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- Shaky Syria ceasefire faces first major tests
The second day of a tentative United Nations-brokered ceasefire in Syria was being tested as rebels skirmished with security forces along the border with Turkey, and opposition leaders planned mass demonstrations after Friday prayers. The UN Security Council was expected to approve as soon as today the deployment of nearly three dozen unarmed observers to monitor the truce, for which Syrian allies, chiefly China and Russia, were claiming credit. Reuters (4/13), ForeignPolicy.com/Turtle Bay blog (4/12), Los Angeles Times/World Now blog (tiered subscription model) (4/12)      - UN seeks ceasefire in Sudan border fighting
The UN Security Council on Thursday demanded "a complete, immediate, and unconditional" end to fighting between Sudan and South Sudan along their mutually recognized border, warning that recent clashes risked reigniting a full-scale war between the countries. Diplomats said armed forces should establish a demilitarized zone 10 miles on either side of the 1956 borders. Al-Jazeera (4/13) - Could happiness rank as new development goal?
It now seems likely that happiness and well-being will join poverty reduction, and universal primary education, on the list of new sustainable development goals when government and business leaders meet next June for the Rio+20 summit in Brazil. Since the first-ever UN conference on happiness last month, momentum has been growing to redefine the notion of growth. The Guardian (London)/Sustainable Business (4/11) - Report charts growing influence of private aid
The growing importance of private donations in global humanitarian assistance is examined in a new report by the aid watchdog, Development Initiatives. Such support -- which accounted for one-fourth of the estimated $73.9 billion spent on emergency aid from 2006 to 2010 -- accounts for 57% of funding for non-governmental organizations, but only 8% for major UN agencies. IRINNews.org (4/12) - New arrivals slow in Ethiopian refugee camp
Even though the numbers of refugees arriving at the Dolo Ado camp in southwest Ethiopia continue to fall, aid agencies are preparing for a new influx of people fleeing fighting in Somalia between Ethiopian troops and al-Shabaab militants. Refugees and World Food Program aid workers are featured in an audio slideshow from the camp. The Guardian (London) (4/12) - Dadaab girls leaving school for marriage, labor
Only about 38% of the quarter-million children in the Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya attend school, a disproportionately small number of whom are girls. Practices including child labor, as well early and forced marriage, hold down numbers of girls in classes to about a third among those between 5 and 13 years old, and only a fifth among those between 14 and 17. IRINNews.org (4/11) - Report links MDGs and mobile in Ethiopia
A new report by a California-based consulting firm, offered as a potential model for national mHealth strategies in the developing world, says that Ethiopia must do more to incorporate mobile technologies if it is to meet the Millennium Development Goals of reducing child mortality by two-thirds, and deaths of new mothers by three-quarters, by 2015. Only 8% of the nearly 85 million Ethiopians have cellphones. MobiHealthNews.com (4/11)  | - Main goal of Iran talks? More talks
Talks slated to begin today between Iran and six world powers -- the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany -- are intended to defuse climbing tensions over Tehran's controversial nuclear program, but expectations are low that the country will agree to suspend uranium enrichment and cooperate more closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency. One of the goals is to arrange another round of talks. Reuters (4/11), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (4/12), Los Angeles Times (tiered subscription model) (4/12) - Pakistan says U.S. drones violate sovereignty
Pakistani lawmakers on Thursday agreed to allow the cross-border delivery of nonlethal goods by NATO into Afghanistan, but demanded that the United States end attacks by drones against suspected militants in the country. The new policy guidelines, however, are nonbinding on the government. The Washington Post (4/12)
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