UN launches $2.2 billion 2009 Sudan Work Plan, part of the largest predominately humanitarian appeal in the world - $1.05 billion is for Darfur

This news report makes one think about the number of lives and taxpayers' dollars, and unimagineable grief and suffering, that a handful of so-called "rebels" have cost Sudan, Chad and the rest of the world over the past 25 years.

The UN's fifth annual Work Plan for Sudan, valued this year at $2.2 billion, is part of a $7 billion appeal - the largest predominately humanitarian appeal in the world - $1.05 billion is for Darfur alone.

One wonders how many taxpayers' dollars are needed for the UN's 2009 Chad Work Plan, not to mention Northern Uganda and DR of Congo where, compared to Darfur, worse things are happening to a lot more people, especially women and children.

WORK PLAN FOR SUDAN IS LAUNCHED IN GENEVA 

Excerpt from (UN/MaximsNews) Press Briefing by Michele Montas, Spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, UN Headquarters, New York, Thursday, November 20, 2008:

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes in Geneva today participated in the launch of the 2009 Sudan Work Plan, which is part of this year’s seven billion dollar Consolidated Appeal launched yesterday.
 
The largest component of the 2009 Appeal, the Work Plan for Sudan is valued at $2.2 billion.

This fifth annual work plan remains the largest predominately humanitarian appeal in the world. 

Almost half of the funding, or $1.05 billion, is for Darfur, where approximately 4.5 million people continue to be in need of aid after six years of conflict. 
 
In Darfur, out of a population of more than six million, some 2.7 million people have been displaced, mostly into camps, and millions more require life-saving assistance in some form.
 
Elsewhere in the country also there is an urgent need for humanitarian support, not just to save lives but to shore up a peace process that remains fragile.
 
In some regions, more than half the people do not have access to clean water, and many less have proper sanitation.
 
In the east, malnutrition rates are over the emergency threshold, and in parts of Blue Nile diarrhea is still a leading cause of death.
 
In 2008, the United Nations and its partners managed to build and repair roads and schools; clear mines; vaccinate children; provide food, water and shelter to millions; and help thousands of Sudanese uprooted by conflict to return home  Continuing violence, however, did hamper programmes, and resources were stretching by rising international commodity prices.

Meanwhile, I'm hard pressed to find news of anyone expressing outrage that Sudanese rebels still roam around Sudan and Chad with truck-mounted rocket launchers, grenade launchers and machine guns while their leaders freely travel and direct their Darfur war from bases in Europe where they enjoy freedom, Western hospitality and luxurious lifestyles. See photos here below.
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Darfur SLM rebel group leader Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur



Photo: Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur, Chairman of Darfur rebel group Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) in self imposed exile in Paris, France.



Photo: Fat cat SLM chief Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur is too much of a scaredy cat to live with his followers in Sudan. Coward.

See report from Paris, France Oct. 20 2008: SLM chief dismisses reports about meeting with Sudan’s First Vice-President in Chad.
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Darfur JEM rebel group leader Khalil Ibrahim



Photo: From the left Pagan Amum, Khalil Ibrahim, Yasir Arman and Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth are posing for a photo, somewhere in Darfur not far from Chad border Oct 30, 2008 (Photo E.L. Gatkuoth/ST)

See Sudan Tribune article from Washington Oct. 30 2008: SPLM and JEM agree to strengthen relations - SPLM’s Salva Kiir and JEM’s Khalil Ibrahim to meet very soon -official
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Rebel bases make the Sudan-Chad border a powder keg



The following series of photos and captions are from The New York Times report by Lydia Polgreen April 13, 2008 - Rebels’ Border War Prolongs Darfur’s Misery. Photos are by Lynsey Addario for The New York Times.



The rebels call it a base, but it is nothing more than a dry riverbed. At the border with Sudan, Chadian rebels are fighting a proxy war involving two of Africa's most divided nations. Habib Adam, 15, rode around with other rebels near their base camp on the border with Chad in West Darfur, Sudan.



The rebels paused and looked back as a trail of Arab militiamen, known as the janjaweed, passed by their camp last month, mounted on camels. The crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan has raged for the past five years and has also engulfed Chad. About 200,000 refugees have fled into the borderlands, chased by Arab militiamen and government attacks, setting off ethnic battles in Chad that echo those in Darfur.



Chadian rebels drove through West Darfur, Sudan, early last month. The rebels say they receive logistical support from Sudan because they share the same goal of removing Chad's president, Idriss Déby. In early February, this loose rebel coalition very nearly managed to dislodge Mr. Déby in an offensive that almost reached the palace gates.



The rebels' base boasts an impressive array of hardware, including truck-mounted rocket launchers, grenade launchers and machine guns.



A young rebel showed off for a photographer with a weapon. "In Darfur, arms are like sticks," said Ibrahim Hassan, one of the rebels. "They are everywhere. You just need to bend down and pick one up." Political analysts, diplomats and even the combatants acknowledge that both Sudan and Chad are supporting and arming rebellions on each other's soil, and the accusations issued by each capital have grown increasingly bellicose.



The Chadian rebels' camp in West Darfur. Close to a dozen Chadian rebel groups operate in this arid no man's land and each says it will use its rifles and rockets to bring freedom and development to Chad, an oil-rich nation that is nonetheless one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.



Two rebels stood by a multiple rocket launcher and rocket-propelled grenades at their camp. The rebel groups strung out along the border have been portrayed as pawns of Sudan. And fears that a pro-Sudanese government could seize power in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena, have led much of the world to stick by Mr. Déby, despite the increasing repressiveness of his rule.
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UPDATE - posted 24 November 2008

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Date: 20 Nov 2008 - via ReliefWeb
Statement by John Holmes, Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, on the occasion of the Sudan Work Plan launch

Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Date: 20 Nov 2008 - via ReliefWeb
2009 UN and Partners Work Plan for Sudan
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY