Latest report on ICRC activities in the field

Civilians in Darfur are still enduring the brunt of the conflict.

Needs are particularly acute in rural areas where local economies have been disrupted by lack of access to fields and markets, or to migration routes for nomadic communities, and where access to basic infrastructure and services is sporadic.

In September, October and November, ICRC staff were able to make a substantial number of trips out into the field in all three Darfur states, despite the volatile security situation.

ICRC teams returned to rural areas that had previously been difficult to access, partly owing to the rainy season.

They provided aid to civilians in Golol, Terej, Abata, Waranga, Dabenga, Gorne and Dayoka in West Darfur; Sany Haya, Korma, Tomeh, El Kuma, Kurge, Tawila, Saga, Hashaba, Haskanita and Um Sidir in North Darfur, and Sullel, Torongtawra, and Muhajeriya in South Darfur.

Access to some areas nevertheless remains sporadic.

The ICRC also visited Kassala city, East Sudan, to prepare an assessment of the impact of mines on the population in the state.

Staff also visited the local branch of the Sudanese Red Crescent Society to provide support and ensure that the activities of the two organizations were well coordinated.

The ICRC discussed with the authorities and the Red Crescent the new influx of refugees from Eritrea arriving in Hamushkurieb, as well as the situation of people living in Wad Sharife camp and in Toglei camp for internally displaced people.

In southern Sudan, ICRC staff visited Aweil in North Bahr El Ghazal; Raja and Boro Medina in West Bahr El Ghazal and Abyei and Kadugli in South Kordofan to gauge the precarious situation of the population, including of people displaced from Darfur and living in Boro Medina.

Many of these places also suffered flooding between August and September.

ICRC teams distributed Red Cross messages (brief personal messages to relatives made otherwise unreachable by the fighting) and visited Sudanese Red Crescent branches to discuss possible support.

The ICRC relies on the commitment of the authorities (and of opposition groups where relevant) to ensure safe access to people in need.

It engages in sustained dialogue on all sides to discuss security and access issues and generally enjoys the confidence of all parties, who recognize its strictly neutral humanitarian role.


Emergency aid distributed to civilians around Haskanita Following the clashes that occurred in Haskanita on 29 September, the ICRC distributed relief supplies to 5,560 people who had fled their homes for villages around the town.

At the end of October, a team of 37 staff members with 13 trucks provided 1,112 families with food packages including lentils, sorghum, oil, sugar and salt.

The ICRC also handed out basic household items such as sleeping mats, blankets, jerrycans, kitchen sets, tarpaulins, clothing and some urgent medical supplies for families who have lost their homes and personal belongings.

ICRC engineers furnished essential parts and equipment needed to put five water yards back into operation.

These supply drinking water for 15,000 persons, both residents and displaced people.

"Many of these dispossessed families from Haskanita had no shelter and were living under trees", said Daniel Muñoz-Rojas, an ICRC delegate.

"This operation also benefits the host communities, who have been supporting the displaced people for a month."
Access to vital health care As part of its efforts to improve access to health care in rural areas, the ICRC is supporting six health posts and other medical facilities throughout Darfur.

(This support consists in donating drugs and equipment and providing training and incentives for staff.) The ICRC is also supporting the health authorities in terms of vaccinations, ante-natal care and curative consultations; the organization's mobile health teams can reach areas to which the Ministry of Health does not have access.

The ICRC substantially stepped up its health-care activities in West Darfur in October, when it initiated support for the health post in Gorne and set up a dispensary tent in Fase.

Since September, the organization's staff have helped the Ministry of Health vaccinate over 7,000 children under the age of five against polio in 10 damrats (nomadic settlements) around Fase, completed three rounds of routine immunization in Gorne, Dabenga and Waranga, West Darfur, and supported immunization campaigns in Saga, North Darfur, vaccinating over 150 children under one year of age against polio and measles and immunizing more than 70 pregnant women against tetanus.

"One of our priorities is to help ensure good health for the most vulnerable people in rural areas affected by conflict," said Cleto Chashi, the ICRC health coordinator "The vaccination campaign for children and pregnant women is just one example of this." The ICRC field surgical team, made up of a surgeon, an anaesthetist, a surgical nurse and a ward nurse, treats wounded people in situations where otherwise there will be no access to medical care.

During the months of September, October and November, the team was deployed seven times in Darfur.

It treated 91 patients: 85 fighters and six civilians.

It also organized a workshop on care for war-wounded people for the Sudanese Liberation Army in Nyala, South Darfur at the end of October.

An emergency trauma course was organized for the medical staff in El Fasher, North Darfur by the ICRC field surgeon.

In Birmeza and Tawila, North Darfur, ICRC medical staff gave first-aid training to bearers of weapons.


Vaccinating livestock in North Darfur Livestock are the main asset and means of survival for many nomadic communities, but traditional migratory routes and access to water and veterinary care are often disrupted by the ongoing conflict, putting livelihoods at risk.

The ICRC is conducting animal vaccination campaigns in close cooperation with the Sudanese Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries to support nomadic pastoralists in Darfur.

It provides the vaccines free of charge and furnishes expertise and logistics.

Two campaigns have been carried out in Dar El Salam and Kabkabyia, in North Darfur.

A third one, in the Kutum area, should be completed in early 2008.

It is expected that at the end of the campaigns, over 200,000 animals will have been vaccinated in Darfur.

The ICRC has also trained over 80 animal health workers to boost their capacity to provide basic veterinary care in their own communities.


Enhancing the water supply in Darfur Given the number of people and animals in the vast territory of Darfur, demands on available water are immense, especially when seasonal water courses dry up.

The territory has no permanent surface water and both the local population and their livestock depend for most of the year on underground sources.

ICRC engineers went to Sani Haya, where they repaired a major water yard (water supply system), restoring supplies to 9,000 people from 17 surrounding villages.

The work included repair of the pump station and installation of a new engine, repairs to the pipeline network, and cleaning of the borehole.

Also in North Darfur, ICRC water-supply technicians helped 8,000 people in the rural areas of Kurge, Tangara, Nena, Lamena, Maghera, Um Salaya, Korma area, Dawa, Fata Borno, Hashaba and Um Sidr.

They repaired hand pumps and provided villagers with spare parts in order to repair further pumps, benefiting in all over 17,000 civilians.


Southern Sudan: Helping disabled people walk again The welfare of people left disabled after the long civil war is still a matter of great concern in southern Sudan.

The ICRC continues to support the limb-fitting and rehabilitation centre in Juba, which cares for amputees.

It is currently building the new Juba Physical Rehabilitation Centre to provide long-term support for the authorities in their work to assist the disabled people of southern Sudan.

The new centre, which should be finished by mid-2008, will be able to fit 1,000 patients per year.


Promoting knowledge of international humanitarian law among combatants The ICRC in Sudan strives to enhance awareness and knowledge of the law and thereby improve compliance with its provisions.

In November, the organization held a two-day workshop on the subject for commanders and legal advisers of the Sudanese Liberation Army near Jebel Marra, West Darfur.

The purpose was to stress the need to spare civilians, detainees and wounded combatants.

The workshop augmented the participants' knowledge of the law, which lays down rules protecting civilians and wounded and detained combatants.

The event was also an opportunity to discuss the roles of legal advisers and commanders in ensuring respect for humanitarian law.

Two workshops were also held, in Khartoum and in Shendi, for Sudanese Armed Forces instructors as part of the ICRC's joint effort with the military to boost its ability to teach international humanitarian law to its personnel.


During September, October and November the ICRC:

repaired or upgraded water-supply systems (such as water yards and hand pumps) in all three Darfur states, benefiting 50,000 people; vaccinated 8,000 children and over 1,000 pregnant women; treated 554 patients at its three limb-fitting and rehabilitation centres in Sudan (Khartoum, Nyala and Juba) and produced 176 prostheses and 136 orthoses; delivered 2,500 Red Cross messages and collected 3,250; continued to monitor violations of international humanitarian law and hold confidential discussions with all parties on the need to protect civilians affected by the conflict; distributed monthly food rations to over 100,000 people and provided them with safe drinking water and sanitation in Gereida camp, South Darfur (The ICRC also provides medical care for the camp population and runs a feeding centre for malnourished children jointly with the British and the Australian Red Cross.); made over 20 presentations on international humanitarian law, ICRC activities and the fundamental principles of the Red Cross and Red Crescent to government officials, military personnel, opposition groups, armed militias and religious and community leaders.

For further information, please contact:
Cecilia Goin, ICRC Khartoum, tel : +249 912 13 77 64
Anna Schaaf, ICRC Geneva, tel : +41 79 217 32 17

See also ICRC media contacts

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