Oxfam is providing humanitarian and long-term development aid across Darfur and South Sudan
“Worsening violence and the increased targeting of humanitarian workers continue to make it difficult for aid agencies to reach the people in need.”
Wracked by decades of conflict, Sudan recently split into two new countries, both of which face enormous challenges. The coming months will be crucial for determining whether there will be a peaceful future for the region.
The situation
The north-south war – which left an estimated 2 million people dead and 4 million homeless – was brought to an end with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005. However, today the peace deal is looking increasingly fragile. South Sudan, which became an independent state on 9 July 2011, remains one of the poorest and least developed regions of the world, and most communities still have little access to basic services.
Since 2003, the crisis in the western state of Darfur has been one of the biggest humanitarian emergencies in the world, with over 2.5 million people forced to flee their homes, and nearly 5 million people now reportedly in need of some kind of humanitarian assistance. Insecurity and targeted attacks on aid workers continue to make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to all who need it, and although large-scale fighting has reduced since the conflict broke out, better protection of civilians, a cessation of hostilities and a committed peace process is needed as urgently as ever.
What Oxfam is doing
Oxfam has been present in Sudan since 1983, providing humanitarian aid to victims of conflict, drought and floods, as well as long term development assistance to some of the most vulnerable Sudanese communities, both in Darfur and South Sudan. Oxfam is also one of the few international agencies working in neglected regions of Sudan, such as the eastern Red Sea State, supporting urban education and livelihoods projects and rural development.
South Sudan
Oxfam is providing humanitarian and long-term development aid across the south.
- In the Upper Nile region, Oxfam focuses on providing clean water, sanitation, public health promotion, and livelihood support including to Returnees in Renk and Malakal.
- In Lakes we focus on livelihoods work, supporting small-scale agriculture, microfinance and animal health, and we have a peacebuilding program to promote reconciliation and understanding between different communities.
- In Wau and Warrap states, Oxfam is supporting returnees, displaced people and local communities in order to promote peaceful coexistence, provide water and sanitation activities, increase food security/livelihoods, and improve the local education system.
- We also work through local partners and civil society organizations including women's groups in various parts of the country.
Oxfam assists over 100,000 people through supporting peaceful resettlement of displaced people returning to Western Bahr el Ghazal.
Oxfam also has an emergency response team which deploys across other parts of South Sudan to provide urgent assistance to people made homeless by violence or natural disasters such as floods and drought. The team helps set up water systems, digs latrines, and distributes shelter, mosquito nets and other useful items.
Darfur
As fighting continues to drive people from their homes in Darfur, we are providing humanitarian aid – clean water, sanitation, small business trainings and loans, and more – to over 300,000 civilians caught in the conflict.
Oxfam and our partners are providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene programs to nearly 250,000 people in the camps of Darfur. Our water engineers are helping maintain the wells, pumps, tanks, pipes, and taps that deliver treated water to the settlements. Our sanitation and public health staff are ensuring that camp residents have latrines, bathing areas, soap, water cans, and access to the information they need to stay healthy under challenging conditions.
Oxfam is pursuing ways to bring peace to Darfur’s conflict-affected communities. An Oxfam partner recently completed a year-long program to restore harmony among three tribes in northeastern Darfur whose relations had been badly damaged by the conflict. An estimated 80,000 people have benefited from the program, which involved helping revive the tribes’ traditional conflict-resolution system while simultaneously organizing cultural and sporting events aimed at easing tensions.
Oxfam has also supported local camp residents to assemble and distribute more than 9,000 high-efficiency stoves, which can address an array of problems in Darfur. These stoves ease the heavy economic pressure on families, by reducing the cost of fuel, help to reduce the risk of assault from armed bandits and militias on women who must trek into the countryside to gather firewood, and help to protect the environment.
Donate
Please consider helping fund our humanitarian aid work in Darfur and Chad. These Oxfam affiliates are running direct appeals for Darfur/Chad:
You can also make a donation to the general emergency fund of your nearest national Oxfam affiliate. Your money will be used to fund our emergency work worldwide, which includes responding in countries such as Sudan, South Sudan and Chad.
Read more
Read the report: Getting it Right from the Start: Priorities for Action in the New Republic of South Sudan
View the slideshow: Rescuing the peace: Southern Sudan at the crossroads
Permalink: http://oxf.am/4XZ