Crisis in Sudan

News: 10 November

Oxfam International's honorary president Mary Robinson on RTE RADIO 1, MORNING IRELAND, 10/11/06

Talking about:
Kofi Anan to finish second term at the UN Interview with Mary Robinson former UN Commissioner Talks about what Kofi has achieved during his two terms Advises his successor to focus on Darfur Talks about what she has heard from Oxfam based colleagues on happenings in Darfur

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/1110/morningireland.html

News Flash: 2 October

Due to heavy fighting around Gereida in South Darfur, all international NGOs operating in the town have evacuated temporarily to Nyala.

Oxfam has had to temporarily evacuate all our international and non-local Sudanese staff from Gereida, but we hope to return as soon as possible. In the meantime, our local staff in Gereida are working hard to ensure that our services in the camps continue.

My Space: Rock for Darfur Campaign »

More than three years into the Darfur conflict, the crisis continues on a massive scale. Two million people have been forced to flee their homes and are now living in makeshift shelters in crowded camps or massed on the edge of towns and villages in Darfur and across the border in eastern Chad . Many more have been affected by the conflict and are now dependent on humanitarian assistance, as traditional means of livelihoods have been destroyed.

Oxfam is there
We are providing more than 450,000 people affected by the crisis with access to clean, safe water and sanitation as well as basic necessities such as buckets, blankets and jerry cans for carrying water. As the crisis continues we are looking at ways to help people begin to find some alternative to the reliance on external aid.

The current situation (October 1 st 2006)
It is now three years since the escalation of the conflict in Darfur into a major humanitarian crisis. Today the situation is as desperate as ever. The sheer scale of the crisis is incredible:

• 2 million people - nearly one in three people in Darfur - have had to flee their homes and are sheltering in camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs)
• A further 200,000 refugees from Darfur are in camps over the border in neighbouring Chad
• More than 3 million people - that's half Darfur 's entire population - are now reliant on humanitarian aid

Such a catastrophic humanitarian situation will not improve without an end to the ongoing and brutally violent conflict. In May this year, the government and one of the main rebel groups signed the Darfur Peace Agreement. But far from bringing peace, since then the situation has deteriorated significantly and Darfur has again become more violent and volatile.

Oxfam is working to provide people in Darfur with clean water and sanitation systems, and to promote good hygiene practice in the overcrowded camps. Our programmes within Darfur itself currently reach 415,000 people, with a further 40,000 beneficiaries in refugee camps across the border in Chad .

Getting worse
Throughout 2006, the situation in Darfur has been deteriorating further with every passing week. Civilians continue to face daily threats of violence and there are frequent displacements of entire communities. Humanitarian workers are finding it increasingly dangerous to carry out vital work. The peace deal signed earlier this year included just two of the parties to the conflict. Since then, the rebel movements have splintered into numerous different armed groups and Darfur has become increasingly fractured and lawless. Major clashes have occurred between those who have signed the agreement and those who have not. As always, civilians have been caught in the middle.

Even the people who have fled to the camps are still not safe. Venturing just a short way outside to collect essential firewood or go to the market risks harassment, sexual assault or death. The people of Darfur urgently need protection from violence. There is a 7,000-strong African Union force deployed to monitor the region, but it is under-funded and short of both the resources and troops it needs to cover such a vast area that is the size of France . It needs much more support from the international community and a clearer and more proactive mandate if it is to make the region safe and secure for civilians.

Aid cannot get through
The increasing violence throughout Darfur is restricting the ability of Oxfam and other humanitarian organisations to do our work, and hundreds of thousands of people are going without desperately needed assistance as a result. Roads are frequently too dangerous to travel on; aid vehicles are increasingly being hijacked or attacked, and staff placed in growing danger. 12 humanitarian workers were killed in Darfur between July and September. In July, Oxfam was forced to close two of our North Darfur offices because of regular carjackings and the death of one of our staff

The UN estimates that four out of ten people in Darfur who need assistance are not receiving it because they cannot be reached. Large parts of rural Darfur are completely inaccessible for aid agencies. Many of Oxfam's programmes are now reached by helicopter because roads are too insecure, but helicopters only go the larger towns. In villages and rural areas, where there are no helicopter services, we are often simply unable to get there.

People want to return home
Many of the people in the IDP and refugee camps have now been there for nearly three years. They want nothing more than to be able to go back to the homes, villages and fields where they and their families have lived for generations. But they are effectively trapped. The ongoing insecurity means that safely returning home is impossible. Humanitarian organisations such as Oxfam are working to make life in the camps as bearable as possible, but greater protection and security is needed throughout the region.

Life in the camps
Most people arrived in the camps with virtually nothing. Some people were able to bring animals or a few pots or blankets (if they were not killed or stolen in attacks), but many came with just the clothes they were wearing. Even for those lucky enough to bring animals such as donkeys and cows it is difficult to find food with which to feed them, and taking them out to graze puts the owners at serious risk of attack.

In most camps, the makeshift huts in which many of the families shelter are made of little more than sticks and plastic sheeting. Some camps, such as Abu Shouk on the outskirts of El Fasher, have been running for three years and have taken on an air of permanence, with stone buildings replacing the tents. Others are newer and continue to grow, such as Gereida in South Darfur , which has tripled in size since the start of 2006. Gereida is now home to 130,000 people and many of the camps are the size of cities, with tens of thousands packed tightly together with only the most basic facilities. Such overcrowded conditions are a breeding ground for diseases. The enormous humanitarian response to the crisis has brought most levels of disease in the camps to manageable levels - although this progress now risks being reversed as insecurity prevents us accessing many people.

The main feeling in many of the camps is one of helplessness and frustration - people are trapped here, unable to return home, with limited access to education or any kind of economic activity. The majority of people in the camps are women and children, and many of the young children have now spent a large part of their lives living there.

What is Oxfam doing?

Despite being hampered by insecurity, and the sheer scale of the crisis, Oxfam is helping more than 450,000 people in Darfur and Chad , working with communities to fight the spread of disease and save lives. We provide vital clean water, build latrines and washing facilities, and distribute essential items such as buckets and jerry cans for carrying water, soap, ground sheets and blankets.

We work in close coordination with local people to ensure that our work meets the real needs and priorities of Darfur , involving communities at every step of the decision-making process. In particular, we work with women's groups and other marginalised sectors of society to ensure that everyone benefits from our programmes. We involve hundreds of community volunteers to educate others about sanitation and personal hygiene, and we recruit attendants from within the IDP communities to keep toilets and washing facilities clean, and to make sure water sources are protected. A lot of our work is with children - using entertaining plays, music and school activities to pass on hygiene education messages and influence behaviour at a vital early age.

Our programmes are designed not only to keep people healthy and reduce disease, but also to help people maintain their basic human dignity. Alongside buckets we give out soap and sanitary cloths, and clean clothes. Oxfam is also working on malaria prevention, providing mosquito nets and spraying shelters and homes, and in Chad , Intermon (Oxfam Spain ) has carried out a major animal vaccination programme.

Oxfam in Darfur
Oxfam has been working in Darfur for more than twenty years. We first responded to the 1985 drought in the region and have remained ever since, working to assist local communities with livelihood and health projects. The extensive local knowledge, and the strong relationships with local communities and organisations, that we have built up over the last two decades have greatly helped our understanding and response to the current crisis.

Facts and figures:

How many are we helping?
Around 455,000 people are currently benefiting directly from Oxfam's response to the Darfur humanitarian crisis - 415,000 people in Darfur and 40,000 Darfur refugees in Chad.

How many staff do we have?
To run programmes for nearly half a million people requires quite a large team. Oxfam currently has over 200 Sudanese staff and around 30 expatriate staff working in Darfur , plus many more volunteers from within the IDP camps themselves. Many of our staff have worked for Oxfam or other humanitarian agencies for many years, and we are represented in Darfur by nationalities from all over the world, including from: Cote D'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, England, Eritrea, India, Iraq, Kenya (quite a few Kenyans!), Liberia, Malawi, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan (quite a lot of Pakistanis too!), Philippines, Rwanda, Scotland, Sierra Leone, United States, Wales, Yemen and Zambia.

And what do they do?
They include engineers, public health promoters, accountants, logisticians, project managers, protection advisers, well drillers, HR advisers, food security analysts, administrators, and the support staff needed to keep a programme of this size running.

Where are we working?
Oxfam is one of the few aid agencies currently working in all three Darfur states, as well as in Chad . In Darfur we currently work in the following camps and towns: Abu Shouk, Al Salaam, Kebkabiya and the surrounding villages, and Shangil Tobai in North Darfur; Gereida and Kalma in South Darfur; and in Um Dukhun in West Darfur. In Chad we currently work in Djabal and Goz Amir refugee camps.

Oxfam also continues to work elsewhere in Sudan, both north and south - in the capital, Khartoum, Red Sea State, Bahr El Jabel, Upper Nile, Bahr el Ghazal and Western Equatoria .

Financial

Who are our donors?
In addition to the funds raised by our supporters and the general public, Oxfam's humanitarian response in Darfur and Chad is also being supported by several institutional donors.

Significant institutional support has come from the British Government (Department for International Development) and the EC (The European Commission's Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid - ECHO). We are also receiving funding from the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) of which Oxfam GB is a member.

Oxfam International Affiliates have also been highly active in raising funds, with Oxfams in Australia, Ireland , New Zealand and Quebec securing contracts from their host governments: AusAID, Irish Aid, NZAID and CIDA respectively. The Oxfams in America, Ireland, Netherlands (OxfamNovib), Hong Kong and Spain (Intermon) have also given from their own funds.

Oxfam's programmes in Darfur for the coming year - reaching nearly half a million people - have a budget of GBP £6 million.

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