The following attachments of the original message were not forwarded because of size restrictions: HART Visit to South Sudan - January 2013.pdf, SK Monitoring Report 2.pdf
---------- Sent from my Nokia phone ------Original message------ From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> To: "Group" <[email protected]> Date: Monday, February 11, 2013 7:27:14 PM GMT-0500 Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] 1 million Sudanese trapped in dire need 1. 1m Sudanese trapped in dire need beyond reach of aid agencies NGOs criticised for not securing access to people in South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions as hunger crisis worsens Martin Plaut guardian.co.uk, Monday 11 February 2013 06.08 EST The former head of the UN in Sudan has criticised NGOs for failing to campaign for aid to flow to people trapped in a war zone on the border with South Sudan. A war is taking place in South Kordofan and Blue Nile provinces, just north of Sudan's border with South Sudan. The conflict erupted in June 2011 just before the south's independence in July. Mukesh Kapila, who crossed into the war zone without government permission during a visit last month, says there is a "puzzling silence" from aid agencies about the crisis. "Their silence kills," he said. Last month, the director of operations for the UN humanitarian division, John Ging, told the UN security council that nearly 1 million people are in dire need, but not in reach of aid workers, forcing some to rely on roots and leaves for food. Describing the situation as a "severe humanitarian crisis", Ging said the UN had received first-hand reports from civilians fleeing these areas. Responding to Kapila's criticisms, Oxfam said it has been highlighting the situation for months. "We've done a lot of advocacy here in Khartoum with the government to allow humanitarian actors, both national and international groups, to be able to access rebel-held areas and to better reach underserved government-held areas," said Oxfam's Sudan country director, El Fateh Osman. "Partly as a result, we have seen some small improvement in access since the conflicts broke out, although, unacceptably, humanitarian agencies still don't have access to communities across Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile." Kitty Arie, director of advocacy at Save the Children, described the situation as "very difficult and complex". "We are trying to balance meeting the immediate needs of children with highlighting publicly the factors that contribute to their plight," she said. Neither agency wants to risk losing access to the rest of Sudan by alienating the government of President Omar al-Bashir. Relations between the Sudanese authorities and the aid agencies have been difficult, with the government expelling agencies in 2009 and again inJune last year. But Kapila, who directed UN operations in Sudan in 2004 and broke the story of the Darfur crisis, believes this approach is mistaken. "It is pointless to curry favour with the government in Khartoum as they turn access on and off for their own, other reasons," he said. "It is immoral to trade off humanitarian access to South Kordofan and Blue Nile with the NGOs' work elsewhere in Sudan. This kind of attitude really makes me angry." Other major aid agencies, speaking off the record, said that although they were not openly campaigning for access, they are crossing into the war zone from South Sudan – a journey they make without Sudanese permission. It isn't just international NGOs that are doing this: local charities have been carrying out operations in the area since before the war. The US government has been supporting their efforts, trucking aid into Sudan for several months. As many as 400,000 people are said to have been given food aid. In an interview in September, rebel leader Abdel-Aziz Al-Hilu credited food from USAid with saving lives. Aid is being taken in covertly, on what the agencies describe as a "modest scale" and without publicity. "Khartoum knows where we are," a relief worker said. "But doing it in a public way would add insult to injury." The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (North) holds large areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. The group, an offshoot of the movement that fought Khartoum for more than two decades until winning independence for South Sudan, has been trying to negotiate to get aid to areas under its control for the past year. In February 2012, SPLM (North) signed an agreement with the UN, African Union and Arab League allowing unrestricted access to all areas. This was backed by the security council in May. But Khartoum has consistently prevented access. In June, Valerie Amos, the UN head of humanitarian affairs, accused the Sudanese authorities of accepting the proposals in principle, but not allowing them in practice. Kapila said that if Bashir continues to hold up aid, he would want to see the launch of a full-scale cross-border operation into Sudan. This would replicate Operation Lifeline Sudan, which was launched in 1989 and united more than 40 NGOs to get aid into the south, despite bombing raids from Khartoum. It would be a risky strategy, but the aid wing of the SPLM (North) warned at the end of December that people are starting to die from hunger. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2013/feb/11/sudanese-trapped-beyond-aid-agencies END1 2. South Kordofan Food Security Monitoring Report, 25 January 2013 [attached] 3. HART Report from Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains, January 2013 [attached] 4. SPLM-N Condemns Killing in Abujibeha SUDAN PEOPLES’ LIBERATION MOVEMENT (SPLM -N) Office of the Official Spokesperson Date; 9/2/2013 SPLM / A-N strongly Condemns the attacks which took place yesterday evening 08/02/2013 and killed 17 people and wounded 35 others from Awllad Hemaid in Jidiet South in Abujibeha county, the attack was carried out by the militias from republic of South Sudan, backed by the National Congress party regime in Khartoum, the local residence tracking them as SPLM Democratic Change. SPLA/N knows where these militias are deployed and that it would not stand fold hands on these repeated attacks by the these militias protected by the Khartoum regime to destabilize the innocent citizens, looting their money and properties’, and we held Khartoum government the consequences of harboring these groups in Sudanese territory to fight on their behalf. Khartoum regime is threat to international peace and security by supporting these forces to destabilize republic of South Sudan, therefore SPLM/N is appealing to the international community in general and African Union and the high-level implementation panel, in particular to take the necessary measures towards this terrorist criminal regime. Arnu Ngutulu Lodi SPLM/A-N official spokesman END4 5. Sudan’s SPLM-N claims Khartoum backed militia killed scores of civilians in South Kordofan February 9, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Rebels from the Sudan People Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) claimed today that a South Sudan militia backed by Khartoum killed at least 17 people in South Kordofan and injured scores more. The SPLM-N, which is fighting the Sudanese army in two border states, issued a statement today saying that the incident took place on Friday evening in South Kordofan’s Abujibeiha county. The rebel group alleged that the assailants belonged to Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Democratic Change (SPLM-DC), led by Lam Akol. The latter has long been at odds with the government in Juba. “SPLA-N knows where these militias are deployed and that it would not stand [with] fold[ed] hands on these repeated attacks by these militias protected by the Khartoum regime to destabilise the innocent citizens, looting their money and properties, SPLM-N spokesperson Arnu Ngutulu Lodi said, adding the group held the Khartoum government responsible for harbouring groups in Sudanese territory to fight on their behalf.” “This is ridiculous,” Akol told Agence France Presse (AFP) from Khartoum. “We don’t have a militia.” He said the rebels in South Kordofan are “just parroting what their masters in Juba are saying.” Abujibeiha county’s mayor, Al-Fadil Wanees, gave a different account. Wanees said South Sudan rebels attacked villagers working in the gum harvest at Abu Nuwara, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the border with South Sudan’s Upper Nile state, killing 37 people. As the rebels were being held, an SPLM-N force intervened and shot both sides, killing nine villagers and 15 South Sudanese rebels. The mayor added that the Sudan army (SAF) intervened later when things escalated and killed eight SPLM-N fighters, while five Sudanese soldiers were killed and an unspecified number injured. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article45463 END5 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 82 050 1235 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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