's website. During a mission inside Iraq, researchers for Refugees International found that Iraqi militias are creating a Hezbollah-like dynamic by becoming major humanitarian providers of food, clothing, oil and other basic resources.

Watch the video, featuring an interview with Refugees International's Kristele Younes, below.

Today at 2:00 pm EST Senior Advocate Kristele Younes will be hosting a chat on www.washingtonpost.com to answer questions about the millions of Iraqis who have been forced from their homes by ongoing violence in Iraq.