A now completed distribution program by NDI has put more than 265,000 radios in the hands of Southern Sudanese and residents of the Three Areas since the end of 2007. For Sudanese across the Lakes, Unity and Warap states, the nearly 65,000 radio, distributed in partnership with CHF International s provide access to civic education that was difficult to deliver to mass audiences in the past.

Sudanese living in the resource-rich border region between the north and south of the country have bleak views of their current situation and the future, according to focus group research released this month by NDI. Focus group participants from the state of Southern Kordofan consider their security and development situation to be deteriorating. Still reeling from an upsurge of violence last May, residents of Abyei are pessimistic about the possibility of sustained peace. Participants from Blue Nile state feel more hopeful about their prospects.

A recent story in the Yemen Times discusses how NDI , through partnerships with Yemeni government agencies and local organizations, has helped the country better understand and deal with the persistent problem of tribal violence. Tribal conflicts in Yemen have resulted in hundreds of deaths from revenge killings since 2000, contributing to political instability and economic losses from drops in tourism and foreign investment.

Growing up in isolation from one another, young Serbs and Albanians born in Kosovo and Serbia have little opportunity, and often little desire, to interact with each other and with peers from other ethnic communities. Factors that brought their parents together when the countries were part of Yugoslavia – common language, economic opportunities and a lack of borders – no longer exist and have been replaced with misperceptions, fear, and disrespect.