Depending on where you stand, you can be elated by Sudan's recent developments, or depressed by its flaws. With an annual economic growth of 7.2 per cent, it is currently one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. But the good tidings are only visible in its capital city, Khartoum. Beyond is a different twist of neglect, want and deprivation. By December last year, over 2.7 million people were still in need of external food aid in Darfur and vast parts of Southern Sudan. "The major sufferers in all these are women and children," says Neil Turner, Programme director with the Save the Children UK's Southern Sudan project.