That day is finally here.

What I find exciting about this is that a concentrated effort is being made by the World Bank, UNOSAT, RCMRD, Satellite Sentinel Project, among others, to improve online interactive maps of South Sudan.

Being a mapping aficionado myself, it will be interesting to watch the progress that the East African mapping community makes and the implications to the development and aid community as South Sudan works to become a functioning state.

Starting Dec. 30, the Satellite Sentinel Project — a joint experiment by the U.N.’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme, Harvard University, the Enough Project and Clooney’s posse of Hollywood funders — will hire private satellites to monitor troop movements starting with the oil-rich region of Abyei. The images will be analyzed and made public at www.satsentinel.org (which goes live on Dec. 29) within 24 hours of an event to remind the leaders of northern and southern Sudan that they are being watched. “We are the antigenocide paparazzi,” Clooney tells TIME. “We want them to enjoy the level of celebrity attention that I usually get. If you know your actions are going to be covered, you tend to behave much differently than when you operate in a vacuum.”

That’s Mark Benjamin, writing for TIME.com about a joint experiment by the U.N.’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme, Harvard University, the Enough Project, Google, and a host of other heavy-hitting supporters.

Visit the Satellite Sentinel website here.

My favorite part of the visa: the titling of the “New Sudan”. Truly, 2011 will be the beginning of a New Sudan.

The evidence to support this conclusion is miles high. But what should America “be doing” when it comes to South Sudan? It isn’t our country. It belongs to the Southern Sudanese who have suffered tremendously at the hands of the northern Khartoum government for decades if not hundreds of years. If South Sudan is going to secede from the north, it will be at their own hands, not at the hands of someone else.

The latest news is that war between the North and South is imminent if the referendum happens on schedule. Or, if the referendum is delayed. Either way, there is no shortage of calls for war in January.

Sudan will definitely be the African country to keep our eyes on after the New Year. If South Sudan votes to become the world’s newest country in January, it will surely have its hands full on many fronts.

I wish the Sudanese peace and strength as they go to the polls and cast their votes.

“I think we better abolish the visa regime and I am going to inform my government so that anybody with a South Sudanese or Ugandan travel document can walk into each other’s country and trade freely.”

….that comes from Otafire, Ugandan Minister of Commerce. [Source: Roving Bandit]

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Dawa Marita, who is currently in the business of selling bread and beans in Gudele, Sudan.

According to his Kiva business page:

Dawa Marita is currently in the business of selling bread and beans and is requesting a loan to stock more beans to sell. Dawa is 39 years old and is Married with a husband that is a teacher. She has 4 children and her children go to school. With the extra profits from her loan, she hopes to be able to open up a shop BRAC’s holistic approach to poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor encompasses a range of core programs in economic and social development, health, education , and human rights and legal services which are delivered through an extensive network of village organizations. BRAC has become one of the world’s largest NGOs as a measured by the scale and diversity of its interventions. In 2007, BRAC started operations in Southern Sudan. The microfinance program, which is targeted towards returning war refugees, has already formed 418 village organizations with more than 14,000 women members.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on September 27th.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Mora Jenty in Sudan, a businesswoman from Gudele, Sudan who sells bread and charcoal and is requesting a loan to open up a bakery.

According to her Kiva business page:

Mora Jenty is currently in the business of selling bread and charcoal and is requesting a loan to open up a bakery. Mora is 27 years old and is married. Her husband is a driver. She has 1 child and her child goes to school. With the extra profits from her loan, she hopes to be able to build a hotel.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on June 21st.

In this week’s Kiva Pledge Update I am supporting Gowo Jenty in Sudan, a businesswoman who prepares and sells food at her restaurant in Juba, South Sudan.

According to her Kiva business page:

Gowo Jenty is 42 years old and is married with a husband who is a chief. She has five school-aged children. Gowo prepares and sells food at her restaurant, and she is requesting a loan to purchase more rice and beans to be cooked in the restaurant. With the extra profits from her loan, she hopes to be able to purchase some land, construct a building and rent it out.

Stay tuned for the next Kiva Pledge Update on June 7th.

• GIS Technology for Genocide Prevention (from iRevolution)
• The League of Movable Type-A Collection of Open Source Fonts
• Great African LAN Party (from App+frica)
• 2009 Uganda National Park Challenge (from Ugandan Insomniac)
• Poor need manufacturing, says UN (from BBC News)
• What Does Africa Buy? (from App+Africa)
• Solving Africa-Book project about African entrepreneurship (from Nubian Cheetah)