In recent months, violence associated with cattle raiding and counter-raids has killed hundreds of people, mainly women and children, in southern Sudan. The attacks stem from land and cattle disputes between ethnic groups and are compounded by the region’s history of economic and political marginalization. The conflict comes at an uneasy time, as south Sudan prepares for national elections in early 2010 and a referendum on southern independence in 2011.

“The scale of the conflict, scale of death, scale of destruction is really worrying,” the U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes said in Akobo in southern Sudan’s Jonglei state. In addition to putting new populations at risk, the violence has also complicated the repatriation of displaced civilians and the delivery of aid.