Top of the Morning: UN Women Has a New Leader

Top stories from DAWNS Digest

Former Deputy PM of South Africa Tapped to Lead UN Women

Ban Ki Moon selected Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to replace Michelle Bachelet, who abruptly resigned to run for elected office in Chile. “Mlambo-Ngcuka became an MP in South Africa in 1994, becoming deputy minister in the department of trade and industry two years later, and then energy minister in 1999. In 2005, she became the first woman to hold the position of deputy president, the highest office occupied by a woman in South Africa. She remained in the post until 2008. Before her political career, Mlambo-Ngcuka was the first president of the Natal Organisation of Women, an affiliate of the United Democratic Front.” (Guardian http://bit.ly/12rKYkg)

Heavy Fighting Erupts in Restive South Sudan State

A humanitarian catastrophe is poised to unfold. “Fighting resumed in South Sudan’s Jonglei state between troops, rebels and rival ethnic militia. South Sudan’s rebel-turned-official army has been fighting to crush a rebellion led by David Yau Yau, a former theology scholar fighting since April 2011, who comes from the Murle people. Tribal militia forces several thousand strong from both Lou Nuer and Dinka tribes are also reported to have mobilised to fight their long-time Murle rivals, according to aid workers in the region. ‘We have very credible reports of wide-spread fighting across northern Pibor county,’ said a United Nations official who was not authorised to speak to the media. Rights groups accuse both government troops and Yau Yau’s forces of abusing civilians, including widespread rape.” (AFP http://bit.ly/15wR7B9)