Rapid Response Payment Request No.11/2008
Funds Sent To: Church Ecumenical Action In Sudan (CEAS)
Amount Sent: US$ 50,000
Date: 19 March 2008
Details of Response
Emergency: Civil Conflict in Southern Sudan
Date of Emergency: From beginning of January 2008 to date
Implementing member: Church Ecumenical Action In Sudan (CEAS)
Details of the Emergency: In January 2008 there were reports of an armed group operating in the western side of Juba County in Central Equatoria State, southern Sudan. This was already an area which had experienced insecurity due to the occasional presence of the Lord's Resistance Army, a group of Ugandan rebels, in the area, but by mid-February, there had been a steady deterioration in the security situation with looting, abduction and, untypically, the killing of a number of local persons.
Since the end of January, some 24 youths have been abducted (age ranges from 11 to 18) and while some managed to escape, others have not returned to their homes. The abducted youths are then forced to carry food and other items looted by the armed group. At least four people have been killed during the disturbances. In addition to attacks on homesteads, small business have been looted and damaged. Five health clinics have been looted and damaged. The impact on the community is high as people fearful for their security have abandoned their homes and converged on the two largest villages in the area - Wonduruba and Katirigi.Currently seeking shelter and security in the two villages mentioned are, according to the reports of the Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission, 1,763 households, consisting of 11,062 individuals.
Some affected families have been taken into homes of relatives and friends, others are living in schools, churches or under trees. People will not return to their homes until some additional security is provided in the area.
Community members left their homes with what little they could carry, food supplies are scarce and drinking water is in short supply, there are long queues at water points and some are drinking from open water sources - which is likely to account for the increase in dysentry an other water borne diseases. The close proximity of people has also seen outbreaks of mumps and chickenpox and currently the health centres do not have vaccines to immunise the rest of the population.
Food prices are increasing as food availability in the market decreases and food is in short supply. By the third week of March the situation is more or less unchanged. It is reported that some of the displaced men have visited their homes and villages to monitor the situation, but the families remain in the larger urban centres. The government has deployed troops in the area and the soldiers are reported to patrol the affected areas. Schools along the main road have reopened, but those in the more remote areas are still closed.
An inter-agency assessment identified the following as priorities:
Advocating to the government for security forces to be deployed in the area
Short term food support
Chlorination of non potable drinking sources
Restocking of the health facilities
Distribution of vaccines to prevent further outbreaks
Provision of non-food items (NFIs) to displaced families
The WFP started on 15 March to distribute food rations consisting of pulses and salt. Medair conducted a hygiene promotion and has made available a stock of oral rehydration salts. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) was approached to provide emergency farm inputs. A Netherlands-based organisation ZOA which provides emergency relief and rahabilitation to refugees and the Country Health Department /CHD) will restock the primary health care units and repair some boreholes that are close to the current IDP settlements.
Provision of NFIs and bed nets is considered to be appropriate by all agencies/organisations concerned. Many people, including the few families that have returned home already, have lost all their goods and household items. This will become more pressing when the rainy season starts in the next two months.
PROPOSED EMERGENCY RESPONSE: The purpose of the response is to provide short term relief and protective measures for people that have been victims of extreme violence and have had to flee their homes and land as a result of a series of violent attacks. CEAS proposes to provide non-food items and bed nets especially for mothers with young children and babies and pregnant women.
The response to the emergency was initiated by the Sudan Council of Churches and by ACT member the Dutch inter-church organisation for development co-operation ICCO, who work in the area on an integrated area based recovery and reintegration project. ICCO, at the moment, does not have capacity to implement a relief emergency project. Many of people affected are participants and beneficiaries of the project. The humanitarian organisations have agreed that all assistance will need to await the deployment of security forces in the affected areas. This measure is to avoid that the humanitarian aid items become a magnet for the perpetrators. Security forces were reported to have been deployed as of 4 March in the affected areas.
BENEFICIARY INFORMATION AND LOCATION OF RESPONSE: The inter-agency mission collected the following statistics from the responsible government authority:
In Wonderuba village 1,120 families/households
In Katigri village 640 families/ households
The families fled from the villages of Moje, Logwili, Jokali, Mankaro, Logwerle and Katigiri. The majority of the displaced are women and children. CEAS will provide assistance to families that are qualified as vulnerable and that have lost lives and possessions during their recent ordeal.
IMPLEMENTATION PERIOD: This response is envisioned to be a one-time distribution; the time frame will be three months from the date that funding is received.
CEAS will also ensure collaboration and coordination with the NGOs on the ground, namely ICCO and Africa Action in Development (AAH). This RRF combined with the efforts of agencies such as World food Program and ZOA for urgent medical support to primary health care centres in Wonderuba and Katigri will be sufficient to meet immediate life sustaining needs for IDPs . Second to this is the continued security support measures by the county authorities (police, military and local government structures) for the IDPs extending from their current locations of displacement and eventually to their home villages allowing for the safe return of families from Wonderuba and Katigri centres.
BUDGET: US$ 51,000.40
(For the detailed budget, kindly visit the ACT site. Thank you.)
ACTION
The ACT Co-ordinating Office has approved the use of US$50,000 towards the budget from its Rapid Response Fund and would be grateful to receive contributions to wholly or partially replenish this payment.
(ends)
ACT is a global alliance of Churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide.
The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
Thomas Borsen, a Danish marine, cleans his machine gun as the HDMS Thetis warship, escorting food aid donated by the Wold Food Programme (WFP) to Somalia, leaves the Kenyan sea port ...
