Blogs

For generations, communities across South Sudan have relied on seasonal weather patterns to guide planting, grazing, fishing, and daily life. Today, however, many people say those patterns are becoming increasingly difficult to predict. Rain may arrive late, end earlier than expected, or come in intense bursts that trigger flooding and damage crops.

As a Roving Teacher Trainer, Nyamara Patrick Odego supports teachers with practical skills, classroom mentoring, and continuous professional development, helping ensure that more children have access to quality learning opportunities.

Improving education is not only about training teachers. It is about ensuring they have the support, confidence and opportunities to continue learning, growing and leading throughout their careers. In South Sudan, where teacher shortages and limited professional development opportunities continue to challenge education delivery, peer mentorship is proving to be a powerful tool for strengthening the teaching workforce.

Voices across the SWANA region, where even in times of crisis, people insist on their dignity.

Loss has become a constant theme in my life since Israel’s genocide in Gaza which saw war come again to Lebanon.  It has remained with me ever since. On October 13, 2023, my friend Issam Abdalla was targeted and killed by an Israeli missile while reporting on Israel’s early attacks on Southern Lebanese villages. The loss and grief were palpable.  The murder of a very dear friend with total impunity, and with whom I shared dreams for the future, brought so much unresolved anger and deep injustice. It is heart crushing to live with this…

Nyaluak Wiew presses both palms flat against the mud wall of her house, smoothing the wet clay in slow, circular motions. The afternoon light falls across her shoulders as she leans forward, careful not to let the mixture crack before it dries. The wall is cool under her hands. A shallow fire pit sits nearby, and thin branches support the roof above her.

Feleg depends on a mixed agricultural livelihood. For years, water shaped the rhythm of her day.

A troubling idea has begun to circulate in European political circles: the idea that international law is exhausted. That it has little effect in today’s geopolitical world.  This argument has surfaced in speeches of several European leaders. Most notably, in that of the European Commission’s President to EU Ambassadors last week. She is not alone, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz comments have raised similar questions. 

In Ukraine’s frontline regions, life is unpredictable. Military attacks reach residential areas, making everyday life tense and often very dangerous. Amid this uncertainty, humanitarian activists are creating small islands of normalcy and warmth.

Gambella is one of the largest refugee settlements in Ethiopia. The remote western region is home to nearly 400,000 people who fled conflict and flooding in neighboring South Sudan.