News article written while Information Officer for Action by Churches Together (ACT) International
ACT assessment team finds situation in Sudan ‘critical,’ lacking security
Geneva, June 2, 2004--The leader of an Action by Churches Together (ACT) International coordination assessment team (CAT) described the situation in the Darfur region as “extremely critical” following the team’s return from Sudan. The team leader also said the biggest underlying issue facing the internally displaced persons (IDPs) and humanitarian aid workers in the country is the lack of security.
Nils Carstensen, in a telephone interview yesterday from his office at DanChurchAid in Copenhagen, gave his initial reactions to the situation following the CAT mission, which was sent to Sudan May 18. The mission was to assist local members of ACT, a global alliance of churches and their related agencies, with field-based coordination, flow of information to the alliance and coordination of the ACT appeal process. The ACT members that are operational in the region are the Sudan Council of Churches and Norwegian Church Aid along with their partner, the Sudan Development Organization.
The conflict has created more than one million IDPs and caused more than 130,000 people to flee into neighboring Chad as refugees. In the area where ACT members are working, more than 67,000 displaced people are camped in public buildings and open areas. The ACT members are requesting funds from the alliance to continue their programs aimed at assisting victims of the conflict in Southern and Western Darfur regions through emergency distributions of blankets, kitchen utensils, seeds and other non-food items, as well as a health program.
Carstensen described a very severe crisis that could develop over the coming months, with factors already in place that could make the present situation worse. “It will be a crisis that will look like hunger and famine, but underneath it are other issues which are equally, if not more important, than food,” he said. The biggest issue is lack of protection. “People fled their villages after being attacked, [having their families] killed, or raped and ran to places where they hoped to get better protection,” he said, yet the Janjaweed, a militia group allied with the government, are still carrying out attacks.
A leader of a group of IDPs living in a school compound in Kaas, in South Darfur, told the team, “We are like prisoners in this place." The leader said that women cannot gather firewood in a nearby wooded area because they are afraid of getting raped, and men cannot escort women there because they are afraid of getting kidnapped and killed.
The lack of protection poses serious problems for both IDPs, who are restricted in carrying out their daily tasks, and humanitarian aid workers, who are prevented from accessing many groups of IDPs. Carstensen said that providing material aid to groups in places where there is no protection puts the IDPs in further danger, since the Jenjaweed often raid groups of IDPs and steal from them goods they see as valuable.
“Protection is still the biggest issue standing between the people and their ability to survive next month,” Carstensen said.
According to Carstensen, the needs in the region are “enormous.” He said sanitation needs are urgent because the rainy season has already begun. Children need normality and to return to school, he said, and women who were raped need counseling and psycho-social activities.
Another major factor that could contribute to the deepening of the crisis is time. Carstensen said that even if the government of Sudan eases the restrictions on humanitarian aid organizations, what they would be able to do would be "too little, too late." Yet he said despite not meeting enormous needs in the past, ACT should try to address some of the needs in the future. “The situation will get worse,” he said. “Time is running against us with the rainy season already starting in some areas. It will take several months at best to gear up.”
ACT members and their partner are working to consolidate their current activities at four sites. They plan to increase these activities in the next few weeks and use these sites as subcenters to serve the needs of IDPs in the areas of water and sanitation, health and nutrition, non-food item distribution, education and, at some sites, agriculture assistance. The members hope these sites can also later serve as the backbone of an expanded operation to explore the needs of people farther away from these centers.
At Nyala, a central location for ACT members, a shipment of non-food items that includes cooking utensils, jerry cans, women’s clothing and sanitary kits will arrive this week for 3,000 people.
Most ACT member activities are taking place at Mershing, where a health clinic will be established and operating in the next few days. Nearby, a school will be built with temporary materials that will accommodate 500 students in six classrooms. Two hand pumps have been installed, with an additional three planned. 230 single-family shelters are being erected, and pit latrines have been installed.
At Ta’asha, materials have been obtained to rehabilitate a school and health center. 200 farming implements will be supplied for families there. Carstensen said that, as this location seems more secure than others, IDPs are returning there.
At Zalingi, two schools made from temporary materials will be erected and pit latrines will be constructed. Distribution of non-food items will also occur there.
Carstensen said that everything the ACT members do needs to have an element of protection built into it. Before activities are started, assessments need to take place, and monitoring after the delivery of services needs to occur to ensure that looting by armed forces is prevented. “We cannot deliver protection, but we can think protection,” he said.
The other two members of the CAT were Daniel Tyler and Kenneth Duku, from Church World Service and Sudan Council of Churches, respectively, both ACT members. The team will issue its official report soon.
