African leaders, Ban Ki-Moon
must take action at AU Summit or it
could be too late
Aid agencies
in Darfur today warned the enormous
humanitarian response in the region will soon be paralysed unless African and
global leaders at the AU
Summit take urgent action to end rising violence
against civilians and aid workers. They said African Heads of States and new UN
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will fail the people of Darfur
if they do
not take concrete steps to herald the start of a new chapter in the
region and ensure an immediate ceasefire is both agreed and adhered to. The six
agencies - Action
Against Hunger, CARE International, Oxfam International,
Norwegian Refugee Council, World Vision and Save the Children - said
aid workers are facing violence on a scale not seen before in
Darfur, leaving
access to people in need at the conflict's lowest point at a time when the
humanitarian need is greater than ever. Attacks on civilians are again rising
and forcing even more
people to flee their homes, and a breakdown of the aid
response will leave millions in even greater danger. The worsening
four-year-old crisis must not be allowed to deteriorate any further. "The conflict has dragged on far too long and is now worse than it's
ever been. To wait any longer puts hundreds of thousands of lives in danger and
risks a total breakdown
of the entire humanitarian response. Today must be the
time the African Union, the UN and the international community says enough is
enough," said Irũngũ Houghton, Pan
Africa Policy
Advisor for Oxfam in Addis for the Summit. Fresh fighting in January has left more than 350 people dead and forced
tens of thousands more from their homes.*
Splits in the rebel movements and a widespread lack of accountability have left
Darfur increasingly lawless, leading to the
direct targeting of aid workers. The
violence has spread throughout Darfur and
crossed the border into Chad.
Even major towns and cities are now plagued with violence and have seen
fighting and hijackings on the streets. More than a month after an attack on aid workers in Gereida - the most
violent of the conflict so far, which saw staff raped, beaten and subjected to
mock executions - it is still far too
dangerous for agencies to return to the
camp, the world's largest for displaced people, where 130,000 have sought
refuge from attacks on their villages. Temporary evacuations of staff from
other
locations across Darfur have continued,
with nearly 500 aid workers withdrawn since the start of December. In early
January, the UN warned that malnutrition rates are again rising close to
emergency
levels. Progress made in stabilising conditions over the past four
years is in serious danger of being reversed. The six
agencies warn the Summit
will fail unless:1. African Heads of States led by Chairperson Denis Sassou Ng'uesso and
new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon greatly increase the pressure on all parties to
the conflict to
ensure attacks on civilians and aid workers end immediately, and ensure that
perpetrators of violence are held to account. 2. The
African Union Commission does more to
end the growing violent attacks. The AU's
credibility with the people of Darfur is at an
all-time low. AU troops in Darfur must
immediately try to regain the civilian population's confidence
by implementing
the following proactive protection measures:
Regular "firewood patrols" accompanying women who collect
essential firewood and animal
fodder outside the camps. Although previously in
place these have now ceased in most locations in Darfur.
A 24/7
presence inside the main camps and towns to ensure safety of civilians
Making
more effective use of the Ceasefire Commission to bring violators to account
"The international community has
failed the people
of Darfur by not providing
the AU force with the funds, equipment and support that it needs. But the AU
can - and must - do more with the resources already at its disposal. There is
no reason why
firewood patrols cannot resume immediately," said Hussein Halane, Save the Children Country
Director in Sudan.Aid agencies working on the ground in Darfur
have repeatedly called for
the AU force to be strengthened, but despite two
years of promises from the entire international community, the AU is now
providing even less protection than before.For more information
contact:At the Summit, in Addis Ababa:Ismaila Dieng, Oxfam, +251 911079009, diengisma@gmail.comUK:Clare Rudebeck, Oxfam, +44 (0)
7769 887 139, crudebeck@oxfam.org.uk, *
UN/Sudan government figures
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
