News article written while Information Officer for Action by Churches Together (ACT) International
U.N. Secretary-General visits ACT/Caritas school
Director of program stresses strong need for protection of civilians in Darfur
Geneva, May 28, 2005--United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as part of his visit to the troubled Darfur region of Sudan, today toured a school run by the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) that is part of the ACT/Caritas response to the ongoing emergency.
Annan and other officials made a stop early this afternoon in the town of Labado in South Darfur, which is well-known to humanitarian-aid organisations working in Sudan as a place that exemplifies the plight of more than two million people who have been forced from their homes in this conflict in the western part of the country.
During his visit to Labado, which lasted a little over an hour, Annan toured a school operating in a tent that was established by SCC. Joseph Akwoch, SCC’s relief officer, showed the secretary-general around the school. Akwoch said Annan asked him about the need for schools in the area. “The need is too high here and too big,” Akwoch said he told Annan, going on to explain to him that there had once been five schools in Labado and that SCC had re-established two of them – one for boys and one for girls.
Akwoch said Annan also asked him about the school’s teachers. Akwoch explained that they must go to Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, to be paid their salaries, but that they do not make the journey for fear of being attacked outside their town. Therefore, keeping teachers is difficult when they cannot be paid locally, Akwoch said he explained to Annan.
Today, much of Labado is burned-out huts and blackened fields. Animal carcasses also litter the area. Earlier attacks on the village forced its residents to flee, a scenario that has played itself out repeatedly across the region. Many of the internally displaced people have found their way into camps where the ACT/Caritas operation is carrying out most of its work.
The director of the ACT/Caritas program, Bjorg Mide, had hoped for an official meeting with Annan, who was not able to stay longer in Labado. However, during the visit, Mide spoke to a high-ranking civilian leader of the African Union who was part of Annan’s convoy. “We really encourage a stronger mandate” for the AU, Mide said she told the AU leader. His response, according to Mide, was, “We can see there is a strong need for protection for civilians and not only peace monitors,” a position that Mide told him ACT/Caritas affirmed.
Labado serves as one of the AU’s bases for its troops – peacekeeping soldiers from Nigeria, Malawi and Namibia. The troops are acting as observers and may not intervene in the conflict actively. The AU estimates that 17,500 of the town’s 60,000 residents have returned.
Following the visit, Mide spoke to the media travelling with Annan and emphasised the need for an increase of AU troops and police in the region and repeating the call for a stronger mandate for the AU.
“Security is still the main issue,” said Mide.
Upon his arrival in Labado, Annan was greeted by a crowd of people who were chanting and welcoming him in the center of town. Hege Opseth, a communicator for ACT member Norwegian Church Aid, said some in the crowd held signs reading, “Bring us peace in Darfur.”
All of the children, who were attending classes in the morning, had left the school to be part of the crowd that greeted Annan.
Annan is on an official trip to Sudan and Ethiopia May 24 to 31. Before arriving in Sudan, Annan co-chaired, with the chairman of the AU, a pledging conference in support of the AU mission in Darfur. Yesterday, Annan held talks in the capital, Khartoum, with the Sudanese Foreign Minister.
