The government of south Sudan might pull its deputies out of the national parliament if Khartoum does not make more progress towards meeting southern demands, the vice president of the region said on Thursday. The southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) withdrew its ministers and presidential advisers from Khartoum two weeks ago, saying the central government had failed to carry out key parts of a north-south peace agreement, signed in 2005.

The UN refugee agency has reported it was facing a critical shortfall of US$11.1 million for its refugee return and reintegration operations budget in South Sudan for this year. "We are in a very dire situation because if we don't get this additional support we will have to scale down or even halt our operations with serious consequences for all our activities," said Chris Ache, the UNHCR representative in Sudan. "I implore donors to give us the money we need to continue our work," he added.

The first sign of rain clouds for students at Tiboro School in Yeri in South Sudan means that classes are abandoned. The village school is little more than a few benches under a tree; the few textbooks available are used by their teacher Repent Khamis Eliashas to prepare lessons.

UNHCR's repatriation programme for South Sudan topped the 50,000 mark this week when a group of 84 Sudanese refugees flew to the town of Yambio from Central African Republic (CAR).

Unite States' special envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios said in Washington DC recently that southern Sudan’s leaders were struggling to implement good governance practices, and that there appeared to be substance to allegations that some donor funds that had been allocated to development in the region had been misappropriated.