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*For your urgent follow-up please: there are possible next steps at the bottom on which we would like your feedback.*
URGENT NEED FOR
GREATER HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
IN DARFUR, SUDAN
Date: 7 May 2004
Dear ICVA Members,
The ICVA Secretariat has never before put out the request that we are doing now: for a greater humanitarian response to the situation in Darfur, Sudan. However, it has been brought to our attention by some members that unless more humanitarian actors begin and/or strengthen their operations in Darfur, we risk seeing a deterioriation of what already seems to be a humanitarian catastrophe.
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"The world's worse humanitarian crisis"
The situation in Darfur is being described by most who go there as "the world's worst humanitarian crisis." Yet the response to this crisis is, so far, not matching the severity of the situation. In other humanitarian (or so-called "humanitarian", in some cases) crises, such as Kosovo, Afghanistan, or Iraq, we have seen an almost excessive flocking of humanitarian actors to the situation.
In Darfur, there is no similar rush by humanitarian organisations to respond to an urgent "humanitarian imperative" and to gain access to the affected population. Several press releases, statements, and reports are publicly available highlighting the severity of the situation (see below "Further Resources"). The response from humanitarian agencies, to date, has yet to reach a level proportionate to the humanitarian needs.
There are indiciations that there is currently a lack of operational capacity in Darfur to distribute food that WFP should be getting. With the rainy season fast approaching, many areas of Darfur will be rendered more difficult, if not impossible, to access by road. Without adequate distributions and pre-positioning of food stocks, it is estimated that the crisis could potentially reach its highpoint between October and December 2004. There are a number of reports coming out of Darfur that the situation with regards to measles, for example, is on the increase.
- Lack of Protection
The protection concerns of the population have been well-documented by a number of organisations of late, including through interviews with refugees arriving from Darfur in Chad. The previous UN Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator, Mukesh Kapila, warned in a meeting last month that the situation is Darfur is clearly one of ethnic cleansing: there is an organised attempt to displace and/or "do away with" people based on ethnic origin; there is clear command and control; in strategic and practical terms, there are military objectives with an organised campaign. He also warned that malnutrition was on the rise and that if food could not be delivered, starvation would be seen. Kapila impressed that we must apply the lessons learned from Rwanda and prevent another genocide before it is too late.
- Gaining Access to Darfur
The UN's response has, despite the facts and reports available, been quite slow. The NGO response could also be better in terms of speed and scope. The Government of Sudan does not make accessing Darfur a quick process. It is reported that to get a visa for Sudan takes on average 4-6 weeks for those NGOs already operating in Northern Sudan and then to get travel authorisation to Darfur can take 10 more days. For those organisations that are not operating in Northern Sudan, it is not clear how long it would take to get registered, but chances are that it would take considerably longer. If organisations do not urgently start working on getting staff into the country and getting programmes up and running, the risk of serious consequences for the population will remain.
Once in Darfur, there is a great deal of control exerted by the government as to where humanitarian actors can travel. The possibility of humanitarian assistance being manipulated for political ends is a real one that organisations working, or planning to work, in Darfur must take into account when planning and carrying out programmes. In that sense, there is a real need for humanitarian actors to jointly advocate for an improvement of security conditions in Darfur.
- Eastern Chad
For the Sudanese refugees that are in Eastern Chad, there are also gaps that need to be filled. In particular, very few programmes on education, child protection, and gender-based violence-prevention have been started.
Possible Next Steps
- It is hoped that NGOs will be guided by the humanitarian imperative in terms of deciding to start and/or scale up their responses to the situation in Darfur. At the same time, however, it should be recognised that a proliferation of actors may not help if efforts are not made to ensure complementarity in programmes so that gaps are filled. Such coordination will help to also to ensure that work is not being duplicated (or counter-productive).
- NGOs that are working in Darfur should be sharing their information and assessments widely with others to ensure that organisations know where the greatest needs are that need to be met. ICVA could make available information pertaining to Darfur on the members' only site.
- As donor response often dictates whether many NGOs can start operations, if members feel that it would help, a letter could be written by ICVA to donors urging them to provide adequate funds rapidly in order to meet humanitarian needs.
FURTHER RESOURCES
Looking forward to hearing from you (and of hearing of your programmes),
With best regards,
ICVA Secretariat
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