Sudan: Humanitarian Action in Darfur, weekly bulletin no. 1
Highlights
- UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights visits Darfur, calls for more "positive action" by Government.
- 500 hundred more households arrive in Zam Zam IDP Camp. Overcrowding worsens.
- FAO continues pre-positioning of crop seeds across Darfur, now reaching 1,587 MT.
- 20,000 NFIs distributed to over 15,000 beneficiaries in Darfur, through "common pipeline" operation.
Key overall developments
On 27 July, the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) issued a statement that the UAE national Red Crescent Authority, through its "Grand Relief Mission for Darfur", made a donation of 5,000 tents to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Sudan, Dr. Sima Samar, visited Darfur. In a press conference on 02 August, she expressed hopes that the Government will take more "positive action" in improving the human rights situation in Darfur, and regarded the lack of accountability and justice for reported human rights violations as "unfortunate".
Floods
Bindiz (West Darfur) was hit by floods on the night of 12 to 13 July. The NGO Triangle reported that 500 families and 300 households were affected by the floods, losing shelter, personal belongings and food stocks. Damage by the floods included: four water wells were flooded, two were damaged by the flooding, and about 300 latrines were damaged.
Population movements and returns
On 19 July, IOM led an inter-agency mission to Amar Jaded (West Darfur) to assess the conditions of 117 households, who reportedly returned voluntarily to the village. This was undertaken in two phases, in May 2006 and May 2007, from Nyala town and Sakali Camp. The site of return was found to be fairly well established, with permanent housing structures, and settled by entire families. The main needs to be addressed are water (there is only one hand pump available), and limited education provisions for students. The Ministry of Health is sponsoring the construction of one health centre.
Five-hundred new households have reportedly arrived in Zam Zam Camp (North Darfur) since 16 July, from Abou Shouk Camp. United Nations agencies will provide an emergency half-ration food distribution to the 2,500 new arrivals in the camp.
In Otash Camp (South Darfur), humanitarian organizations have registered 4,862 IDPs who claimed not to have received food rations since January 2007. Out of these, 3,794 were found to be genuine cases, and have now been added to the list of food beneficiaries. The camp population now totals 61,090, and humanitarian organizations feel that this is increasing the overcrowding situation in the camp.
IDPs from South Darfur arrived in Um Dukhun (West Darfur, on the border with Chad), where more than 1,500 new IDP households have been registered between mid-May and the end of June. The IDPs settled in a new camp, Jedida, and INGOs from Um Dukhun (International Medical Corps, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Triangle) have provided them with basic and essential assistance including shelter, latrines, water, and NFIs.
Needs and response by sector
Education
In July, in North Darfur, 15 Girls Education focal points, 17 heads of State Ministry of Education departments, representatives from local administration, and media, completed a training on gender-sensitive planning and implementation, and a training in community mobilization and orientation on the importance of female education.
In July, in South Darfur, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), State Ministries of Education and NGO partners (Al Masser and CHF) continued with the construction and rehabilitation of 85 classrooms, benefiting approximately 4,250 internally displaced children in Kalma Camp.
Food Security and Livelihoods
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) procured an additional 823 metric tons (MT) of crop seeds during July, bringing the total quantity of pre-positioned crop seeds across Darfur to 1,587 MT. The seeds have been released to implementing partners, for distribution to farmers throughout Darfur.
The FAO procured approximately 16,000 pieces of hand tools produced by local blacksmiths in Darfur, and released them to implementing partners for distribution to as many beneficiaries in all three Darfur states.
During June and July, the FAO provided livestock vaccines to support animal vaccination activities in Darfur. A total of 1,200,000 doses of vaccines were sent to Darfur - in particular against Haemorrhagic Septicaemia (HS), Anthrax, Sheep Pox, and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR). Vaccination campaigns are now ongoing in all three Darfur states.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that during June, approximately 2.6 million people in Darfur benefited from 31,000 metric tons (MT) of food. However, WFP and partners were unable to assist almost 172,000 people, the highest so far this year, mostly in North Darfur where WFP's partner "German Agro Action" had its activities suspended throughout the month due to insecurity.
Governance and Rule of Law
Following the success of legal aid organisations supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in North and South Darfur, UNDP is supporting the establishment of a new legal aid organisation, named 'Wad' ('promise' in Arabic). This will consist of approximately thirty lawyers, who will, with the support of UNDP: provide legal aid to vulnerable and marginalized groups and individuals; conduct trainings on basic human rights and relevant Sudanese laws; and promote a culture of rule of law through awareness-raising and advocacy.
North Darfur
The UNDP organized a training during the month of July, for African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) civilian police in El Fasher, targeting female desk officers, in order to strengthen their capacity in addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) issues in Darfur.
The UNDP organized training sessions on basic human rights and the Sudanese Criminal Act of 1991 for a number of groups in the Abu Shouk Justice and Confidence Centre (JCC).
South Darfur:
Through its SGBV programme, UNDP conducted training for police officers in Nyala (South Darfur), in order to strengthen their understanding of SGBV and improve their work with SGBV survivors in South Darfur. The training was conducted during the month of July, in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
In South Darfur, UNDP supported a partner NGO, Goodwill, to conduct revision courses for 50 law graduates preparing for the bar examination in Khartoum in August.
In Kalma IDP Camp, UNDP conducted a training on "Children in contact with the law", for the paralegals of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the UNDP JCC in Kalma IDP camp, and 12 animators from the NGO Child Friendly Spaces. Meanwhile, rule of Law and SGBV officers jointly planned and conducted the second session of a workshop on "Women's rights under Sudanese law" in Kass, for the paralegals of the IRC and UNDP JCC, and staff from the IRC Women's Centre.
Health and Nutrition
A polio eradication team from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) visited the border areas between Chad and West Darfur, after two cases of polio were reported in Chad. In response to this, an estimated 4.9 million children across northern Sudan, including in Darfur, are being targeted in a special three-day round of polio immunization, due to start on 06 August.
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reported that this year, it supported the organization of two fistula treatment and awareness-raising campaigns in El Fasher and Zalingei, where more than 90 patients were operated on.
Mine Action
A joint United Nations Mine Action Office (UNMAO) and UNICEF four-day assessment mission was conducted from 24 to 27 July in the Kutum area (central North Darfur), to assess areas and IDP camps for future Mine Risk Education (MRE) activities.
Non-Food Items (NFIs) and Emergency Shelter
The United Nations Joint Logistic Centre (UNJLC) coordinated the "Common Pipeline" distribution of NFIs in Darfur, through implementing partners International Rescue Committee (IRC), Sudanese Red Crescent (SRC), World Relief, and the NGO Rehaid El-Fursan Rur. The operation distributed 20,000 NFIs to 15,877 households, throughout the three states of Darfur.
If you have inputs for the next edition or questions and comments on this one, or other media and public enquiries, please contact:
Nahla Zarroug, Information Analyst, United Nations, Khartoum, Sudan, Email: zarroug@un.org, Telephone: +249-9-12160065
For other media and public enquiries, you may also contact: Maurizio Giuliano, Public Information Officer, United Nations, Khartoum, Sudan, Email: giuliano@un.org, Telephone: +249-9-12174454 Imad Hassanein, Media Officer, United Nations, Khartoum, Sudan, Email: hassaneini@un.org, Telephone: +249-9-12178035