Tomorrow is a historic day for the children and people of South Sudan. After years of conflict, a new country is emerging, with new hope for a more peaceful and prosperous future for all its citizens.

UNICEF and its partners have the resources and personnel on the ground to provide rapid relief to the tens of thousands of people who have been displaced by the fighting in Sudan. All that is needed is that the military forces currently blocking their path allow them to do so.

Abyei town is eerily empty. Almost all of the women and children have gone. Houses are abandoned. People left in haste. Some men return during the day to check on their homes and possessions, but they leave before nightfall. The town was quiet. Scarcely a sound, no cars, just the occasional barking of a dog. The market place was virtually empty. I saw one little boy fending for himself, scrounging for scraps of food. He said he had not eaten for 5 days. He is alone, hungry and scared.

I am on my way to Southern Sudan at an exciting moment in their history. The people have just voted for a free and independent nation, which will be realized in July. This is a time for celebration at the birth of a new nation.

To be sure, there are challenges ahead. But over and over again the people here have demonstrated extraordinary resilience, courage and determination. Still, the assistance of the international community will be crucial in ensuring that the lowest rung of the economic ladder will be within the reach of this fledgling nation.

My colleague Adam Fifield and I spend a lot of time writing about child survival issues. And most of the writing we do isn’t for this blog

It’s now six weeks since the government of Sudan suspended 16 humanitarian organizations that had been providing essential aid for scores of vulnerable people in Darfur and other parts of the country. The crisis in Sudan may have fallen out of the headlines, but that does not mean the situation has improved. In fact, it is getting worse