UNICEF estimates the number of people in Darfur camps will increase to more than 3,000,000 in coming month

Now that online shopping and donating to humanitarian causes is so easy, I have decided to only shop at charities for cards and gifts. One of my favourites for children is the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF.

A few weeks ago, I did most of my Christmas shopping at UNICEF's online shop. Loads of cards. Good quality wooden children's toys and other nice gifts. Plus I ordered 20 Make Poverty History white bangles to drop inside greetings cards and Christmas stockings for children.

Within a few days of placing the order online, a neatly packed box was delivered direct to my door with a note saying the bangles are out of stock but would follow by mail in a few weeks.

Please read this excerpt from a report on Darfur by UNICEF UK May 10, 2005:

Signs of drought are everywhere. Whole villages are being abandoned as residents seek stable and safe access to water. The situation is even worse for displaced people living in the camps. UNICEF estimates that in the upcoming months the population in the camps will swell by an additional half million, bringing the total number of displaced people in Darfur to above 3,000,000.

The scenes at wells are equally chaotic. In Musbat, thousands will wait in line before sunrise for access to the only hand-pump in the town. Children are often pushed aside while waiting to fetch water. "These kids are probably expending more than a third of their daily calorie intake on water collection," said Brendan Doyle, a water and sanitation consultant for UNICEF. "They're returning to their families carrying containers of water outweighing themselves."

Photo: A UNICEF handpump has been positioned between the Al Riyad camp and El Geneina, enabling both communities to share access and interact. This also helps reduce potential friction between the two groups. (UNICEF UK/Kathryn Irwin)
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Darfur's children drop out of school in search of water

Bad news. Another emergency within an emergency. Darfur's children are dropping out of school to search for water.

See UNICEF's report on Darfur May 10, 2005. Excerpt:

Abdallah Hurry, a teacher at the Musbat elementary school in North Darfur, is losing students. Malnutrition and ongoing conflict have contributed immensely to the problem. These days, however, Abdallah is also losing students due to the lack of sufficient safe drinking water.

Extreme thirst is forcing students at Musbat and other schools in the area to spend their days trudging through the parched landscape. Besides dehydration, excursions into the surrounding landscape to find water expose children to other dangers, including sexual abuse from marauding rebel militias.

Across the North Darfur region, access to water is becoming scarce. Very little rainfall has caused scores of watering holes to dry up, while other wells have been poisoned by carcasses of dead animals. In addition, Government neglect of the water infrastructure has rendered half the area's pumps inoperable.

"What's happening here is an emergency within an emergency," warned Keith Mackenzie, UNICEF's Special Representative for the Darfur Crisis. "We've seen large scale displacement because of the conflict. Now it's happening because of the lack of food and water."

Photo: A man teaches a large group of children at a UNICEF-assisted school in the Kounoungo camp for Sudanese refugees. (UNICEF/Christine Nesbitt)



Photo: Children, accompanied by their teachers, wave UNICEF-supplied notebooks at their temporary school in an IDP camp in the town of Kass. Some 30,000 IDPs have taken refuge in the town - doubling its population. (UNICEF/Christine Nesbitt)
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Martin Bell reports direct from Darfur

A report [not dated] at UNICEF's website says UNICEF UK Ambassador for Humanitarian Emergencies and former BBC Correspondent Martin Bell travelled to Darfur to document the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Martin sent a video report from a camp near the town of Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

Click here for Martin's latest video report.

[Note, I am a Mac user without the right application to view the video.]



Photo: An emaciated 16-month-old boy, Wayel, who is suffering from severe malnutrition, drinks from a glass held by an adult, at the UNICEF supported El Fasher Teaching Hospital in North Darfur. (UNICEF/Christine Nesbitt)
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Support to humanitarian organisations on the ground is vital

UNICEF says lack of food and water may also cause health problems and malnutrition and is concerned for the 1.5 million children under the age of 18 currently being affected.

"Support to humanitarian organisations on the ground is vital to ensure that they have the resources to fulfil their mandate", said Keith McKenzie, UNICEF's Special Representative in Darfur.

With 160 staff on the ground, UNICEF is supporting the following:

Education is a key intervention that provides a protective environment for children. Currently there are 180,000 children in school of the 450,000 school aged children, this is the highest enrolment rate in 30 years. In addition UNICEF supports child friendly spaces and provides training for troops, humanitarian and government workers on the protection of children.

Nutrition: UNICEF is responsible for providing supplies as well as technical assistance to therapeutic feeding centres.

Health: Providing essential drugs and training to 170 health centres

Water: Providing clean water and sanitation facilities.



Photo: Refugee children and women walk amidst their makeshift shelters in the Touloum camp, 80 kilometres from the Chad-Sudan border. The camp hosts an estimated 5,800 refugees from Darfur. (UNICEF/Hugues Laurenge)

Note UNICEF activities in Sudan and Chad.



Photo: A woman, Kaltoom Haj Tahir, feeds one of her seven children in the Abu Shouk IDP camp near El Fasher. The Abu Shouk camp shelters more than 30,000 IDPs. UNICEF is supporting the provision of health services, safe water and plastic sheeting in the camp. (UNICEF/Christine Nesbitt)
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UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow and son visit Sudan

Last November, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow and her son Seamus visited IDP camps in Darfur.

16-year-old Seamus is a UNICEF Youth Ambassador and is concerned about the effect of the conflict on boys and young men. He spoke with a number of teenagers and says they run the risk of joining armed groups.

"For the boys my age, the problem is they have nothing to do," he says. "They are really just stagnating in these communities. It's a big problem in that they are being recruited into local militias and resorting to banditry because they can't make their usual living, which is farming the land and pursuing business."



Photo: Mia Farrow and son Seamus review drawings made by children in a 'Safe Play Centre' in the Kalma camp for displaced people, near the city of Nyala. UNICEF helped to build the centre. (UNICEF/Shehzad Noorani)
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Vaccination campaign against meningitis planned in West Darfur

An IRIN report today May 17 says a vaccination campaign against meningitis is to be carried out in the Abu Seroj IDP camp in West Darfur after the UN World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed an outbreak of the disease there, health officials said.

"We moved the vaccines from Khartoum to El Geneina [the capital of West Darfur] on Monday and expect to start the vaccinations in two to three days," Gouido Sabatinelli, WHO Representative in Sudan, told IRIN on Tuesday.

"The next few days will be critical," Sonja Nieuwenhuis, senior health manager in West Darfur for the Swiss-based humanitarian organisation Medair, said in a statement.
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UN food agency warns of looming aid shortage

The UN World Food Programme said today May 17 it would soon have to reduce rations to refugees in Africa unless donors came up quickly with the $315 milllion it needed.

It still needs to 'pre-position' food for 200,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad and 60,000 Eritreans in Sudan before the onset of the rainy season in July.

[Note, If 60,000 Eritreans need to be in camps in the Sudan, things must be pretty bad in Eritrea.]

Tags: Darfur Sudan Chad Africa UNICEF

Blogging The Darfur Collection - UK Commission for Africa - Open Source Radio

Warm thanks to Catez in New Zealand at Allthings2all for putting together The Darfur Collection which brings together various bloggers who share a common concern for the people of Sudan, particularly Darfur.

The Darfur Collection was just published a few minutes ago. More on this at a later date. Thank you to Catez for featuring a post from the November archives of Sudan Watch.
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A Postcard from Khartoum

'Every place has a story; it's just that some stories are harder to tell then others. The Sudan is one of those places whose story is really hard to tell,' writes Lachlan Harris in a web magazine article entitled 'A Postcard from Khartoum.'


Photo: Khartoum

Excerpt from A Postcard from Khartoum May 16. 2005:

"It is not just the cuisine that is so limited; the entire country seems to be lacking the basic hallmarks of organisation and investment that are the calling cards of modern life. Outside the capital there are no traffic lights, bridges, signs announcing city names, or indications of directions. In fact, in the North, which is harsh desert country, there are no roads at all between the major towns, with drivers simply pointing their vehicles across the desert towards the next town, while trying to avoid the drifts of soft sand that trap any vehicle unlucky enough to drive into them.

Linking the towns and the capital is a maze of truck, bus, and minibus transport that, even to the locals, is mind-bogglingly chaotic. Transport simply arrives and leaves when it arrives and leaves. If you want to catch this bus, or that truck, then you must wait at a loosely defined meeting point until it arrives, otherwise it will simply leave without you. Cynical about the magnitude of this disorganisation, I was quickly disavowed of this naïve doubt by a two-day wait for a bus in the border town of Whadi Halfa. After this, it took me almost another week to make the 1500 kilometre journey to Khartoum.

As well as heavily limiting where you can travel in the Sudan (nowhere South of Khartoum, or about 50% of the country), the police simply do not let visitors take photos. Even in the remotest of towns, removing your camera from your bag is sure to attract the attention of the police. If you're lucky you're told to put it away, unlucky and you're dragged to the police station for interrogation until you disprove the suspicion you are a foreign spy."
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Map courtesy of Will in Uganda


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UK Commission for Africa

Prime Minister Tony Blair has made Africa one of his top international priorities during 2005 when the UK has Presidency of the G8 says Downing Street May 11, 2005.

In a recent speech he said there was 'no excuse, no defence, no justification' for the plight of the continent.

He set up the Commission for Africa to tackle some of the biggest problems head on. Its report was published in March and will be discussed at the G8 summit in Scotland this July.


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Open Source. It'll be a radio show. May 30, 2005

Here is a don't miss, must-do: listen to Open Source's pilot on podcasting and bloggers without borders. Hear phone interviews and discussions with Rebecca and Ethan of Global Voices, and several other bloggers, hosted by smooth (and thankfully not-so-fast) talking American Christopher Lydon at Harvad's Berkman.

Historic stuff. Keep it for your archives.



See Ethan's follow-up post On hold with Chris Lydon.


Photo: Christopher Lydon At Creative Commons Anniversary 2003 (Courtesy Joi Ito/Jonas M Luster December 15, 2003)

Note also GlobalCoordinate.com Geo-Community. Click on the map to zoom in. You can add your own comments, stories, or photos at any location.
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Update May 17, 2005

THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC RADIO
IN THE AGE OF PODCASTING:
Anybody can create their own public radio online

Note Rebecca MacKinnon's post linking to a live webcast from Harvard's Berkman Center today, May 17, 2005.

Jake Shapiro of the Public Radio Exchange will talk about the future of public radio in the age of podcasting, which enables anybody to create their own public radio online.

This is history in the making. Keep it for your archives.

Tags: Podcasting Radio Audioblogging MacKinnon Shapiro Berkman Harvard Zuckermann Blair Darfur Sudan Africa

Media fast for Mojtaba

Excerpt from a post at Committee to Protect Bloggers Thursday, May 19, 2005:

The CPB is asking bloggers and other concerned people to observe next Thursday, May 26 as a Media Fast for Mojtaba.

Mojtaba Saminejad, a blogger from Iran, has declared a hunger strike. He is being held at Tehran's Gohar Dashat prison, which has a reputation for mistreatment of detainees. He is being held in the general population, the overwhelming majority of which are common criminals.

Mojtaba was arrested for reporting the earlier arrest of three of his fellow Iranian bloggers. (Iran has arrested over 20 bloggers over the last year.) Iranian bloggers who have been released have reported being the victims of torture.

Read full story at Committee to Protect Bloggers: MEDIA FAST FOR MOJTABA.

[Note: this post was published here on May 19 and has moved to here so that bloggers from Iran can see the above item about podcasting]

[via Curt with thanks] Tags: Tehran Iran Mojtaba Blog Bloggers Committee+to+Protect+Bloggers

Aid to Sudan depends on peace in Darfur says EU

The European Union parliament has resolved to bypass the Sudanese government with its financial aid until significant progress to return peace to Darfur has been achieved.

The EU recently decided to release E450 million for Sudan after the signing of a peace agreement between the government and the southern rebels that ended 22 years of conflict on 9 January.

The parliament, however, said the aid intended for Sudan should be granted gradually and must be managed as much as possible by humanitarian organisations operating in the country.

The Sudanese government should not benefit from it until it ends any form of violence in Darfur and accepts to cooperate with the ICC on the abuses that have taken place in the western region, the parliament said.

The European deputies also denounced the arrrest of two Sudanese human rights organisation officials. - via PANA Brussels, Belgium May 14, 2005


Photo: Mudawi Adam

Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam was arrested on Sunday and charged with photographing military buildings and with crimes against Sudan. He remains in police custody.

See SOAT alert May 14, 2005 "Sudanese rights activist Mudawi Ibrahim facing Death Penalty."
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EU president to meet with head of AU to discuss Darfur

On Tuesday, May 17 the President of the European Union, Jose Manuel Barroso, will meet with the head of the African Union to discuss the EUs role in managing the Darfur crisis.

Note, an African Union team has arrived in Khartoum to verify the positions of government troops and rebels in Darfur, an AU spokesman in Sudan said.

The team held talks with the head of the AU mission in Sudan (AMIS), Baba Gana Kingibe, and is due to travel to Darfur on Monday to start on the verification mission. The team is led by the chairman of the joint ceasefire committee, General Mahamet Ali.
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Six-way Libya summit to discuss Darfur crisis

On Monday, May 16 a six-way African summit will be held in the Libyan capital Tripoli to probe means of solving the Darfur crisis.

The summit will be attended by leaders from Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Sudan, Chad, Gabon and Eritrea.

Sudanese Foreign Minister said Saturday that the aim of the conference was to "set the stage for reaching a quick solution to the Darfur crisis."

The summit will discuss consequences of a UN Security Council resolution calling for war crime suspects in Darfur to be tried before the International Criminal Court. The Sudanese government rejected the resolution as infringing on its sovereignty.

As a leading mediator of the Darfur issue, Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa was also invited to attend the summit.

In statements to the press before heading for Libya, Moussa said that the league's participation in the summit will be the first for the pan-Arab body at such a level, though not the first time for the league to attend meetings on Darfur.

Full Report via Xinhua Cairo, May 15, 2005.

Note, Libyan leader Col Ghaddafi has invited Darfur's two main rebel groups SLM and JEM to participate in the talks. But an AFP report May 15 says they are staying away. [That's OK, Col Gaddafi is handling their interests]
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Eritrean president leaves for Libya to participate in Darfur summit

President Isaias Afwerki left for Libya Sunday morning upon an invitation extended to him by the Libyan leader Col Gaddafi to participate in the Darfur summit.


Photo: Eritrean President Afwerki
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US to help AU in Darfur, but opposes tougher action against Sudan

The Bush administration has offered Air Force transport planes and crews to airlift thousands of additional African peacekeeping troops into Darfur this summer, State Department officials say.

The airlift proposal is part of a larger effort, including at least $50 million in U.S. aid and offers of equipment and military advisors from other members of NATO, to help African countries more effectively enforce an unstable cease-fire in Darfur, the officials said in recent days.

Full Report LA Times May 12, 2005.
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Do something ... But what?

The new AU deployment won't stop the genocide in Darfur. But what other options are there? See must-read by Bradford Plumer, assistant editor of the Mother Jones website, May 11, 2005.
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German military observers fail to get visas for Sudan

Deployment of German military observers to southern Sudan may be delayed. So far, the Sudanese government has issued entry visas to hardly any of the soldiers who are supposed to help with monitoring the peace agreement in the African country as of mid-May.

According to the German news magazine Der Spiegel, the reason for the delay is occasionally seen in the pressure exerted by German diplomacy.

Germany had pilloried the human rights violations in the crisis region of Darfur early and contributed to making the brutal civil war an issue in the UN Security Council, which adopted sanctions.

The UN in New York has now noticed that other Western members of the UN mission have not received the entry visas necessary for southern Sudan, either.

This makes it difficult for the UN to station 10,000 soldiers in Africa's largest country as soon as possible.

One of a total of some 50 German soldiers has meanwhile arrived in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, another four are in Nairobi, Kenya, for preparations. - BBC via Sudan Tribune Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2005.
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Kofi Annan describes what happened at Khor Abeche

Note neat monthly report to UN Security Council by the Secretary-General 10 May, 2005. It explains about the recent attack on Khor Abeche.

Mr Annan says in April, the number of conflict-affected persons rose to 2.45 million, of whom 1.86 million are internally displaced. Extracts:

Despite existing agreements on unimpeded access for humanitarian workers, non-governmental organizations continued to be harassed by the local authorities, particularly in Southern Darfur. In Northern Darfur there were repeated incidents of harassment of humanitarian staff, including some who were temporarily detained by SLA.

The World Health Organization is preparing for the second retrospective mortality survey of conflict-affected persons in Darfur. The survey will be conducted in May, and the results are expected to be available in June.

In Saraf Omra, Northern Darfur, a blanket meningitis vaccination campaign covered approximately 80 per cent of the targeted population in response to the outbreak detected in Northern Darfur in March 2005.

Local government is contravening the letter and the spirit of the agreements on voluntary return, for example by offering incentives to internally displaced persons to return or relocate.
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Protesters urge more British action on Darfur crisis

In London, Survivors of the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide and the war in Bosnia joined a protest on Sunday calling for Britain to help stop violence in Darfur.

About 200 demonstrators held a rally near the gates of Downing Street, where Prime Minister Tony Blair lives. Some protesters unloaded a coffin symbolising the victims of unrest in Darfur from a hearse.

Full Report AP May 15, 2005.


Photo: Protesters and refugees from Darfur, Sudan lay in the street to symbolize the dead outside 10 Downing Street in central London, Monday May 2, 2005 (AP).
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Darfur Peace and Development Organization

Darfur Peace and Development's Board of Directors includes Dr. Eric Reeves of Smith College.
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Bill Gates donates

Bill Gates has kindly given Lutherans $539,000 for Sudan relief work, reports Religion Journal May 9, 2005.

U.N. WFP: Walk the World June 12 - Play free video game

Take the first step right now. Click here to feed one child for one day, then see the Walk the World events near you.

For every person who clicks above, TNT Global Express, Logistics & Mail will sponsor the cost of feeding one child for one day through the United Nations World Food Programme's Global School Feeding campaign.

Note, their blog says, as of 21:00 GMT today, 2345 children will be fed for a day through visitors clicking into the site.
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Fight Hunger: find a walk near you

"Fight Hunger: Walk the World" is a global annual event to raise the awareness and the funds needed to help end child hunger.

Last year, 40,000 people walked on 20 June in over 70 countries, and raised enough money to fund school meals for over 30,000 school children in developing countries.

Join the U.N. World Food Programme on Sunday June 12, 2005 as they 'walk the world' in 24 hours and across 24 time zones.

Visit www.fighthunger.org to find a walk near you - or start one.

Right now, there are 213 "Fight Hunger: Walk the World" events in 71 countries.

[If I were well enough, I'd participate. I used to be a rambler and have many fond memories of great walks along the south west coast of England. If anybody goes on a walk June 12, as a result of reading this post, please let me know and I will write about it here. It would make me feel like I'd virtually participated.]
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WFP launches "Food Force" - the first humanitarian video game

WFP unveils a children's video game with a difference - teaching kids how to get food fast to the site of a humanitarian crisis.



Rome, 4 May 2005 - Food Force, the free educational video game launched by WFP last month, continues to spark strong demand and positive feedback from both children and teachers alike.

The game, which aims to teach kids about the issue of global hunger, has already been downloaded 750,000 times, and players around the world have been posting their comments at www.food-force.com



Food Force video game using PC or Mac, is available as a free internet download from www.food-force.com

Tags: Darfur Sudan Chad Africa UN

U.N. WFP says 3.25m people in Darfur will now need food

The UN World Food Program says there has been a spate of attacks this month which is making it difficult to get food to people who need it.

Willing drivers are also becoming extremely difficult to find.

November estimates predicted that 2.8 million people would need to be fed in Darfur this wet season, but it appears that up to 3.25 million people will now need food, Ramiro Lopes da Silva, WFP's Country Director in Sudan, said in a statement on Thursday.



Photo: With vast distances to cover, severe transport constraints and large quantities of both food and non-food items that need to be delivered, airlifts and airdrops are effective, if expensive, ways to move aid quickly to those in need. (Photo by Julie Stewart courtesy WFP) See ENS news report.



Photo: At El Obeid, a WFP contract truck driver stands beside his load of donated food before heading for a delivery point in Darfur. (Photo by Julie Stewart courtesy WFP)
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Aid agency slams Darfur drivers' murders

Violence and lawlessness in Darfur is threatening to disrupt aid deliveries and deprive people of food, the U.N. World Food Programme said yesterday.

The warning came after two of its drivers were shot and killed and the drivers' assistant on one of the trucks was shot and wounded on Sunday.

The two drivers were killed in separate incidents while transporting food aid between Ed-Daen and Nyala in south Darfur before transportation is made difficult by rains.

They are believed to have been killed by "bandits".



Photo: WFP convoy of 21 trucks. WFP 6x6 all-terrain trucks stuck along the road from El Obeid in central Sudan to El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, last August 2004. (WFP)

"WFP strongly condemns these attacks and extends its condolences to the families of the victims. Such attacks only make drivers extremely reluctant to transport food aid in Darfur and are making it very difficult to deliver enough food before the rains," said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, WFP's Country Director in Sudan.
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Killings put Darfur aid at risk

BBC news report says pro-government militias are still burning villages in Darfur.



Photo: These containers are lined up in preparation for a water distribution. Because water is scarce in many camps, trucks haul it from other regions. In some camps refugees rely on the same contaminated water sources used by the local population.

Aid workers fear that conflicts may erupt over water. (Photo courtesy of Howard G. Buffet for World Vision - link via Tim with thanks)
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Darfur refugees clash with Chad security forces, one killed

Refugees from Darfur clashed with Chad's security forces, killing one gendarme, a UN official said Thursday.

Aid workers pulled out of the Goz Amer refugee camp in eastern Chad because it became unsafe after the clashes Wednesday, said Ginette Le Breton of the U.N. refugee agency.

Two refugees, two aid workers and another gendarme were seriously injured in the clashes, she said.

The confrontation occurred a day after paramilitary gendarmes guarding the 12 refugee camps in eastern Chad tried to prevent refugees from selling plastic sheeting they were given by the U.N. refugee agency, she said.

The gendarmes on Tuesday arrested three refugees, prompting others to protest by burning down the community center in a nearby village, she said.

It was unclear why the gendarmes sought to prevent refugees from selling their plastic sheeting, Breton said.

"They sell the sheeting to get some extra money to buy a few things not provided by aid agencies," she said.

"We are talking with the leaders to see what we can do in order to calm down the situation, restart the work in the camp and resume the protection work for the refugees," Breton said.

At least 200,000 Sudanese live in awful conditions in eastern Chad after fleeing violent conflict in Darfur, the scene of one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.



Photo: A soldier of the Chad National Army rests in a position in the wadi Tine, the empty bed of a seasonal river that marks the border between Tine Chad and Tine Sudan. (AFP Geneva May 12)
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World Vision Relief in Sudan and Chad



Photo: Some 120,000 refugees call camps like this home. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees supports these camps and partners with organisations like World Vision and the WFP to provide food, water, and shelter. These organisations, along with many others, are now working to extend aid to more of the Sudanese refugees as the rainy season sets in. (World Vision - link via Tim)
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GOAL in Sudan

In Darfur the Janjaweed have implemented a reign of terror over the past two years, murdering, raping and looting with impunity. Over 400,000 people have already been killed and millions have lost their homes and livelihoods. Many more - in danger from malnutrition and disease - languish in makeshift camps scattered across the inhospitable terrain, waiting in vain for the international community to come to their rescue.

As the people of Darfur have had their homes and communities systematically destroyed, there has been no planting of crops and as a result of this, starvation and famine are imminent.

GOAL is currently implementing a life saving primary health care programme and food and non -food distribution programme in the Kutum and Jebel Mara districts of Darfur, including supplementary feeding programmes, a water and sanitation programme, well construction, the provision of shelter and the distribution of seeds. At this crucial time, the people of Darfur desperately need our support.

Source: GOAL May 12, 2005 via ReliefWeb.



Photo: Refugee women gather to collect food. Over the next six months, World Vision will work with WFP to provide more than 3,000 tons of food to 26,000 refugees in Chad

On June 13, 2004 World Vision airlifted 49 tons of emergency relief supplies to Chad and delivered them to refugee camps. The airlift contained 5,000 plastic sheets, 8,000 water containers, 2,000 kitchen sets, and 300,000 water purification tablets. These supplies benefit up to 100,000 refugees. (World Vision - link via Tim)
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Medair responds to meningitis outbreak in West Darfur

Report by Ivor Morgan, Country Director of Medair, May 12, 2005:

The population of Abu Suruj, a once sleepy little village in a remote part of West Darfur, has swelled by nearly 50% to 5,000 people in recent months. People driven from their homes by the ongoing conflict have gathered in 'Kuma Camp' on the outskirts of the town.

Most of the displaced population live in temporary shelters made of straw -- inadequate to protect against either the harsh sun or the dust storms. The increased population means there is not enough drinking water to go around, and as a result many rely on dirty water collected from the wadi, a seasonal riverbed.

The Swiss-based humanitarian organisation Medair has been providing health-care for people in the area since 2001, and has been supporting the clinic in Abu Suruj since May 2004. In recent weeks, the clinic staff in Abu Suruj reported an alarming increase in cases of suspected meningitis and of 'acute jaundice syndrome', also known as hepatitis E. A Medair Outbreak Response Team was despatched to the area to investigate the situation.

Meningitis is a disease of the central nervous system, spread through droplet inhalation (for example, from coughing). Hepatitis E is an infection of the liver, spread through dirty drinking water. Both diseases are potentially fatal, particularly in the crowded, unsanitary living conditions in Abu Suruj. Fortunately, an effective vaccination against meningitis exists, and while hepatitis E cannot be treated, it can be prevented by using clean water and good hygiene practices.

Laboratory tests have recently confirmed 5 cases of meningitis in 1 week, exceeding the threshold for an outbreak, according to international guidelines. To limit the spread of this dangerous disease, Medair will be vaccinating 19,000 people during the coming week, within a 50 km radius of Abu Saruj.

"The next few days will be critical," said Sonja Nieuwenhuis, Medair's Senior Health Manager in West Darfur. "We have trained staff, and we will work closely together with the Ministry of Health, WHO and Unicef to vaccinate nearly 20,000 people. But we need to move fast, to stop this outbreak spreading further."

Medair's Emergency Water Team is seeking to improve hygiene and provide increased quantities of safe drinking water in Abu Suruj, by constructing an additional water storage system in the village. Medair will continue to train local hygiene promoters, who are essential in any outbreak response.

"We've kept water tanks, pipe and taps in store, for just such occasions as this," explains Wim Mauritz, Medair's Senior Water & Sanitation Manager. "We can set a system up in a couple of days, to provide water for 12,000 people."

Medair's response to this outbreak has been quick and comprehensive, and is expected to save many lives. Meningitis occurs in countries across the Sahelian belt of sub-Saharan Africa, most commonly between December and June. The last outbreak in Sudan, in 1999, reportedly killed over 2,000 people.

Medair is an international non-governmental organization (NGO), based in Switzerland. It has worked in Sudan since 1995, and is the longest-serving international NGO presently in West Darfur, having worked there since 2001. Medair's activities in Darfur are funded by a number of donors including the British and Swiss governments.

Elsewhere in Sudan, Medair works with war-displaced people in Khartoum; supports health-care rehabilitation in the Nuba Mountains; is preparing a post-conflict rehabilitation programme in Upper Nile; and provides emergency medical and water assistance in Southern Sudan.
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Photo: Refugees wait in line for food in Darfur (AFP) May 12, 2005.
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Britain welcomes Canada aid to Darfur, pledges more support

London, May 13, 2005 (AFP): Britain praised Canada's pledge of aid to boost African peacekeeping efforts in Darfur, saying London was also ready to offer further assistance.

"We warmly welcome the Canadian announcement of extra support for the African Union (AU) in Darfur. The crisis still remains a top priority for the British government," said joint a statement from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Development Secretary Hilary Benn.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday his country would give 136 million US dollars (107 million euros) over two years to Darfur, adding to 72 million US dollars Ottawa committed last month in support of a peace deal which ended the longer-lasting civil war in southern Sudan.

Canada also is to supply planes, helicopters and material for African Union peacekeepers in Darfur, as well as 100 of its own troops for both southern Sudan and Darfur.

Britain has given 14 million pounds (26 million dollars, 21 million euros) of assistance to the African Union mission observing a ceasefire between rebels and government-backed forces in the vast western region, and said it was preparing to give more this year.

Its total pledge for aid to Sudan and eastern Chad, which is dealing with the refugee exodus from neighboring Darfur, is 100 million pounds for 2005.

"The AU is preparing a list of further needs for the international community to support. We will respond positively to this," Straw and Benn said Friday.

As many as 300,000 may have died in the more than two years of violence in Darfur, which began when rebels rose up against the government in February 2003 and were put down with the help of pro-government militias.

More than two million people have been displaced, many into squalid and dangerous camps that are still targeted by the militias, known as Janjaweed.



Photo: Canadian Premier Minister Paul Martin (L) with his British counterpart Tony Blair in October 2004.
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Photo: Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin (R) and Senator Romeo Dallaire comment on the situation in the war-torn Sudan, in Ottawa, May 12, 2005. (Reuters)

Canada dismisses Sudanese protest over Darfur aid

Heh. Read between the lines of this [edited] Reuters report, May 13, 2005:

Canada said on Friday it would go ahead with plans to send military advisors to Darfur despite Khartoum's insistence that it did not want the troops to enter the country.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said Canada would send up to 100 military experts to help a African Union force in the region.

This angered Sudan, which said it would reject the deployment of non-African troops in Darfur and complained it had not been properly consulted about the Canadian plan.

Martin spokeswoman Melanie Gruer said Canada needed the approval of the African Union for the troops' deployment rather than that of Sudan.

"There is no change to the plan. We will send what we said we were going to send," she said.

"We consulted Khartoum as a courtesy. It's up to the African Union to get Sudan's approval."
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True to form, Khartoum had a swift response. Here's an excerpt from a later Reuters report May 13, 2005:

Sudan rejects Canada's offer of military advisors

Sudan has rejected a Canadian plan to send military advisors to Darfur, saying Ottawa had not consulted Khartoum on its plan, the Sudanese embassy said on Friday.

In a press release dated Thursday, the Sudanese embassy complained that Khartoum had not been consulted in advance about the plan.

"(We) would like to affirm that the unwavering position of the Sudanese government ... is categorically rejecting (sic) any deployment of non-African military personnel in the Darfur region. Any logistical and financial support is most welcomed," said the release, which was sent to Reuters on Friday.

"It is to be as well stated that any future efforts or plans on Darfur should be worked out and finalized with the satisfaction and full approval of the Sudanese government."

No one from Martin's office or the Canadian foreign ministry was immediately available for comment.
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AU, UN delegations in Sudan discuss bilateral cooperation

Saturday May 14th, 2005.

AFRICAN UNION-AFRICAN MISSION IN SUDAN

Press Release Khartoum - May 13, 2005.
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Sudan: A Nation Divided

Excellent archive at BBC News In Depth Sudan provides a great resource and overview of the Sudan crisis to date.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Chad Africa

Sudan's Darfur rebels to resume peace talks with Khartoum

Darfur rebel groups SLM and JEM announced on Friday in Rome they were willing to resume Darfur peace talks with the Khartoum government, dropping their previous conditions for new negotiations.

"We are committed to resuming the negotiations in Abuja (the Nigerian capital), under the aegis of the African Union, without preconditions," the SLM and JEM said in a joint press statement issued in Rome.

The two groups have held secret talks in Rome, Italy with the African Union at the Community of Sant'Egidio, founded in 1968, which has brokered a number of African peace treaties.

The Darfur rebels had already said they were prepared to resume talks after a meeting early in May with Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Community of Sant'Egidio is the U.N. of Trastevere

No date was set for new talks, but the rebel groups said they hoped the various parties would get together "in the coming days" at Sant'Egidio to try to strengthen the peace process.

The SLA and JEM announcement came just three days before the leaders of Egypt, Sudan, Chad and Nigeria are due to meet in Libya to discuss the Darfur crisis.

The Community of Sant'Egidio is a Roman Catholic movement of lay people who strive to broker peace around the world.

Nicknamed "the U.N. of Trastevere" for the Rome neighbourhood where it is based, Sant'Egidio scored its greatest diplomatic success in 1992 when it helped build a deal to end 16 years of civil war that killed 1 million people in Mozambique.



Photo: Peace-broker St. Egidio community spokesman Mario Marazziti, right, shakes hands with Ismael Omer a representative of one of the main Darfur rebel groups, the SLM at a joint press conference with the JEM, at the community HQ in Rome, Friday May 13, 2005.

Seated at the table are from left are the SLM's Ismael Omer, Abdolgabar Dosa, and chairman Abdolwahid Mohamed Ahmed. Marazziti announced the groups are 'available to resume peace talks as soon as possible and without any preconditions' in an effort to end the two-year Darfur conflict. (AP/Plinio Lepri)
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Darfur rebel groups sign "Tripoli Declaration" pledging cooperation

On Wednesday May 11, 2005 Darfur's two main rebel groups signed a declaration Wednesday pledging to adhere to a ceasefire and help facilitate the flow of humanitarian relief aid.

The "Tripoli Declaration" was part of a drive by Libya to mediate in the Darfur crisis.

"We announce in front of Colonel Gaddafi that we are completely committed to a ceasefire," Khalil Ibrahim, senior official of the JEM, said to a round of applause from a gathering of about 200 political, tribal and military personalities attended by the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi and Sudan's State Minister for Humanitarian affairs, Mohammed Youssef.

Representatives from the two groups said on Monday that they would resume negotiations with the government without preconditions.

The declaration said the local rulers would be neutral while dealing with issues arising from the crisis and a permanent mechanism would be established to facilitate contacts between the concerned parties and to ease the movement of the relief teams.

"On hearing this agreement, the world should respect the Sudanese people and realize that they need no international custody to solve their problems," Gaddafi said.



Photo: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is greeted by rebel, tribal and opposition Sudanese leaders from Darfur at his tent in Tripoli, Libya, Wednesday, May 11, 2005. (AP/Yousef Al-Ageli)
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Local leaders demand Darfur peace talks moved to Libya

The source of this report is the French news site Sudan Tribune. It is copied here for future reference. [Note, the Darfur summit and Darfur peace talks are two different conferences]

TRIPOLI, May 10, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) --Leaders of the local administration in Darfur have called for a change in the venue of the upcoming talks between the government and the Darfur rebels from Abuja to Tripoli under the direct supervision of the Libyan leader.

According to Al-Ray al-Amm newspaper, they also demanded a major role for the local administration in resolving the Darfur issue.

Lashing out at the Darfur rebels, the Libyan leader, Muammar al-Qadhafi, described the rebels' motives for taking up arms as "non-objective and dishonourable".

At a meeting with the local administration leaders and delegations of the two rebel movements, headed by the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Khalil Ibrahim, and a member of the political office of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), Osman Bashri, Al-Qadhafi said the war was not justifiable and the conflict in Darfur was "primitive and senseless", and could lead Sudan into an international trusteeship.

He further said such problems could be resolved through negotiations and dialogue and not through rebellion.

"Those who started the war in Darfur have no respect for rights and are irrational. If their target was the Sudanese government, they should have gone to Khartoum," he added.

He however noted that the rebel demands were objective and acceptable but this did not call for an armed rebellion. He said there were some quarters who had exploited the conflict in Darfur and strengthened it further.

Al-Qadhafi said Sudan People's Liberation Movement leader John Garang himself sought to exploit the Darfur conflict to weaken the position of the government at the Naivasha peace talks.

He stated that without the disarming of the pro-government Janjawid militias and the rebels, we could not be able to restore peace.



Photo: Libya's leader Col Gaddafi smokes a cigarette
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Darfur rebels ask Libya's Gaddafi to defend their interests at Darfur summit

A rebel delegation from Darfur asked Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi on Monday May 9, to defend their interests at an African mini-summit next week to which they have not been invited.

On Monday, May 9, Col Gaddafi received representatives of Darfur rebel groups SLA and the JEM at his tent in the Al-Azizia district of the capital, an AFP correspondent witnessed. AFP report excerpt:

The rebels asked the Libyan leader for financial support of seven million dollars and funds to compensate their ethnic minority supporters for the ravages of the Sudanese security forces and their Arab militia allies.

They also asked him to look after their interests in Sunday's mini-summit which will gather Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir and his counterparts from Chad, Egypt and Nigeria alongside Kadhafi.

The press was excluded from the reception before Kadhafi responded to the rebel delegation.

Full report AFP May 9, 2005.



Photo: Libyan leader Col Gaddafi leads noon prayers with a Sudanese delegation from Darfur before their meeting in his traditional tent in Tripoli, Libya, Monday May 9, 2005.

The first flight taking food from Libya directly into Darfur in western Sudan took place Saturday as the U.N.'s food agency launched a campaign to reach nearly 2 million people during the rainy season. (AP/Yousef Al-Ageli)

Tags: Darfur Sudan Chad Africa

Sea of Shelters in N. Darfur, Sudan - Four people killed in Chad camp

Recently, a blog called RELIEF FOR DARFUR? linked to Sudan Watch. Found it through Technorati. A new blog with no posts, except for a photo, see here below, that caught my eye. The photo, posted May 4, 2005 and titled "Food Distribution Day" featured a USAID tin.

Sudan Watch and a few other links were in the blog's sidebar. Beneath the blog's title RELIEF TO DARFUR? was a banner saying:

"Darfur, an area in western Sudan, captured the attention of many people across the world, but how does our attention translate to compassion and the cessation of suffering in this distant place? It will not come only in the form of shelters, food assistance, and health care, but will need to come in the form of security, safety and respect for survival. Respect for survival of all parties involved and their need to find their own place as Darfurians and people who must live together."

Photo posted by kukuziwa May 4, 2005 - "Food Distribution Day"

RELIEF FOR DARFUR? is a free BlogSpot with none of the usual stuff we bloggers like to put in our sidebars. The above photo was posted under the name of Kukuziwa. I wondered if Kukuziwa had connections with Sudan, so I left a comment to say hello.

A few days ago, I was pleased to see a reply from someone called Sarah who said she would be in North Darfur for the next few months. Of course, anybody can start up a blog and say anything. Somehow, I believed her. I hope it is true. I want it to be true.

Maybe the photo depicting USAID is a clue that Sarah (if that is her real name) is American. Maybe Sarah is an aid worker, or on assignment for a project, or a tourist or what ... we don't know, she doesn't say.

Today, Sarah published some new posts ... about her walk through the IDP camp of Abu Shouk near El Fasher, North Darfur ... the heartbreaking sight of a sea of shelters ... and all about a riot the other day at a camp.

Here below is a copy of Kukuziwa's three posts dated May 14 and copied here in full incase the links become broken:

Abu Shouk IDP Camp
Post by kukuziwa May 11, 2005:

It stood in the middle of a desert. Stretching as far as my eyes could see was a jumble of colorful makeshift tents, shelters and shacks. Already the colors of these shelters was faded by the sun and covered in a cloak of desert sand, making muted their once vibrant shades and designs. There is nothing "brilliant" to this assemblage now, although the sight is overpowering. All available space seems to be filled. There are donkeys, and goats, chickens and children of all ages. It is a rural city springing up from these dry desert sands.

Sea of Shelters
Post by kukuziwa May 11, 2005:

The IDP Camp of Abu Shouk is located in the middle of the desert. Although it is only a few kms from the center of El Fasher town it looks as though it were set in the middle of the Sahel. There are no trees and as far as the eye can see there are various shades, colors, and configurations of make shift shelters, some in the form of pre-fab plastic covered tunnel shelters, but most made of what wood and poles they can find, covered with small pieces of cloth, blankets and in some cases even clothes. It seems to be an endless sea of people trying to find shelter in sandstorms, blazing sun, and an environment that provides little to no protection. Abu Shouk has been in existence since April of 2004 and is "home" to some 71,000 people. It is a large city confined to an area that if void of these structures would seem like a scene from a movie on Saudi Arabia. The dunes are a brilliant orange against the noon day sun, and the distant mountains of Fasher rise slowly as though a mirage against this backdrop.

As I made my way through this vast land of displacement, you could see small shoots and roots beginning to emerge from what initially had seemed like chaos. There were market stalls, and people selling small plastic household goods, and packages of matches. There were "shelter side" stands made up of a few children or women selling groundnuts. There was commerce of a sort, the kind that buys some extra food for a family and allows for salt and sugar to be used in preparing meals.



[Note, re above photo, posted by Kukuziwa May 11 at Relief to Darfur? - I left this comment in response:

Mafi Mushkala Sarah, Good to see your new posts and amazing photos. I shall feature this in a post at Sudan Watch and link it to some of your posts here. The photos we see in the press show a sea of tents, not this terrible large scene of makeshift shelters that wouldn't last two minutes in the wind. It's heartbreaking to see these people do not at least have the pre-fab shelters or tents we see in press photos. I wish we knew the best way to help asap. Thinking of you especially when I see news on Abu Shouk. Looking forward to your next posts. Kind regards.]

There was riot other day at camp here
Post by kukuziwa May 11, 2005:

There was a riot the other day at a camp here just outside of town. 2,000 plus people mobilized to protest the rape of two young girls. It was believed that they had been raped by the police and the IDPs took to the desert roads surrounding the camps. The Sheiks and the Umdas (local leaders) could not contain the pain, anger and frustration of this crowd. It emerged as one force, spilling out from the seams of the camp out into the main road that leads to the entrance. The GOS mobilized and sent in waves and trucks of police, tear gas was fired into the crowd and shots fired. The unrest turned to chaos, and then to more unrest. It lasted for most of the day, waves of pain emerging in shifts as young men, women and even children mobilized, anxious to express their pain and anger even in the face of injury.

There seems to be no safety in these humanitarian havens. The police have been hired by the GOS and many of them are recognized as being party to the conflict, from areas where villages were burned and looted, or from being members of an Arab tribe accused of the attacks. There is little trust and pain lurks close to the surface. It is exhausting to be vulnerable in all places from village to road and from road to makeshift shelter. But even in the midst of fatigue frustration fuels dissent and resistance.
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Distillations of Darfur

Excerpt from Distillations of Darfur by kukuziwa May 4, 2005.

"There is still fear, even here in this populated town. It is easy for the IDPs to spot those that have "harmed" from those that are "hurt". This identification, recognition and reemergence of fear and distrust are everywhere."
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Four killed in Chad camp

Reuters report excerpt May 11, 2005:

Four people were killed in a camp for Darfur refugees in eastern Chad on Wednesday, the same day the U.N.'s refugee agency said it pulled staff from four other camps along the border with Sudan over security concerns.

Two refugees and two Chadian police officers were killed when a group of refugees started trying to sell the plastic sheeting used to make their tents, a UN official in N'Djamena said.

"There was a clash between refugees and police officers at (the town of) Goz Beida, in the Goz Amer camp. Two refugees were killed along with two police officers," the official said.

In the past 18 months, the UNHCR has transferred more than 200,000 refugees from the border to camps further inside Chad.

Tags: Darfur Sudan Chad Africa

Janjaweed still attacking inside Chad - Libya opens route for UN aid to Darfur

A twelfth camp was opened on May 4, 2005 in eastern Chad by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) to decongest refugee camps nearby.

Talks lasted for several months before the Chad government and the 40 families living on the site agreed to allow the UNHCR to install the new camp.

Also involved in its management are non-governmental organisations Africare, Oxfam, which is in charge of water and sanitation, CORD, education and community services and MSF Holland, which is in charge of health.

According to IRIN May 4, the Janjaweed are still attacking inside Chad and aid workers in eastern Chad have reported a stream of incidences along the border in recent weeks.

Last month, Chadian authorities accused Khartoum of backing rebels opposed to Chad President Idriss Deby who operate near the border.

Health workers warned late last month that two out of the 11 refugee camps in arid eastern Chad are fast running out of water and no lasting solution has yet been found.

The most seriously affected camps are Am Nabak and Toulom, some of the northernmost camps that snake south along Sudan's 700 km border, according to UNHCR.

The Am Nabak site, which hosts 16,000 Sudanese refugees who spontaneously moved from the border, does not have its own water supply and was never suitable for the establishment of a camp, according to UNHCR.


Photo IRIN: 200,000 Sudanese refugees have fled across the border from Darfur into Chad.

Chadian government charges that the authorities in Khartoum have recently been helping Chadian rebels who are said to be gathering in Darfur, close to the Chadian border.

"We think it is inimical for a friendly country like Sudan, for which we have been making enormous sacrifices for several years, to nurture an armed rebellion on its territory not far from the border," the governor said.
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Update report May 11 via IRIN:

Aid agencies have withdrawn their staff from four refugee camps in eastern Chad following disturbances which led to the injury of seven aid workers in one particular incident, the UN refugee agency UNHCR said on Wednesday.

"UNHCR personnel and NGO staff withdrew from the camps of Iridimi, Touloum, Mile and Kounoungou on Tuesday 10 May," the UNHCR said in a statement released in Abeche, the main town in eastern Chad.

"At Iridimi, a group of demonstrators armed with sticks and stones injured five UNHCR workers and two representatives of an NGO," the statement said.

Ginette Le Breton, a spokeswoman for UNHCR in Chad's eastern town of Abeche, said around 40 workers were withdrawn.

"Today the situation is calm ... we are evaluating when services can be resumed in the camps," she told Reuters.
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Security benefit for use of fuel efficient stoves, in Darfur

Using the simplest of materials -- mud, clay, water, and donkey dung --more than 2,500 women in the Kebkabiya, North Darfur, Sudan, have learned how to build themselves a little bit of security. They are making stoves, write Coco McCabe of Oxfam, May 5, 2005.

For some of the women in Kebkabiya, a once-small town that is now bursting with more than 60,000 displaced people, the fuel-efficient stoves they are crafting have changed their lives. The stoves have allowed the women to cut by half or more, the amount of wood needed for cooking. So they need to make only half as many trips beyond the safety of the town's perimeter to gather wood - trips that put the women at constant risk of attack.


Oxfam Photo: Some of the women in the camp with their new fuel-efficient stoves. More than 2,500 women have learned how to build themselves a little bit of security.

The four-month project started by Relief International in mid-February and funded by Oxfam [see April 11, 2005 Proposal] provides participants with a one-week course in stove-construction and good cooking practices. The process takes three weeks: one for the class and two for stove-drying time.

Oxfam hopes to expand the stove-making programme to other regions of Darfur, thereby enabling more women to better protect themselves and improve the quality of their lives.

More than 2,500 in Kebkabiya have learned how to make fuel-efficient stoves. They dramatically reduce the amount of wood women must burn to cook their family meals.


Oxfam Photo: Women collecting their new stoves.

Now, in the displacement camps of Mornei, Darfur, Concern UK have already hosted two training sessions where the women learn how to construct and use the stoves. 50 women were involved in each session and each woman agreed that she would in turn pass the knowledge on to five other women.

The stoves are enclosed, meaning there is far less risk of fire spreading than with basic open fires which can be hazardous in crowded camp situations. The risk of small children falling into the fire is also removed by the fact that the stove is enclosed. Using less wood means the depletion of local fuel sources is slowed down and less smoke is omitted than with traditional fires.
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UN food agency opens new Libya route to deliver food aid to Darfur

Good news. Finally, the UN's WFP has begun airlifting food aid from a new route directly from Libya to reach Darfur. The aim is to move as much food aid as possible to nearly two million people during the rainy season, when access becomes extremely difficult.

Last November, a collaboration between the US and the Libyan governments allowed the transition of WFP food aid through Libya to reach Darfur refugees displaced by the fighting to camps in Chad.

The new air route will boost the overland transport route - opened last April - of food aid through Chad. This opening of the ancient caravan route through Chad has so far allowed the delivery of 400 metric tonnes of food aid. WFP is expecting to deliver some 50,000 metric tonnes of food aid through air, land and rail transport.

WFP has so far received US$286 million of the US$467 million it requires to feed an average of 2.3 million people each month in Darfur in 2005, leaving a 39 percent shortfall. (Cam/Aki)


Photo IRIN: 197,000 Sudanese refugees have fled to camps in eastern Chad

Health workers warned late last month that two out of the 11 refugee camps in arid eastern Chad are fast running out of water and no lasting solution has yet been found.

The most seriously affected camps are Am Nabak and Toulom, some of the northernmost camps that snake south along Sudan's 700 km border, according to UNHCR.

The Am Nabak site, which hosts 16,000 Sudanese refugees who spontaneously moved from the border, does not have its own water supply and was never suitable for the establishment of a camp, according to UNHCR.

Water has to be pumped out of wells in the town of Iriba and then trucked 40 kilometres through the desert to the camp.

At nearby Touloum refugee camp, water supplies are also dwindling.

There boreholes serving 20,000 refugees are not able to keep up with demand, and refugees have been receiving on average 9 to 12 litres of water per person per day, Garelli explained.

In the Am Nabak and Touloum sites, technicians are struggling to find alternative supplies.
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Seasonal rains likely to hamper relief operations

Already rains have begun in the southern most parts of Darfur," the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net) said in a report released on 5 May. It detailed how rainfall would affect relief efforts in the crisis-hit region of western Sudan.

"Northern areas, like El Fasher will start to experience heavy seasonal rains by the end of June," the report added. "By the end of July the rains will cover the entire region."

Tags: Darfur Sudan Africa

UN Sudan Situation Report 9 May 2005

Fighting ebbs in Darfur, but banditry, attacks on relief workers plague region says UN News Centre today. Excerpt:

In South Darfur, banditry seemed to have decreased during the last week, but attacks and looting of trucks, including those belonging to the UN and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were still being reported, as were incidents of harassment and detention of some NGO workers, the Mission said.

The difficulties faced by relief workers in the south will be the focus of a meeting tomorrow of the Sub-Joint Implementation Mechanism on Human Rights and Protection, according to UNMIS.

While tensions in the Jebel Moon area of West Darfur have decreased significantly, the UN Mission said its chief concern remained the influx of nomadic tribes from Chad into the areas bordering Sudan.

See UN Sudan Situation Report May 9, 2005 at ReliefWeb.

Terrorism and Arab culture: Where are the Saudi men risking death to stand between Muslim villagers in Darfur and the Janjaweed?

Today, Instapundit points to a post on Darfur by Joseph Britt at Belgravia Dispatch, May 5. It's about Tom Friedman's culture analysis piece in the Times yesterday, relating the thoughts of a friend of his resident in Cairo about Arab terrorism. Too long to go in to here. Read the whole thing. Journalists like Tom Friedman and Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times take it upon themselves to demand that every trouble happening in the world be sorted out by America when the finger could quite easily be pointed elsewhere. I've given up highlighting how the West is expected to intervene militarily in Darfur while the Arabs next door to Sudan aren't lifting a finger to stop fellow Arabs from killing and marginalising African tribes, driving them from their homeland and using rape as a weapon of war in the Arabisation of Sudan.

Here's an excerpt from Joseph's post entitled "Hidden in Plain Sight" where he points out that Nicholas Kristof writes frequently in the New York Times about Darfur without mentioning any Arab country or government other than Sudan's:

" ... None of them explain the Arab genocide in Darfur; the silence of other Arabs about Arab genocide in Darfur; or the Western media's silence about Arabs' silence about Arab genocide in Darfur. Friedman, for example, seems oblivious to the subject. Kristof, who is not, follows the conventional practice of American journalists witnessing something awful. This is to demand that the American government do something about it."

A few lines later, the post goes on to say:

" ... The Arab world isn't even doing that about Darfur. No peacekeepers, no aid, no media coverage, and for damn sure no guilt. Does Tom Friedman during all his earnest chin-stroking about the problem of terrorism and Arab culture pause to consider that this might be related somehow? Saudi imams get young men inspired to blow themselves up in the middle of Iraqi crowds, but we sure don't hear too many reports of young Saudi men risking death to stand between Muslim villagers in Darfur and the janjaweed.

What about Nick Kristof, who has access to the same maps of Africa that the rest of us do? Does he wonder that the largest Arab country, directly north of Sudan with a large army and an air force hundreds of planes strong, has never made a move toward establishing, say, a no-fly zone over any part of Darfur? Demanded UN sanctions against Sudan, or imposed any of its own? To be honest, I doubt the idea has even crossed his mind."

Heh. Well said. I don't read Kristof anymore. Can't work out what his game is at all. Nor that of the emotive American writers on the quirky Washington Post. One can only conclude they have political motives, which means they are spinning propaganda instead of educating us.
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P.S. Foundations can expect more scrutiny in an age of weblogs, according to this article.

Instapundit's review of BlogNashville Conference - Is big media on the run?

In his post at MSNBC titled "Big media on the run?" Prof Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit.com writes:

"Do blogs and other alternative media have traditional media organizations running scared? Some people are saying so, but I think there's more going on than fear. Still it's clear that the blogosphere is having an impact.

This past weekend I attended the BlogNashville conference at Belmont University, billed as the largest blogging conference to date. There were some representatives of Big Media organizations there, one of whom said straighforwardly "I'm here out of fear," but others of whom were looking for ways to incorporate blogs, and bloggers, into their operations."

Read full story.

Looks interesting. I'm keeping it aside to read later on. Just wanted to share it here right away. I think professional journalists have lots of reasons to fear blogland. Chewing over and pointing out rubbish in mainstream media, along with the spin, truths, half-truths, downright lies, political propaganda and character assassinations is what we bloggers, around the world, are placed to do well.
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Also today, Instapundit points out Adam Cohen's unimpressive ruminations on blog ethics in today's New York Times - and Virginia Postrel who writes in Forbes, "There's something about blogs that makes a lot of respectable journalists hyperventilate."

Heh.

Make Poverty History - Tony Blair chairs G8 summit July 6

Email just received from Patrick Kielty (pictured below):



Hello,

Over the past few months more than a quarter of a million people have sent a message to Tony Blair and asked him to make poverty history.

It's an achievable aim that has risen up the political and news agendas like never before - thanks to the actions of people like you.

But we are rapidly approaching the critical moment of this campaign - and it really is time to turn up the heat.

After last week's election result we now know for sure that it will be Mr. Blair who sits at that all-important G8 summit table in Scotland on July 6th. Last month, he said he would work "night and day" on this issue until the summit. Now he has the chance to prove it, and the responsibility to deliver.

30,000 children will continue to die needlessly every day unless he succeeds.

So please, if you are in the UK click here [outside the UK click here] and urge Tony Blair to make this his number one post-election priority.

Even if you have emailed him before, now is the time to do so again.

The countdown has begun to the biggest day ever in the fight to end poverty and we need to make sure that our message is getting through loud and clear.

Thank you,

Patrick Kielty

Is Sudan peace real or just a mirage? 4,000 flee LRA raids in Southern Sudan

Last August, I started a blog called Uganda Watch for the filing of reports about a savagely violent rebel group called the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), and other news highlighting the terrible situation in northern Uganda.

[Background info: In September of last year, the UN warned that northern Uganda was the most neglected humanitarian crisis in the world - 20,000 children suffering - 90% of the population sheltering in 180 refugee camps - 1.6 million fled their homes - 30,000 abducted as slaves and soldiers.

The war between the Ugandan People's Defence Forces (UPDF) and the LRA has been going on for 18 years. There is a history of tension between the north and south. In 1986, Yoweri Museveni, who is from the south, took power and set about trying to control the Acholi in the north. The LRA dominates resistance fighting, so it says, to reclaim Uganda for the Acholi. Now led by Joseph Kony, it is one of the world's most brutal armies and has terrorised its own people. At least 25,000 children have been abducted, the boys ordered to kill or be killed, the girls used as sex slaves. 500,000 people - mostly children - have been killed in the conflict.]


Photo: A Ugandan soldier walks past a charred body, Feb 23, 2004, in the Barlonyo camp 26 kilometers north of the Lira in northen Uganda after a massacre believed to be committed by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group in which at least 200 people were killed. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)

Here today at Sudan Watch, I am posting some news reports on the LRA - along with three opinion pieces by Sudanese blogger Joseph Oloya Hakim. Please bear in mind, the LRA received weapons and training from Sudan's Islamist regime throughout the 1990s. Joseph believes the LRA are still supported by the Khartoum regime.

4,000 flee LRA raids in Southern Sudan

An Associated Press report May 5, 2005 says the UN confirms thousands of Sudanese have fled their homes in the south to escape increasing and brutal raids on their villages by Ugandan rebels.

A report at AllAfrica, May 7, 2005 covers the same story, saying thousands of villagers have fled their homes to escape attacks by the LRA in southern Sudan. The report explains, in the last week thousands of Sudanese have been forced to cross to Kitgum inside Uganda following stepped up attacks by LRA in different parts of the war ravaged south. It goes on to say:

The UN estimates more than 4,000 people have arrived at the refugee transit centre at Palorinya in northern Uganda seeking protection," UN spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said. Many of the refugees said they had seen LRA rebels hacking people to death, cutting their lips off and burning homes, Achouri said. Most of the refugees were in bad health on arrival, she said.

Photo: Two young boy's get treated for severe burn wounds in the Lira hospital in northern Uganda, Feb 23, 2004, after a massacre believed to be committed by the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group in the Barlonyo camp 26 kilometers north of the town that killed at least 200 people. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo)
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Is Sudan peace real or just a mirage?

Here below is a copy of a first person account published May 8, 2005 by blogger Joseph Oloya Hakim, a native of Sudan and a staff worker for Servlife Africa. Joseph's post provides an insight into what is happening with returnees to Sudan, and the LRA from Uganda. Joseph believes the Khartoum regime are arming and supporting the LRA and says:

"It is becoming clear that the Arab government in Khartoum is still fighting a proxy war using the Uganda Opposition, the LRA, that is has supported for long."

Photo: Joseph of ServLife Workers

In his post of May 8. 2005 titled "Is Sudan peace real or just a mirage?" [click on the photo in the post - it is of a child with a mutilated mouth, presumably caused by LRA rebels who hack people to death or chop off lips and/or ears]. Joseph writes the following:

There is a growing speculation that the long fought war in South Sudan is not over yet. With the increasing attacks by the LRA on civilian population in Southern Sudan sparking another wave of 4000 refugees fleeing across the boarder into Uganda reported a local new paper on 7th May, 2005. It is becoming clear that the Arab government in Khartoum is still fighting a proxy war using the Uganda Opposition, the LRA, that is has supported for long. I have given considerable time on some of these attacks in my previous bloogs.

Reports incicates that refugees reported they saw people being hacked to death others mutilated as they flee. Similarly with the growing concern that Paulino Matip, a former Major General in Sudanese Army who at one time was a power rival with Riak comianding loyal militias in the western Nuer: Unity State, moving in and stationing his troops in and around Bentieu Oilfields at a time when the North and South Peace deal has to be consolidated indicates the cosmetic nature of the agreement that was signed on 9th January 2005 to end 20 years of hostilities in Sudan. It is still unclear as to why the two Sudan backed groups are militarily active when there was suppose to be unilateral ceasefire in the whole South Sudan.
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How Sudan returnees cope with LRA insecurity and meagre food rations

Read Joseph's post May 2, 2005 and see how Sudan returnees cope with LRA insecurity and meagre food rations. The post is copied here in full incase the link to Joseph's blog becomes broken:

After the Indiana team have successfully completed a one week Medical Outreach Program in Sudan refugee camp in Uganda and having had earlier considered doing similar outreach in South Sudan, I decided to Plan a trip to Nimule a boarder town at Uganda/Sudan boarder where Servlife Africa plans to host the next round of medical outreach. The trip itself is an exhilarating as well as an agonizing experience.

One of the few joys of Sudan trip is after 20 years in refugee camps, many Sudanese Voluntary Returnees are making back home. The joy of returning written on the faces of these returnees is something that automatically sparks joy in my heart too. Nevertheless, while most returnees are happy that they are back in their country following attacks and displacements in their Camps in Uganda by the LRA (The Lords Resistance Army) a shadowy Uganda rebel groups known for their atrocities in Northern Uganda, the uncertainties in which most of these returnees live in Sudan is something that is worrying.

Most of these returnees are going back to their traditional home places but are not being provided adequate protections. The fertile areas East of the Nile where most of these returnees are going back are areas that are infected by the LRA. These areas serve as Safe Heavens for the LRA as they are being re-armed by the Sudan Government.

While I was in Sudan, the LRA attached Nimule 3 consecutive days: killing one SPLA soldier and 3 civilian on the first day of attack; and abducted 9 civilians in the following attacks and the reports indicated that all the abductees were harked to death. Previously the LRA had attacked several returnee villages; killed and abducted many. "This turn of events is a worrying development for us" said one village leader.

"We returned hopping we shall be safe here but it is clear now that the Sudan Peace is a private agreement between Garang and Bashir: not for us; otherwise, why are we returnee civilians not being protected from attacks by the LRA?"

Besides the LRA insecurity, most of the returnees do not have returnee packages: no food and the refugee women I met collected wild leaves (View on Servlife Africa Photo Album) which they were preparing to cook. The returnees told me that at return a family just receives 5kg of Maize and nothing else and the 5kg depletes in 3 or 4 days.

Because of the LRA insecurity and the Landmines, the returnees could not venture in to the forest to collect wild fruits and wild vegetables. The medical services are poor and remote too and most returnees are likely to face a disaster if no helps come their way in terms of supplies and civilian protection.

By all standards, I may say the returnees situations are worst than in Refugee camps in Uganda.
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Focus on Darfur and countdown to current genocide?

Note this post by Joseph entitled "Focus on Darfur and countdown to current genocide?" May 5, 2005 [Joseph writes "the LRA attacks on returnee civilian is a political one pinning the Khartoum Government"] - copy in full:

At present the Sudan Government assertions of its authority in Darfur has focused on strengthening the military and establishing direct control with governors appointed form outside the region. The land issue remains unresolved, fighting still going on, government refusing to admit that is fighting anyone other that the bandits, the Fur formed Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance that joined the National Democratic Alliance that began military training in Eritrea in 1997. Rising insecurity engulfed the Masalit in 1998-9 when disputes with Rizaiqat resulted in over 100,000 internally displaced and several hundreds refugees fled to Chad. The government has insisted that it was tribal clashes.

Successive governments in Khartoum have tried to dismiss fighting that broke in the north and South as merely tribal clashes although they have fuelled such fighting with official and semi-official support to so called tribal militias.

Often times, appeals to Islam and Pan Arabism have been used by Khartoum Government to overcome the discontent of marginality elsewhere in the North. These appeals are not only to home grown support but increasingly about access to external powerful allies.

The power of Pan Arabist ideology, however fictitious its actual base, can connect local groups to a wider international community and offers them opportunity to mobilize support for internal conflicts. We have noted: the alliance of Arab tribes in Darfur appealing to Libya outside Sudan and the UMMA and NIF parties inside Sudan; Sadiq rallying Arab North to retake Kurmuk from SPLA forces, the successive governments were appealing to wealthy Muslim States for military hardware in the face of Anti-Arab insurgency in the South etc. etc.

With the above background, it would be naive to see the unfolding events in Darfur outside the policy of successive governments in Khartoum. Government in the West wants the definition of the word to classify the deaths and suffering of Darfurians whether it qualifies to be called Genocide or not. By the sheer scale of death, emptying of villages by para military groups supported by Behsir’s regime, as well as the willingness of the government to wipe out the black population of Darfur, nothing could be outside the term Genocide. The world has failed its mission; Rwanda has taken place in Sudan, and still no concrete action unfolding. More people have died and more will die and the world has sacrificed the Sudanese People on the alter of Islamic terrorism.

Sometimes, it is difficult to be thoroughly objective in a situation like Sudan. Although the North - South problems have reached a stage where no parties expect resumption of hostilities, The LRA attacks on returnee civilians is a political one pinning the Khartoum Government. Most South Sudanese believe that what Khartoum government did not achieve through military means, it is pushing to achieve through the policy of destabilizing the communities. The presence of the LRA, which it has re-armed in the past and which it is still arming, in Sudan is an extension or rather the arm of Khartoum government. Knowing that there would be a referendum in five years and most communities are to vote either for unity or secession,

Khartoum government hopes that by keeping the support for the LRA active, it will keep most communities a bay in exile and they would not have opportunities to participate in the referendum on the South. What is still disturbing is the slow move by the International communities in consolidating that comprehensive peace agreement between the

Khartoum government and SPLA/M signed in January this year. Darfur Situation still captures the spirit and emotion of the international communities. Yes it is correct that efforts be put to bring peace to that part of the region, but with a closed eye on the south problems things will soon fall out of hands; particularly communities that do not enjoy protections would take up arms and they will fight for shear survival of their respective communities: if this happens, something both the International communities and the weak Government in the South of the SPLA would not be able to handle. It will on the scale be a replication of Somalia in Sudan.


Photo via Joseph's post with thanks.
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Two Red Crescent staff members killed

Geneva (ICRC) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was saddened to learn of the killing on 1 May of two members of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society by unidentified individuals who fired at their ambulance in the area of Kassala, east of Khartoum.

Faki Mohammed Nour, the driver of the vehicle, and Hassan Mohammed Ali, a nurse, reportedly died from their wounds on the spot. Mahmoud Adam Idris, a Red Crescent medical assistant accompanying them, was injured and taken to a nearby hospital. The patient who was being transported remains missing and is believed to have been abducted.

The ICRC expresses its heartfelt sympathy to the families, friends and colleagues of the victims and hopes that the fate of the missing person will soon be elucidated.
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Kofi Annan calls for more African Union troops in Darfur

Bearing in mind the above news re LRA, see what Kofi Annan said in this excerpt from an Associated Press report May 7, 2005.

The AU peacekeeping mission in Darfur needs to be strengthened but help from UN soldiers will be limited, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report Friday.

Mr Annan said although violence in Darfur was not occurring on the massive scale of last year, the general level of insecurity in Darfur was still hindering humanitarian aid and remained "unacceptable."

The UN and its mission in Sudan could, however, help the African Union mission with technical advice, training support, help in choosing police, by developing an expansion plan and by convening troop contributors and pledging conferences.

An even larger deployment of 12,000 troops would be needed to keep the peace throughout Darfur to enable the return of all displaced people by the 2006 planting season, according to Annan.

He stressed that although it would be up to the African Union to decide how to organize this, its leaders might decide it was time for the wider international community to play a part in this complex operation which would require "a substantial increase in resources," he said.

He said the UN peacekeeping mission to Sudan would only be able to offer limited help to the AU troops in the coming months because it needed to focus all its attention on monitoring a north-south peace deal struck earlier this year between the government and southern rebels that ended a 21-year civil war.
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New Blog

Best wishes to Kukuziwa at Relief to Darfur? and thanks for the link.

Update May 8: I have just visited this link and was surprised to see a message from Sarah, the author of the blog. Sarah will be in North Darfur over the next two months. Be sure to read Distillations of Darfur. Hope we don't have to wait two months for Sarah's next post.
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Tags: Darfur Sudan Uganda Africa