The Flawed NGO; Zoe's Ark

Sometimes an act of charity can be a bad idea and cause more harm than is intended. People who are moved to do something about poverty can do the wrong thing if careful planning is not done first. They need to talk with the people who would be the recipients of this help and make sure it is something they really need. Spending some time in the far flung places they have only seen in the media can go a long way to making sure the help is effective.

We have heard the stories about free t-shirts and shoes, what follows is a story about a bad idea surrounding orphans. From the Guardian writer Simon Allison details the flawed NGO called Zoe's Ark.

My personal favourite terrible international aid idea comes courtesy of French NGO Zoe's Ark, whose founders saw a terrible problem and an easy solution. In 2007, with war raging in Darfur, they realised that the orphans left stranded by the conflict would need a new home. They also realised that there were plenty of French families who wanted to adopt, but were struggling due to France's complicated adoption system. So they hired a plane, flew to Chad and rounded up some orphans from a refugee camp near the Sudanese border, the costs covered by the cash advances paid by eager potential parents.

This is where the problems began. Before the plane could return to France, the Zoe's Ark crew were arrested by unhappy Chadian authorities, who quite rightly pointed out that the NGO should have complied with Chad's own adoption laws. Also, the Chadians noted, most of these Sudanese orphans were neither orphans nor were they from Sudan; they were local kids lured in by Zoe's Ark's false promises of a trip to the clinic or a better school (this was subsequently confirmed by UN agencies and the Red Cross). Blinded by their ignorance, moral righteousness and end-justifies-the-means mentality, Zoe's Ark was only just prevented from kidnapping dozens of children, all in the name of doing good.

They didn't escape unpunished. A court in Chad sentenced members of the group to eight years in prison, and ordered them to pay €6.3 million in damages to parents of the children. Shortly afterwards, they were transferred home and pardoned by Chad's president, Idriss Deby, probably thanks to extreme diplomatic pressure from France. The damages have yet to be paid.

This was not the end of the affair. In France, 103 expectant parents, all of whom had forked out between R25,000 and R50,000 (about £1,750 to £3,500) to Zoe's Ark, did not receive the little Sudanese orphan that had been promised them. This amounts to fraud, some claimed, and French authorities launched an investigation. On Monday in Paris the trial began of six members of the NGO, who have been charged with illegal involvement in adoption procedures, attempting to bring minors into the country illegally, and fraud. With its sensational, noxious mix of international intrigue and naïve idealism, the trial is receiving huge attention in France.

Yellow Fever kills 107 in Darfur, and drugs are still a month away

A yellow fever outbreak in Darfur could lead to a major health catastrophe throughout the Sudan. 107 people have died from yellow fever so far in Darfur. There are signs that the disease could be spreading past the embattled region as one case has been confirmed in the city of Kharthoum.

The spread is not likely to be stopped anytime soon because vaccinations are still a month away. There is a shortage of the vaccine currently. That shortage is affecting the speed of getting the drugs to Sudan. Officials say it could be another two weeks before the vaccine arrives and another week before they can begin administering the drug.


For more we turn to Reuters Alert Net writer Katy Migro.

“This is a terribly serious situation,” Paul Reiter, professor of medical entomology at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, told AlertNet.  “If things really were to start moving rapidly, we really would not be able to do very much. It all balloons very quickly… We have very little means at our disposal for combating an epidemic in the case of yellow fever.”

Yellow fever is a viral infection that is transmitted by mosquitoes in tropical regions. The majority of patients in Darfur have experienced fever, bleeding and vomiting, according to the WHO.

War has ravaged Darfur since rebels took up arms in 2003, saying the central government had neglected the region. Conflict has continued despite the presence of the world's largest peacekeeping operation, the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), and humanitarian workers have often been attacked.

There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, only supportive care to treat dehydration and fever, and blood transfusion if needed. Vaccination is the main preventative measure.

WHO is waiting for vaccines to be imported from the International Coordinating Group on Yellow Fever Vaccine Provision, which manages the global pool of the vaccine, before it can start a mass vaccination campaign in Darfur.

“Logically speaking, we will be talking about three weeks to a month,” Anshu Banerjee, the WHO representative in Sudan, told AlertNet. “One week for the vaccine to arrive. One week for the vaccine to get to Darfur, then the training.”

Sudan requested 3.6 million doses of the vaccine but is being given only 2.4 million.
There are regular shortages in the global supply of the yellow fever vaccine due to unpredictable demand and its relatively short shelf life.

Medecins du Monde kicked out of Darfur

More trouble seems to be brewing in Darfur. The Sudanese government has kicked out an aid group saying they were spying for the rebels. Whenever we come across a story like this, that is usually the excuse given by the ruling government. More that likely the expulsion is so no one can see what they are doing.

Sudan did kick out 13 different aid groups in 2009. The target of the expulsion this time was Medecins du Monde. The French charity had their offices raided by the Sudanese military and staff members were arrested. Most of those arrested have since be released.

From Reuters AlertNet, writer Andrew Heavens describes the ousting.

Sudan, highly suspicious of foreign intervention, has had a tense relationship with the aid groups that poured in to help hundreds of thousands of people displaced by Darfur's eight-year conflict between government troops and rebels.

Workers from four humanitarian organisations, who asked not to be named, told Reuters there had been a recent increase travel restrictions and worsening security conditions.
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Medecins du Monde's Paris-based general director Pierre Salignon said he had not received any official notice of an expulsion. "We are a purely humanitarian organisation, trying to reach people in a very difficult situation," he told Reuters.

Medecins du Monde was one of the last aid groups working in the central Jabel Marra region, a rebel stronghold and the scene of recent clashes. Other aid groups say the government has barred access to large parts of the area for a year.

U.N. sources said security officials arrested more than 12 Sudanese people working for the group on Thursday, later releasing all but two. Two foreign workers flew from Nyala to Khartoum over the weekend, they said.

Time to focus again on Darfur

Now that the Southern Sudan independence vote is over, it is time for the international community to turn its focus to Darfur. The government of Sudan has increased its violent actions in Darfur while the world watched the voting in the South. Fighting between the government and opposition groups over the last couple of months have forced thousands to flee the area.

From The East African, writer Kevin Kelley receives a statement from the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on the latest armed conflict in Darfur.

Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, deplored the latest round of killings in comments to reporters following a Security Council meeting on Darfur in late January.

Ms Rice also implicitly criticised the response of the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur known as Unamid.

“We expect Unamid, as one of the UN’s largest and most costly operations, with one of the most robust mandates passed by this council, to be very active and, when necessary, aggressive, in fulfilling its mandate to protect civilians,” Ms Rice declared.

She noted that Unamid’s access to contested locations in Darfur had been blocked by Sudan government forces on 23 occasions in recent months.

And she suggested indirectly that the civilian leader of the 20,000-strong peacekeeping operation, Nigerian diplomat Ibrahim Gambari, had not been sufficiently forceful in demanding access.

“It’s not subject to negotiation,” Ms Rice said.

The possible upcoming war in Sudan

A couple of days ago we linked to a press release that said that Sudan was unprepared for an upcoming referendum on southern independence. A coalition of humanitarian and human rights organizations called from urgent action from heads of state.

Instead of preparing for independence, Sudan seems to be preparing for war. The Sudan government doesn't want the south to break away because most of the country's oil sits in the south. The UN Security Council could do something about Sudan in meetings today but it seems unlikely. The international community and the US government has not done enough to stand in the way of this possible war.

From his New York Times blog, writer Nicholas Kristof sheds more light on the Sudan predicament that lies in front of the UN security council.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to meet today to discuss African peace and security issues, including how to prevent mass atrocities there. Presumably the Security Council will again refuse to address seriously the most important African peace issue — the prospect of a new north-south war in Sudan in the coming months.

It is so frustrating to see what’s unfolding in Sudan these days. It looks like one of those old-time Westerns where two trains are steaming toward each other on the same track. You know it’s going to end badly — and yet it’s difficult to get attention until disaster happens.
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Now that the International Criminal Court has indicted Sudanese President Bashir for genocide, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity, you might think that the Security Council would focus on avoiding such a war. But it has pretty much tried to avoid the subject. As for the Obama administration, it has refused to put serious pressure on Khartoum, and the policy seems to me to be failing. One measure of that is the recent crackdowns in northern Sudan on civil society there, perhaps a warm-up to the new war.

The Bush administration managed to get the CPA that brought the referendum and a respite from Sudanese war. If the Obama administration blows it so that war resumes, that will be a serious black mark for the White House. As a recent op-ed in the Times by Dave Eggers and John Prendergast noted correctly:

This is President Obama’s Rwanda moment, and it is unfolding now, in slow motion. It is not too late to prevent the coming war in Sudan, and protect the peace we helped build five short years ago.

The Darfur Stoves Project

The Darfur Stove is a simple, highly efficient stove that uses only a fraction of the wood for cooking food. They are called Darfur Stoves because they are distributed for use in the refugee camps for former residents of Darfur. Whenever women leave the camps to gather firewood, they run the risk of being attacked, so the stoves provide a way to lessen the danger. The non-profit Darfur Stoves Project has teamed with US AID to distribute the stoves to throughout the camps.

From Triple Pundit, we find this interview with Andrée Sosler from the project. Writer Tori Okner asks Sosler about cooperation with other fuel saving stoves.

3p: On the Darfur Stoves Project website, you link to other fuel-efficient stoves. Do you consider those firms or organization competitors or collaborators?

Sosler: Historically, it’s been a very competitive field. However, there seems to be a new focus on sharing information and learning from one another. For example, on the recent trip to Haiti, we spoke with the folks from StoveTec and offered to take two of their stoves along in order to garner feedback. In exchange, we sent them a Berkeley-Darfur stove to test. In Haiti, we’re asking what other projects are currently on the ground? What markets are they focusing on? We’ll target our stove to the underserved constituency. Competition can be good; it can also be a detriment. We aren’t claiming our stove is better for every situation. We hope TISS can become a resource portal for stove information.

3p: The Darfur-Berkeley stove is for sale, not for aid donation. Can you expand on the value associated with an item bought versus donated?

Sosler: One of the things that drew me to the Darfur Stoves Project was the very strong belief that giving something away for free is a disservice to the people who need it. This philosophy stems from the importance of establishing a feedback mechanism. When you give something away you can do impact assessment and surveys, but you may not get good feedback on how valued your product is. That said, we just delivered 1,000 stoves for free. The ultimate goal is to negotiate with our partners to set a subsidized price above the price of scrap metal.

3p: The Berkeley-Darfur Stove is said to last about five years. The desire to minimize environmental degradation is an impetus behind the project- how has that shaped stove design?

Sosler: First, the stove is designed to use as little firewood as possible. In a lab without wind, it decreases the use of wood by 72%. In the field we think that shifts to 50% (we are currently conducting impact assessment surveys to study this), so the Berkeley-Darfur Stove is at least twice as efficient as cooking on an open fire. In terms of lifecycle though, as the organization grows, we would like to get a sense of the overall carbon footprint of the stove.

3p: In a 2008 interview with the Wharton Journal, you said, “My passion is to develop market-oriented solutions to poverty.” Is that still true? Any amendments or qualifications?

Sosler: Still true. I really believe that a feedback mechanism is crucial and lacking in many elements of international development. Yet, now that I’m working in an extreme humanitarian situation, I recognize that a fully functional market (as it would be defined at Wharton, or by most business schools) is not always optimal. When the goal is worldwide and less focused on those left behind, I would push for more sustainable businesses. I really do think that market solutions to poverty are the way forward.

Golfing in Sudan

A new golf course has opened up in the most unlikely place... Sudan. The golf course is placed in a country with poverty stricken slums, and a bloody conflict in Darfur. It raises some ethical questions of use of water and inequality. But the people who built it say it's another score for development in Sudan.

From CNN, we are introduced the course developer and hear both sides of the debate.

Soba is the latest creation from Swiss architect Peter Harradine and his company Harradine Golf, an organization started by Harradine's grandfather in 1929.

Since taking the reins, he has been responsible for building golf courses in some of the most dangerous locations on the planet. It seems, after a war ends and a cease fire is announced, local developers reach for his number.

"I get contacted by all sorts of different people," he told CNN. "I am based in Dubai, as are a lot of investors who use Dubai as a hub. So I have had calls from [places like] Georgia, Tunisia and, of course, Sudan, but I'm not consciously waiting for wars to end!"
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Yet it is his course in Sudan that has been the most surprising, not to mention controversial. Harradine was contracted by a local conglomerate to satisfy the demand created by Sudan's booming, oil-fueled economy.

According to the IMF, Sudan's GDP grew an average of eight percent year-on-year between 2004 and 2008. "There are a lot of rich people in Khartoum," Harradine told CNN.

But not everyone is happy with the global spread of golf. According to some, the building of golf courses in some parts of the world, especially in areas where clean drinking water is at a premium, raises some huge ethical issues.

UNESCO's first World Water Development Report said an 18-hole golf course can use as much as 2.3 million liters of water every day. The UK-based NGO Water Aid estimates that 66 percent of Sudanese, more than 25 million people, do not have access to clean water.

"We are not here to tell the Sudanese they can or cannot have a golf course but I'd be very surprised if the economic benefits will help the communities that live cheek by jowl with it," explained Water Aid's Oliver Cumming.
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But Harradine sees the golf course as a chance to spread the game he loves whilst boosting the local economy at the same time. "I never go into politics, but I love golf and everyone should play golf," he said.

"I've never had any problem moving around Sudan. We had more problems finding the right sand for the root mixture and the right raw material. It's the technical issues, especially when there's an embargo, like bringing in brand new Caterpillars, but we got them. You read a lot in the papers that is bull***t. Who's right, who's wrong?

"During the construction we employed 200 people from the neighboring shacks," he continued. "They all had work, plus the security. A lot of people are learning how to maintain a golf course and each player has a local caddie. So these guys will all become players. In the beginning the richer clients profit, but in the end it trickles down to the normal guy."

GOAL aid workers released from captivity

Aid workers for the Irish agency GOAL has been released from three months of captivity in Darfur. Bandits had taken the aid workers and demanded their ransom. Irish and Ugandan officials were able to free the aid workers without paying money.

From Forbes Magazine, we hear of the experiences of captivity from Sharon Cummins of Ireland.

Sharon Commins and colleague Hilda Kuwuki, who both worked for Irish aid agency GOAL, were abducted July 3 and freed without harm Sunday. Commins said they both might have died from broken spirits if not for the moral support they gave each other.

"You could die in there of sadness. You could just die if you didn't lift your spirits," Commins told Irish broadcasters RTE before her departure from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, aboard Ireland's government jet. "We definitely needed each other. We prayed together and tried to keep each other strong."

Sudanese and Irish authorities say the bandits demanded a ransom but received no money. Commins and Kuwuki were held the longest of three groups of foreign aid workers kidnapped in Sudan's war-torn western border since March. All were eventually freed.

Commins, 33, said she and the 42-year-old Kuwuki were held in the open in mountainous terrain, received two meals a day but little water, were allowed to bathe about every two weeks, and had to sleep on the ground with one blanket each. They were permitted to phone their families once as part of the kidnappers' efforts to extract a reported $1 million ransom.

She said their captors, who numbered from a dozen to about 18 gunmen, amused themselves by pretending to shoot the pair.

"There were mock assassinations on a few occasions, so it was extremely scary. We were always anxious and stressed and upset until the minute we got out," Commins said.

Sudan allowing some aid groups back in

The Sudan government is allowing some aid groups back into Darfur. In addition, the government is allowing the aid groups that remain to expand their efforts.

From the BBC, has more of the latest development on Darfur.

Sudan expelled 13 foreign aid groups in March after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.

Meanwhile, the backer of a conference on Darfur says it has been cancelled because of opposition from Sudan.

It was intended to bring together some 400 people from Darfur's diverse ethnic groups in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Pro-government groups as well as those close to Darfuri rebels were included.

Funded by Sudanese expatriate and telecoms entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim, it also had the backing of the UN, the African Union and the Arab League.

"The Sudanese government is obstructing the safe passage of Darfurian delegates from Sudan, forcing us to cancel the conference," his foundation said.

Mr Ibrahim told the BBC delegates had being harassed, their passports withdrawn and that some had been warned they were engaging in activities against the state.

BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says work to prepare for the conference has been under way for nearly a year, and UN planes and helicopters had been on standby to help airlift the delegates to Ethiopia.

The UN says that up to 300,000 people have died during the conflict in Darfur and 2.7 million been driven from their homes.

How the aid expulsions are effecting other areas of Sudan

The Sudan kicking out aid organizations has hurt the people of Darfur, but it also effects many other areas of the country too. The expulsions may have kicked out the only aid group for a certain area. The Overseas Development Institute says that areas in Eastern and Southern Sudan may have no aid groups working there at all.

From this IRIN article that we found at All Africa, we learn how the expulsions hurt other battleground areas destroyed by the Sudan war.

NGO expulsions have left humanitarian gaps not only in Darfur, but also in eastern Sudan and the so-called Three Areas bordering on Southern Sudan, Abyei, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile - volatile regions key to the success of a 2005 peace accord.

"The expulsions have left large parts of the Three Areas and eastern Sudan without humanitarian assistance or recovery and reintegration support," writes Sara Pantuliano, research fellow with the Humanitarian Policy Group of the Overseas Development Institute. "Unlike in Darfur, there is very little additional capacity beyond the expelled agencies to even attempt to fill these gaps."

Before its expulsion, Oxfam GB was working in Red Sea State, eastern Sudan. "We have been working with very remote, marginalised communities who have very little support from anywhere else," Alun McDonald, Oxfam GB regional media and communications officer for Horn, East and Central Africa, told IRIN. The region, which has high rates of poverty, malnutrition and illiteracy, often suffers regular floods and droughts.

"Last time the floods hit, many villages were submerged and thousands of people lost their homes, animals and farms... if the floods strike again this year, with nearly all the aid agencies expelled, communities will be extremely vulnerable," McDonald said. "The decision to expel us from eastern Sudan will affect the poorest people in the state."

Children at risk

Kassala and Red Sea states have the highest malnutrition rates in Sudan, according to ODI. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates that the expulsions will leave more than 100,000 vulnerable children in northern Sudan without support.

Access to health services has also been reduced in Southern Kordofan. According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), at least 30 percent of the state's health facilities remain without direct implementing partner support, and may suspend services in routine immunisation, nutrition and feeding programmes following the expulsions.

"...The expulsion means we can no longer support 56 health clinics that we've helped to build or rehabilitate since the peace agreement in 2005. We can no longer provide these clinics with essential medicines, staff training or support for community health education initiatives," Kurt Tjossem, International Rescue Committee (IRC) regional director for the Horn and East Africa region, told IRIN.

Before its expulsion, the IRC was working in Kassala, Red Sea, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan "... supporting... lifesaving medical care, water, sanitation and livelihoods for around 1.1 million people".

Now, the IRC has been forced to stop its water and sanitation programmes in these areas. Fewer than 40 percent of the population of Kassala and Red Sea states have access to safe drinking water.

"In former SPLM [Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement, which governs Southern Sudan and is a partner in the national unity government, GNU] areas of both Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, particularly Kaoda and Kurmuk, NGOs deliver most essential services," according to the ODI.

Video: Darfur aid crisis story from Al Jazeera

UN warns on the growing humanitarian crisis in Darfur

The United Nations is issuing a warning on the growing humanitarian crisis in Darfur. The government of Sudan expelled many aid organizations from the country and prevented them from giving aid to the people of Darfur. On top of that, rebel leaders are refusing are help from the Sudanese government.

From the Guardian, Xan Rice tells us about the warning from the UN.

Some of the most vulnerable people in Darfur face a high risk of "increased morbidity and mortality" since the expulsion of 16 aid agencies three weeks ago, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator for Sudan warned today.

Ameerah Haq said that while the immediate needs of the 4.7 million people reliant on relief in Darfur were mostly being met through stopgap measures, up to 650,000 people were without access to full healthcare. Feeding programmes for malnourished children and pregnant women also remained disrupted.

Many clinics remain closed, while others are being run by local staff at a basic level. One agency today expressed concern at reports that "non-health professionals" in displaced persons' camps were using the medical equipment it had been forced to leave behind.

Some 13 foreign agencies and three local organisations responsible for at least half the aid provision in Darfur were kicked out on 4 March, minutes after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for the Sudanese president, Omar al-Bashir. Humanitarian officials have warned that Sudan's pledge to fill the aid gap is unlikely to succeed while supplies of food, medicine and water are all under threat. Darfur's main rebel group has urged people to reject all government assistance.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is distributing a two-month ration to 1.1 million displaced people who were served by Care, Solidarités, Action Against Hunger and Save the Children, which have all been expelled. But Rachid Jafaar, a WFP official, warned this was "unsustainable", and the organisation could not guarantee that all the people affected, at 140 sites, would receive food.

The situation has been exacerbated by a surge in attacks on aid workers, which has severely restricted the activities of some of the agencies left on the ground. Three foreign Médecins Sans Frontières workers were kidnapped for several days by a militia supportive of Bashir, and a local employee of a Canadian aid agency was shot dead on Monday night.

NGO officials say Sudan's national security service has been overruling the state humanitarian affairs commission on issues of which aid groups are allowed to work, and where. Haq said Bashir's government, which worked with the UN on the needs assessment mission and is supplying services through the health ministry and water department, needed to take urgent action to improve aid provision.

Sudanese aid worker shot dead in Darfur

A Sudanese man who works for a Canadian aid organization serving Darfur was shot dead yesterday, for his cell phone.

It's the latest act of violence against the those who provide aid for the people in Darfur. In March, a group from Medecins Sans Frontieres were kidnapped, but they have since been returned.

From this AFP article that we found at Yahoo News, see learn more about the tragedy.

"He was ambushed on Saturday by men who wanted his Thuraya satellite telephone," Mark Simmons, country director for the Fellowship for African Relief, told AFP.

"They came to his home on Monday evening to take the phone, but it wasn't there. The armed men then opened fire on him."

Simmons said the attack took place in west Darfur, near the border with Chad.

"We've been in Sudan for 24 years and this is the first time that one of our workers is killed," he said.

The killing came after Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, accused by the International Criminal Court of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, expelled 13 foreign relief agencies earlier this month.

Beshir has stepped up his defiance of the West since the ICC issued an arrest warrant for him on March 4, vowing to expel foreign aid groups and to replace them with Sudanese organisations.

Comment on the aid expulsions from Darfur

A very under-reported story that has been going on in recent weeks are the expulsions of aid grounds and NGO's who provide much need food and support to the people of Darfur. The government of Sudan has been kicking out the aid groups and leaving a vacuum of need for the refugees of Darfur.

We normally don't leave commentaries up through the weekend, but Jim Wallis wrote a piece for God's Politics that has been weighing on our minds lately. Again, our blog's goal is to shed light on a very under-reported subject in the American press. The actions of the government of Sudan seem to have been forgotten in all the news of the global recession, so we felt led to give this commentary some attention through the weekend.

Here we are again, and again, and again. It is not a new message or a new concern. People have been suffering, starving, raped, beaten and killed year in and year out. There are those who have committed years, entire lives, to the cause. They have preached, they have marched, they have sung, they have divested, and they have been arrested to make their voices heard. Politicians, celebrities, faith leaders, and activists have joined together to stand up and speak out. The campaigns have gone on so long and the education so effective that 58 percent of Americans can now locate this remote country on a map. But, “never again” has turned into “once again,” and history repeats itself with genocide in Darfur.

Over the past few weeks, 13 international humanitarian organizations have been expelled from Sudan at the dictate of Omar al-Bashir, president of Sudan. These actions came soon after the International Criminal Court handed down an indictment of al-Bashir and issued a warrant for his arrest for crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur. As a result, 1.1 million Darfuris are without food, 1.5 million without health care, and more than 1 million without access to clean drinking water. If there was any doubt as to whether or not he was truly acting in the best interest of his people, his use of food and water as weapons of war show that he just does not care about the people of Darfur.

Over the past month, officials have spoken to me about invoking Article 16 of the Court’s statutes which would allow the U.N. Security Council to defer proceedings for a year or even more. They argue that this would allow the Khartoum government to take positive steps forward in taking care of its people and moving toward peace. With the expulsion of these humanitarian organizations, al-Bashir has shown that he has no interest in the well-being of the people of Darfur or in bringing piece. These actions show that once again there comes a time when a political leader has so violated standards of international law and morality that he should no longer be treated as a sovereign, even in his own country, but as a criminal. Actions like this show that he should no longer be president, but prosecuted and brought to justice like the international fugitive of the law he now is. If he was serious about peace and progress, the first thing he should do is welcome the aid organizations back into his country, and without that he has ensured that this warrant will be pursued.
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Again, and again, and again. The unacceptable has been accepted, atrocities have been ignored. When the dust clears and the bodies are buried, burned, or left to rot in forsaken camps, the whole world will mourn for what has been done. But, what Sudan needs is not apologies in the future, but hope today. Until the killing has stopped and peace restored, Sudan needs people of conscience across the world who will stand in solidarity today, tomorrow, and the day after that – again, and again, and again.

Sudanese exile group calls on UN seize Sudan Oil revenues

A group of Sudanese exiles are calling on the United Nations to create an oil for food program for the people of Darfur.

The government of Sudan has kicked out many agencies that provide much needed aid to Darfur. Creating an aid vacuum to an already urgent humanitarian crisis. To combat the problem the Sudanese exiles want the UN to step in.

The Sudan Tribune carries an article about the press conference.

The Sudanese Group for Transparency and Good Governance held a press conference in London to discuss establishing a UN-controlled fund of Sudanese oil revenues, saying the measure could fill the gap in the relief effort in Darfur after the expulsion of the international humanitarian organizations, and guarantee to South Sudan its full share of oil revenues in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

Haroun Abdulhameed Haroun, the chairperson of the organization, said “peace can not materialize unless the oil revenue is directed to satisfy the needs, desires and welfare of the Sudanese people.” He proposed that oil revenues be used to address the major problems of Darfur refugees rather than financing a regime that he described as criminally violent, corrupt and irresponsible.

According to the proposal of the Sudanese Group for Transparency and Good Governance, the fund would also compensate victims of war and dam construction, as well as to rehabilitate the war-affected areas and “to save the unity of Sudan.”

Organizers claimed that the UN-controlled fund is necessary because “all Darfur is now transformed into a displaced area… The living situation in the camps is miserable as the government is impeding humanitarian aid and expelling the working organizations in this field.”

They also cited lack of compensation for war victims, saying this deficit “is proved by allocating only $30 million for compensation according to the deformed Abuja Peace Agreement. This sum of money merely equals the sum paid in compensation of two victims of the Lockerbie incident in Scotland/UK.”

“The Sudanese government does not respect or fulfill its promises to pay the small sum of allocated (in the budget) for the development and reconstruction in accordance to the unfair and partial peace agreements in Darfur, East and Kurdofan. This is made worse by the deprivation of fair compensation to victims of newly constructed dams in northern Sudan,” complained the group.

World Vision statement on expulsions from Darfur

At least 10 aid organizations have been kicked out of Darfur by the government of Sudan. Which has created of vacuum of aid to the refuges of the area.

World Vision has issued a statement on the expulsions. While they themselves have yet to kicked out, they say the condition of people there remains critical.

Humanitarian agency World Vision is deeply worried that the forced departure of several large relief groups from Sudan will create gaps in critical humanitarian services to thousands of vulnerable children and adults, putting them at risk in the war-torn region of Darfur.

World Vision's license to operate in Sudan has not been affected at this point in time, and the agency plans to continue providing more than 500,000 people in South Darfur with life-saving food, water, sanitation, medical care and other humanitarian services.

World Vision will also continue running humanitarian, recovery and development programmes in Khartoum State, Blue Nile State and Southern Sudan.

World Vision currently provides monthly food rations to more than 300,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in camps for displaced people and conflict-affected areas of South Darfur.

World Vision also runs supplemental feeding centers, primary health clinics, clean water and improved sanitation programmes, temporary schools, Child-Friendly Spaces, and vocational training for women.

World Vision is deeply concerned about the prospect of fewer humanitarian resources at a time when needs remain critical in war-ravaged Darfur and encourages donors to continue supporting aid programmes for the region’s needy people.

Another humanitarian aid group kicked out of Darfur

The government of Sudan has ordered another humanitarian aid group to leave the country. Leaving the people of Sudan and Darfur without critical aid. Sudan has kicked out 10 such groups already.

The organization Action Against Hunger released a press release about their expulsion. In the release they state grave concern over the people left behind in Sudan. We found the release from Reuters Alert Net.

On Wednesday, 4th March, the Sudanese authorities ordered humanitarian organisation Action Against Hunger / Action contre la Faim (ACF) to leave the country. The ACF offices in Khartoum were sealed off and the organisation's programmes throughout Sudan were brought to a halt. ACF deplores this decision and wishes to express its concern about the fate of millions of Sudanese.

ACF has been present in Sudan since 1985, running programmes in food assistance and treatment of malnutrition, as well as providing access to water and sanitation. In 2008, ACF provided assistance to around 450,000 people in Sudan, 80% of which were in Darfur. ACF distributed 800,000 food rations and almost 10,000 tonnes of food in this region, where almost 2.5 million people survive primarily thanks to humanitarian assistance. In addition, 100,000 people in Darfur benefitted from water, sanitation and hygiene programmes.

"If Action Against Hunger has to discontinue its activities in Sudan, 450,000 people will be immediately deprived of emergency assistance and will be left alone to find food and water", says Francois Danel, Executive Director of ACF-France.

Related Video

Profile of a NGO working in Darfur

Women usually feel the brunt of poverty, war, and corruption. The charity Women for Women, helps these women rebuild their lives and overcome prejudices.

Sudan is one of the countries that Women for Women does a lot of work in, especially for the women of Darfur. The charity has begun a cooperative farm for women to grow produce and earn money.

The Voice of America profiled Women for Women, and sent reporter Joe DeCapua to get the story.

Karak Mayik, country director in Sudan for the group Women for Women, says women face many war-related and other obstacles.

"The war destroyed everything. There is lack of infrastructure. No development. No basic needs for human beings, especially women. And also, after the peace agreement, women are facing another war, which is the culture. They can't own land. They can't do some other major activities for themselves," she says.

She says that until the entire country is at peace, it will be difficult to help all those in need.

"If there is a wound in one of your body parts, you cannot feel peaceful and you cannot feel well. So, the war in Darfur is challenging us. The war in Abyei is challenging us. The peace agreement is a challenge to be implemented.

Abyei is a town in South Kurdufan, linking north and south Sudan. It's the site of much of the country's oil production and the cause of much tension. A 2011 referendum may determine whether Abyei belongs to the north or south.

To help deal with poverty and lack of development, Women for Women has obtained land for farming in the town of Rumbek.

"Last year, we got 90 hectares of land from the community leaders. They give it to use forever, 99 years, and we call it CIFI – Commercial Integrated farming Initiative. It is an agro-business for the women. Women are cultivating more than 21 types of vegetables," she says.

Many communities and businesses now depend on produce from the farm. And Mayik says that income from the farm has changed women's lives.

"They benefit from the farm in many ways. First, for themselves. They say we're looking smart now. We've changed our lifestyles. They are sending their kids to the schools, to the hospitals," Mayik says.

In the beginning, men were opposed to women starting their own business, saying it went against the culture. Now that they've seen the benefits, they support it, even to the extent they make sure their wives wake up in time to get to work.

Putting Sudan in charge?

Last week, we posted a story about comments from the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir. Yes, the same one who is committing genocide to the people in Darfur. I thought it was weird that he would show his face in a summit, and make charges against the international community. I also thought it was weird that he was the chair of this group's summit.

We found this commentary on the international community turning a blind eye to the killings in Sudan. In fact, the international groups still put this killer in charge of things. And some very important things at that.

from The New Republic

But the largest and most influential group of developing nations has added an ill-considered and wholly gratuitous burden to the challenges of the MDG: they have selected the Sudan government, which continues to perpetrate genocide in Darfur in front of the eyes of the world, to be their chair in the coming year. The "Group of 77," as it's known, made this extraordinary decision at the very moment the General Assembly and the U.N. Secretariat were highlighting a number of discouraging shortfalls in MDG progress. The Group of 77 now has 130 members (77 was the number at its inception in 1964), including virtually every African nation. Since it was the African countries' turn to pick the chair of the organization, and since the selection of Sudan was supported by China, the outcome--however outrageous--is hardly surprising. Strong support from the member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference helped ensured Khartoum's diplomatic victory. The selection of the National Islamic Front regime as chair is no mere symbolic exercise, though the symbolism of the choice is intensely dispiriting. For it comes at a time when the head of the regime faces a likely arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court---for crimes against humanity and for genocide in Darfur.

Sudan says world's poor face "blackmail" by rich

from Reuters Africa

By David Lewis

ACCRA (Reuters) - Sudan's president, accused of genocide in Darfur by the West, said rich countries were bullying the planet's poorest states into accepting bad terms of trade and warned of a "looming Cold War".

Omar Hassan al-Bashir, who faces a possible International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment for war crimes in Sudan's Darfur, used an African, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) summit to criticise "power politics" in international relations.

"Small and poor states, which constitute the majority of ACP membership, are exposed to threats of aggression, interference, subversion, blackmail, pressures of all kinds and the dicta of the rich and the powerful," Bashir, the outgoing chairman of the ACP group, said in a speech to the summit in Ghana.

He and his successor, Ghanaian President John Kufuor, called on the 79 nations of the ACP group, which has a population of over 300 million and includes some of the poorest countries, to unite to confront the challenges of globalisation.

These included seeking a common position to negotiate trade with the European Union, which buys more than a quarter of the group's exports, and trying to improve the terms of trade for developing nations within the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

ACP unity has been undermined by some members which, under pressure from Brussels and worried about being excluded from the EU market, have signed Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with the bloc, while others hold out for better terms.

The first of these deals are to be concluded on October 15.

"Embarrassingly, some of our members have been caught, on the one hand, between the non-fulfilment of the (WTO) Doha Round, which would have created a fairer trading system; and the resort to trading arrangements such as the EPAs with the EU, on the other, which tend to undermine our regional integration efforts," said Kufuor, whose country has inked an interim deal.

Bashir, who gave his speech in Arabic, was more blunt.

"The EPA negotiations have proved that no meaningful economic partnership could be achieved in the absence of real reform in current international monetary trading systems," he said, calling for "collective bargaining" by the ACP group.

Many developing world leaders and anti-poverty campaigners say the EPAs have weakened the ACP group's capacity to win better trade terms from the EU that would help protect their often vulnerable, commodity-exporting economies.

Link to full article. May expire in future.