Humanitarian aid for southern Sudan's forgotten communities
Amy Whiddett
Website: http://www.wer-uk.org
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WER has delivered urgently needed humanitarian aid to southern Sudan where hundreds of thousands of people in remote communities continue to live in conditions of extreme poverty, with little or no support from international aid agencies.
Working in partnership with local development agencies Africa Inland Church (AIC) and All Nations Christian Care (ANCC), and with Scottish charity Glasgow the Caring City, WER last week donated essential medical supplies and equipment to communities in the Ikotos region of southern Sudan.
Infrastructure in Ikotos district, including access to healthcare facilities, is nominal. There is just one health clinic in the district, staffed by a medical assistant and six nursing assistants and serving a population of more than 184,000 people. For those in need of medical assistance, chances of survival are further reduced by the lack of transport in the area. Medical facilities with surgical capacity are often hours or days away. From Ikotos itself it is a four-day walk to reach the nearest electricity or telephone.
Alex Haxton, WER UK Director of Operations, and Jeremy Horner, WER UK Programme Manager, last week travelled to Ikotos district to evaluate WER's work in the region, and to discuss future partnerships in long-term development work within the region with local agencies ANCC and AIC.
Haxton reported that there are virtually no international NGOs operating in the region - the two main international agencies present in the area are in the process of withdrawing their operations, leaving behind the all too familiar legacy of incomplete programmes and unfinished buildings.
"The people of southern Sudan appear to have been forgotten by international aid agencies because of other severe problems in the Darfur region of Sudan. But WER's policy is to go into areas where there are communities which have been forgotten or are ignored. The Sudanese war and the problems caused by the LRA have prevented local people from working in order to sustain themselves, but the people we met in Ikotos show a great determination to rebuild their lives. WER is privileged to be working with ANCC and AIC to not only bring relief to these communities, but to work in partnership with them to build for the future," commented Haxton.
WER last week also assisted AIC in the distribution of general humanitarian supplies to four further communities within the region.
WER has been providing support to people in southern Sudan since 2004 and is the only international aid agency to have actively responded to the needs of local communities during a major cholera outbreak in Ikotos district earlier this year.
Two tons of emergency medical supplies were provided by WER to Ikotos health clinic during the epidemic. With funds raised through an emergency appeal, WER is working with ANCC and AIC to develop long-term relief efforts, including the building and stocking of a new treatment centre, plus improvements to the water, medical and sewage infrastructure to help prevent future outbreaks.
WER and ANCC are also working together to address the urgent need for improved access to safe water sources throughout Ikotos district. This will include the provision of a mobile drilling rig, at a cost of approximately £50,000, for the establishment of water boreholes in the region. Drilling is due to commence early 2007.
To make a donation to support WER's work in southern Sudan, or for further information, please call WER on 0870 429 2129 or visit www.wer-uk.org
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
