The town of Kosti is a major transport hub with railways and the White Nile crossing each other. South Sudanese gather there to find a way to return to South Sudan.

We would like to share with you what she wrote to us about the current situation in the town of Kosti (Sudan), a major junction for rail and shipping transport. It is here that thousands of South Sudanese are waiting for transport to leave Sudan and return to South Sudan.

"The situation in the port way station and at the railway way station in Kosti continues to be uncertain. An estimate of 12,000 people is still waiting along the river and around 4,000 are at the railway station camp.

The last trip by river was in December 2011 and since then neither the commercial nor the repatriation barges are operating. At the railway station, a train left for Awil and Wau [in South Sudan] in February six months after the previous one. In the past months many returnees have been diverted to proceed to Renk by road. Many families in the port way station are stating to contemplate joining hands as two or three families to hire trucks to take them and their belongings to Renk.

Currently the possibility of traveling to Renk is there but not appealling to many who are still waiting for their dues and gratuities after decades of work in the Sudan, this is because coming back is not guaranteed for South Sudanese citizens. Many people stay waiting for their gratuities.

Traveling to Renk by road for commuters as well as for the trucks carrying belongings proves to be an adventure; many end up saying it depends on one’s luck. There are a number of road blocks in which searching take place, taxes are to be paid especially for new things. There is a fear among the returnees that abduction especially of young men could take place on their way to the south by road.

Among the many other reasons it can be stated that, the long halt of transport to the south is closely linked to the rapidly fluctuating relations between South Sudan and Sudan.

The returnees' hopes were raised when loading of barges resumed in mid March 2012, seven barges were loaded but to date they have not set off for the south almost a month after the loading started. The hope created that 12,000 will be ferried home in a matter of a month seems to be fading away.

With the increase of uncertainties and tensions many families are now selling off their precious items and belongings at a throw away price, wheel carts pulled by donkeys, bicycles and pick up cars full of goods bought at the port is a common feature leaving the port. The end of transitional period poses more challenges in terms of returnees' movement and permanency in the Sudan, how can their status be defined? What kind of identification or documents do they need? From whom can they seek protection?

The authorities of White Nile States have set May the 20th as the deadline for the returnees to get out of Port and Railway station camps. It is still not clear what this deadline entails and which parties can be involved to ensure the safety of the people. From the last week of April, the NGO's offering their services for the returnees are busy terminating their contracts, at present only the FAR clinic is operating."

Caesar Achellam: " I hope that my capture will encourage others to leave the bush and for the war to end".

Achellam was captured by the UPDF on Saturday 12 May in the Central African Republic. The UPDF and Americans see this a triumph and hope that more captures will follow soon. The now made famous Joseph Kony still remains at large.

An interesting point to note is that in his interview Achellam states that he hopes his capture will be the start of more defections by those still in the bush and for the war to end.

The Ugandan government sees this arrest as a step in the right direction. However, many others worry that the root causes, under which the LRA was formed in the first place, have not been addressed and that even if the LRA is disbanded people will remain unhappy with the current political situation in Uganda.

The workshop, Harnessing the Power of Support Networks, focussed on a collaborative approach between NGOs, their donors and their beneficiaries. IRT is currently exploring the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) approach which not only in itself revolves around collaborating with the local communities where our projects are based, we also need to find a way to communicate with our existing donors why this approach is going to be more affective than old fashioned 'top down' development approaches.

Together with participants from other charities, we explored Paul Skinner (founder of Pimp My Cause)'s five part creative framework to think about about ways of getting others involved with our organisations in new and exciting ways.

What we learned: IRT has a very loyal network of supporters. Many of them have been with us through thick and thin ever since the beginning, over 20 years ago. So we do not want those supporters to feel that by embracing the PLA approach we are suddenly becoming a completely different charity! We still wish to remain the same old IRT: no nonsense, no money wasted on overheads and flashy-ness. So what we found is that the 'shared enthusiam' (the first step of Paul's framework) will help us with this. In the end our supporters, our local partners, the participants/beneficiaries and us in the office all want to help and support the empowerment of displaced communities. By focussing on this we are sure that everyone involved with IRT will come to share our enthusiasm for PLA as well. Our next appeal will be about PLA in Uganda, so time will tell! 

Pimp My Cause has just written on the Guardian Sustainable Business blog for the Join Our Core competition for which they are currently one of 25 semi-finalist. We wish them all the luck and hope they win!

Jane Harding is a printmaker whose current focus is the displacement of people.

Jane Harding is a printmaker whose current series of work is a commentary on the social effects of political upheaval in Afghanistan. Jane conveys the futility of the pursuit of power and sectarian enmity, and the consequent dislocation of peoples. She is about to open her latest exhibition 'Consequences of Greed' which will be shown at the Bossanyi Studio from 7 to 12 June 2012.

Jane has been following the work of IRT and has decided to use her exhibition as a way to raise funds for our projects.

The Bossanyi Studio is situated at the bottom of the garden at 22 Field End Road, Pinner, which was the original house of the artist Ervin Bossanyi. The couple who now own the house invite friends and those interested in the arts into their studio and home in order to share their interest and make a contribution to the arts generally (visitors are covered only by their normal house insurance).

We are very grateful for the support both Jane and the Bossanyi Studio are giving to the work of IRT.

Details:

Consequence of Greed by Jane Harding
7 to 12 June 2012
10.00am to 5.00pm
The Bossanyi Studio, 22 Field End Road, Eastcote, Pinner, HA5 2QL

The Bossanyi Studio as seen from the garden.

Some of the prints from 'Consequences of Greed'.

Aung San Suu Kyi leader of the National League for Democracy. She was held as a political prisoner under house arrest for over 15 years.

The people of Burma celebrate as the National League for Democracy wins 43 seats in parliament.In the weeks following the parliamentary by-elections the UK, US and Australia have started easing sanctions against Burma's regime as a direct result of this. The EU is aiming to do the same.

Ms Suu Kyi met with Burmese president Thein Sein a few days ago for the first time after her election to political office. Many feel that this is the beginning of the end of the military's oppressive regime (a 'military-turned-civilian' regime).

However, the fact remains that the army and its proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) still hold about 80% of seats in parliament even after the by-elections. The government is still dominated by figures from the old military regime that ruled the country for decades and was accused of widespread human rights abuses.

Some critics claim that Suu Kyi is being used by the regime to legitimise its rule. It is for this reason critics are worried that lifting sanctions now would be too soon: it would take away the incentive for the current regime to push further towards a legitimate democracy.

As for the Burmese refugees IRT is supporting in the border region in Thailand, they will not be in a rush to return home. The current political stability is too fragile and many are looking at it with suspicion and apprehension.

President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia confirms the 36 deaths of FARC fighters in yesterday's air strike.

The Colombian military killed 36 rebel fighters in this week's second attack. The timing of the attack is questioned by many, as the rebel group have allegedly announced that they are in the process of releasing prisoners. There are concerns that these attacks may delay these releases or that indeed they may get cancelled all together.

Last week the Colombian army killed 33 FARC fighters on the border with Venezuela.

More on this story in the Guardian: Colombia air strike kills 36 Farc rebels.

One of the art works used for the posters for the Kony 2012 campaign. The film made by Invisible Children has been viewed by millions of people around the globe.

Meanwhile, we at IRT count ourselves lucky that we do the work we doRegistration for the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) pilot project in Lira, northern Uganda. Families and communities are asked to take part in identifying the issues they are facing and turning those into attainable goals.  and work with the people on the ground who have in a way grounded us. It is easy to get swept away in a media hype such as this, but our partners in northern Uganda have been quite clear on their views: get on with life.

Many of the people we work with in Gulu, Lira, Moyo and Arua have been directly affected by the LRA. However, they do not desire a hype such as this. In the words of one person I spoke to recently: The people are more worried about getting on with life, sending their children to school, and local organisations are frantically trying to meet the Millennium Development Goals in spite of difficulties they face regarding funding and local and national politics.

By no means do we wish to down play the LRA situation. As many of you may already know, we hosted Barefoot Peace Walk for three years running, trying to raise awareness about the LRA atrocities. But let us not lose sight of what is important: moving forward. We are proud to be working hand in hand with Ugandans to do just that.

At IRT we believe that empowerment comes from the people themselves. This is why we are so excited about the Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) approach we are now piloting with a local partner organisation. We believe the only way to sustainable development and empowerment is through people's own initiatives. To learn more about our work with Participatory Learning and Action, visit our Uganda projects page.

Here are two events we though you should know about!

Monday 27 February

Jude Law, Liam Burns (National President of the National Union of Students UK) and Jeremy Gilley (founder of Peace One Day) will launch Peace One Day's Global Truce 2012 student activation campaign.  The launch will take place at 10.30am in the Upper Hall, Third Floor, at the University of London Union, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY.

For this event regional student union leaders from around the world are asked to make a public commitment to mobilise students on Peace Day 21 September 2012 in support of Peace One Day's Global Truce 2012 campaign.  Students worldwide are being asked to lead this process and come together as one on Peace Day 2012; the press launch on 27 February marks the beginning of the student campaign.

Thursday 16 February

Jeremy Gilley will be making a keynote speech at Social Media Week on Thursday 16 February at 3pm EST / 8pm GMT. You can watch the speech via the Social Media Week Channel on New Live Stream or you can also access the talk via Social Media Week. 

A displacement camp or 'protected village' at the height of the conflict in northern Uganda. Most of these displaced families have returned to their villages, but the UN estimates that about 300,000 people remain in camps like these.

More than 1.8 million people lived in over 250 camps throughout the conflict between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan governmentwhich lasted for over 20 years and ended in 2006. 

Those who are still living in the displacement camps today are getting minimum government support. A plan for recovery ( peace, recovery and development plan (PRDP)), launched in 2007, was executed by the UNHCR. As the UNHCR is now withdrawing from northern Uganda there are growing fears that the remaining displaced will be neglected.  The Ugandan government, however, claims it will extend the PRDP programme for another 3 years.

IRT's work in the region is therefore crucial. We started work in the region 20 years ago when the majority of the population was displaced and refugees from Sudan flooded the country. Now that most Sudanse refugees have returned to their country and the IDPs to their villages, IRT is still active in the region. Many of the people we work with were displaced for such a long time, that rebuilding their lives is going to take many years. With a focus on long term projects and reviving the agricultural economy we hope that our beneficiaries will one day no longer live in poverty and can live independently of aid.

Read 'Northern Uganda's displaced people are left to fend for themselves' in the Guardian.

Last year the Refugee Council launched the 'Proud to protect refugees' Pledge to remind people about the UN Refugee Convention, the international treaty which guarantees refugees’ rights. The Convention was signed 60 years ago, however protection for refugees is just as relevant today as it ever was.

The Pledge asks the government 'to show international leadership on refugee issues and to encourage all countries to meet their obligations toward refugees'. 

The Pledge is to be presented at Parliament in March 2012. At the event a discussion will be held on the issues which came out of various seminars which have been hosted along side the campaign.  The Refugee Council will also be introducing their forthcoming policy initiatives. 

To support this campaign to raise awareness about the need to protect refugees, please sign the Proud To Protect Refugees Pledge.