Three new reports by human rights groups underline the scale and complexity of the conflict in Darfur, which has displaced a million people in the desert of western Sudan and threatens to destabilise the whole region. Human Rights Watch (HRW) launched its report, "Darfur Destroyed: Ethnic Cleansing by Government and Militian Forces in Western Sudan", on May 7. On the same day, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published the findings of its April mission. The International Crisis Group (ICG) report, "Darfur Rising: Sudan's New Crisis", was published in late March. A new ICG report on Darfur is imminent.

Two months ago, the DRC School Project and Community Centre was nothing more than a great idea on paper, an idea aimed at satisfying the needs of the growing informal settlement on the outskirts of Swakopmund. For the past six weeks or so, about 20 DRC community members have been volunteering their services on a daily basis to help establish what they call "the pride of the settlement". "We are here because we want to help the kids. There is a very big need for this kind of facility in our community as the parents do not have money to send their children to school," say Kandali Nikanor (24) and Hilma Paulus (20).