By Megan Rowling
LONDON (AlertNet) - Tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees sheltering in camps in South Sudan's Maban county face a major outbreak of water-borne diseases due to flooding and shortages of clean drinking water, aid agencies warn.
Oxfam said on Friday that at least 16 refugees have died of hepatitis E in the past few weeks, and aid workers fear the figure could rise in the coming months.
This document provides an overview of developments in the Mediterranean Basin and other regions of interest from 11 — 17 September, with hyperlinks to source material highlighted and underlined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other issues pertaining to the region, please contact the members of the Med Basin Team, or visit our website at www.cimicweb.org.
Inside this Issue
In Focus 1
North Africa 2
Northeast Africa 4
Horn of Africa 6
Human Rights Council: Establish an Independent Expert mandate
Written statement to the 21st session of the UN Human Rights Council (10-28 September 2012)
The Human Rights Council (the Council) should support the development of robust and effective human rights and justice mechanisms in South Sudan. Council members and observers should work with South Sudan to establish an Independent Expert mandate.
Human rights situation in Jonglei
In March 2012, President Salva Kiir established an Investigation Committee into the Jonglei State Crisis. The committee is mandated to investigate those responsible for the inter-communal violence in Jonglei State in December 2011 and early 2012. Over eight hundred people were killed in attacks between 23 December 2011 and 4 February 2012 alone, tens of thousands displaced, children and women abducted, and property was looted and destroyed as a result of the violence. However, six months later, committee members have not been sworn in and funding has not been provided to enable the committee to carry out its mandate.
Since March 2012, serious human rights violations have occurred in Jonglei State, carried out by the South Sudan Armed Forces, known as the SPLA, and the South Sudan Police Service (SSPS) Auxiliary Forces, during an ongoing state-wide civilian disarmament campaign, Operation Restore Peace. Research conducted by Amnesty International in Jonglei from 27 August to 5 September 2012 documented numerous cases of serious human rights violations that took place in Pibor County between March and August 2012. Violations include beatings of men, women and children by soldiers; simulated drowning; sexual violence against women; shooting of civilians by soldiers; and looting in towns and villages. All of the incidents occurred in the context of civilian disarmament processes. Local authorities and international organizations, including Human Rights Watch and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), have previously reported several cases of torture and ill-treatment of civilians by the SPLA across Pibor County.
While the South Sudan authorities have taken some action to address violations by the armed forces in Jonglei State, this has been limited and under-resourced. In particular the lack of civilian judicial personnel, including a prosecutor and a judge, in Pibor significantly hampers the ability of civilian authorities to ensure an effective criminal justice system. In Pibor County, military authorities have arrested five suspected perpetrators but the cases remain pending as the judge-advocate assigned to Pibor is on sick-leave and a replacement has not been provided.
There is also a lack of clarity about jurisdiction over military personnel involved in crimes against civilians. The SPLA Act, 2009, article 37(4), states that acts committed by the military against civilians or civilian property should be tried in a civilian court, however the majority of cases have not been handed over to the civil authorities.
Other investigations
On 30 July 2011, General Marial Nour Jok, the former Director of Public Security and the Criminal Investigations Department, was arrested over his alleged involvement in a number of crimes including: the enforced disappearance of John Louis Silvino, an architect at the Ministry of Housing, on 25 March 2011; the creation of illegal detention centres; torture; and corruption. An investigation committee was formed in August 2011, but over one year on, the investigation appears to have stalled. The whereabouts of John Louis Silvino remain unknown.
Legal framework for human rights
Amnesty International welcomes South Sudan’s efforts to put in place a legal framework to respect, protect and promote human rights. In November 2011, South Sudan notified the UN Secretary-General of its succession to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and their Destruction. In June 2012 the President signed into force a Refugee Provisional Order that includes international standards on refugee rights. South Sudan acceded to the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols in July 2012.
However, over one year since South Sudan became an independent state it has yet to become party to key international human rights treaties. These include several human rights treaties to which Sudan is party. South Sudan should reconfirm its obligations under human rights treaties to which Sudan was party at the time of South Sudan’s independence, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and its Optional Protocols; the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), while withdrawing reservations to them, and it should become party to other widely ratified international treaties, including Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) and its Optional Protocol; the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances (CPED); and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. While Amnesty International believes there is a commitment from South Sudan to become party to human rights treaties, the country’s legal framework currently presents obstacles to treaty ratification and accession, namely the lack of a national law in treaty ratification and accession procedures.
Furthermore, gaps in national legislation such as the absence of an adequate legal framework to regulate the National Security Service (NSS), including by limiting or defining its powers of arrest and detention, calls into question the lawfulness of any intervention by the NSS that has repercussions on individuals’ rights. In November 2011, the NSS detained the Editor in Chief and a journalist from The Destiny newspaper for an article that criticized the President for allowing his daughter to marry a non-South Sudanese man. The Editor in Chief was ill-treated in custody and both were held incommunicado without access to a lawyer or their families.
Death Penalty
South Sudan retains the death penalty and carried out executions as recently as 28 August 2012, when two men were hanged in Juba prison. In November 2011, five men were hanged in Wau prison. Over 230 prisoners remain on death row.
Amnesty International is opposed to the death penalty as a violation of the right to life and as the ultimate cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment, in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature of the crime, characteristics of the offender, or the method used by the state to carry out the execution.
International standards, including the 1984 UN Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty and UN Commission on Human Rights resolution 2005/59, require strict adherence to fair trial standards, which include the presumption of innocence, and for all of the proceedings the right to adequate legal assistance, and, if necessary, the free assistance of an interpreter. Furthermore, they protect the right of convicted persons to appeal to a higher tribunal and the prohibition of the use of the death penalty against, among other groups, persons who were under the age of 18 at the time the crime was committed and people with mental or intellectual disabilities. They also stipulate that the death penalty should be imposed only for the most serious crimes. This month, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions affirmed this should be understood to mean that in countries which have not abolished the death penalty, capital punishment may be imposed only for intentional killing, but it may not be mandatory in such cases.
South Sudan’s use of the death penalty contravenes these standards. Weaknesses in the country’s criminal justice system, primarily the non-observance of fair trial standards, such as the lack of provision for legal representation for all accused persons emphasise the need to abolish the death penalty without delay. Many trials were conducted in Arabic even if the defendant did not understand that language, and without an effective appeals review. Furthermore, the Transitional Constitution and the Penal Code, 2003 only prohibit the imposition of the death penalty on a person under the age of 18, whereas the relevant point in time is the commission of the crime, not the age of the offender at the time of the execution.
The need for an Independent Expert
Amnesty International urges the Human Rights Council to support the development of robust and effective human rights and justice mechanisms in South Sudan. With this in view, it is crucial that South Sudan benefit from sustained support in establishing an adequate legal framework, creating or strengthening national institutions and addressing human rights violations.
At its 21st session, the Council has before it the report of the High Commission for Human Rights on ‘Technical assistance and capacity-building for South Sudan in the field of human rights’ (A/HRC/21/34). The report states, inter alia, that “while the primary responsibility for the promotion and protection of human rights lies with the Government of South Sudan, OHCHR urges the international community to assist national actors in implementing the [recommendations addressed in the report].”
An independent expert technical assistance mandate would help ensure follow-up on the High Commissioner’s assessment and provide assistance to South Sudan in implementing recommendations contained in her report. An independent expert would also help increase visibility to the needs for technical assistance and generate financial and other support from the international community for the most pressing needs.
Recommendations
Amnesty International urges the Human Rights Council member and observer states to call on the government of South Sudan to:
immediately swear in members of the Investigation Committee into the Jonglei State Crisis and provide them with necessary resources to carry out an independent, full and impartial investigation;
monitor disarmament activities in Jonglei State and fully investigate reports of violations carried out by the SPLA and the SSPS Auxiliary Forces during the process; and hold perpetrators accountable for violations, with prosecutions before an independent tribunal that adheres to international fair trial standards;
ensure more effective and timely systems to carry out investigations and hold perpetrators to account;
take the necessary steps to strengthen its international and national human rights framework, including by reconfirming its obligations under international human rights treaties to which Sudan was party at the time of South Sudan’s independence, while withdrawing reservations to them, and becoming party, without reservations, to other key international human rights treaties; and
immediately impose an official moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty and to commute all death sentences to terms of imprisonment.
Amnesty International urges Human Rights Council members and observers to work with South Sudan to establish an Independent Expert mandate under agenda item 10, for a period of three years, and with a request to report to the Council twice a year.
CURRENT CRISIS
Mass atrocity crimes are occurring and urgent action is needed.
IMMINENT RISK
The situation is reaching a critical threshold and the risk of mass atrocity crimes occurring in the immediate future is very high if effective preventive action is not taken.
SERIOUS CONCERN
There is a significant risk of occurrence, or recurrence, of mass atrocity crimes within the foreseeable future if effective action is not taken.
Syria
BACKGROUND
As the conflict in Syria enters its eighteenth month, violence continues. With over 20,000 people killed already, fighting has now spread across all of Syria. On 15 July 2012 the International Committee of the Red Cross characterized the situation as a “non-international armed conflict” (civil war). On 10 September the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, expressed that “human rights abuses are rampant, and have reached the point where mass killings, summary executions and torture are the norm.”
The UN Human Rights Council (HRC)-mandated Commission of Inquiry (CoI) issued a report on 15 August stating that government forces and allied “shabiha” militias committed crimes against humanity, war crimes and gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law as a matter of state policy. The CoI also implicated armed opposition groups in the commission of war crimes, albeit on a smaller scale than that of the government. Civilians across Syria continue to bear the brunt of the conflict.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of 14 September 1.5 million Syrians were internally displaced while 250,000 Syrian refugees have registered in neighboring countries.
The Syrian government continues to target presumed antigovernment strongholds using artillery, tanks, helicopters and fighter jets. Allied “shabiha” militias and snipers have been deployed to attack communities, committing largescale massacres in several towns. Following several days of government bombardment, troops swept into the town of Daraya on 25 August, killing at least 320 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Opposition groups have responded to ongoing state violence by increasing their attacks upon pro-government forces, sometimes using heavy weapons. August saw government forces and armed opposition groups engaged in fierce fighting in Syria’s largest city, Aleppo.
The government has experienced a growing number of defections to the Sunni-dominated opposition, including Syria’s Prime Minister, Riyad Farid Hijab, on 6 August. However, Alawites still form the core of the command structure of the regime’s security apparatus and, along with other minorities, have largely remained supportive.
Armed opposition groups have not only been implicated in kidnappings, torture and extrajudicial killings of security forces, but in abuses committed against civilians due to their perceived support for the government.
(Extract)
The international humanitarian agency Oxfam is warning that living conditions of refugees in a camp in Upper Nile state are becoming increasingly desperate, and more people will probably die if help does not arrive soon.
More than 100,000 refugees have fled fighting between Sudanese armed forces and rebels in Sudan’s Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states.
At least 16 refugees have died in the past two weeks from an outbreak of Hepatitis E, according to the U.N.
Pauline Ballaman, Oxfam’s South Sudan director, said the best way to curb the spread of the water-borne disease is to relocate thousands of Sudanese refugees to a safer place.
“The government of South Sudan and UNHCR, who are the lead agencies, would encourage them to look at all other possibilities because this is not going to be a sustainable job or solution,” Ballaman said.
South Sudan and the UN refugee agency considered relocating the refugees to areas along the Nile River, according to Ballaman, but she said no decision has been made so far.
Ballaman said more people are showing symptoms of Hepatitis E. She added, “there are a lot more people affected and, of course, it is far more serious for the nursing and pregnant mothers and young children, and malnutrition kicks in as well,”
According to Ballaman, no season is favorable to housing more than 100,000 refugees.
Widespread flooding during South Sudan’s rainy season is the problem right now, but when the dry season arrives the problem will be not enough water.
Listen to Manyang David Mayar's report on Maban Refugee Camp
21 September 2012 – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council today welcomed the resumed negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan and urged them to resolve all remaining issues.
Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, and his counterpart from South Sudan, Salva Kiir, are scheduled to meet on Sunday in Ethiopia to finalize agreements on all issues being discussed under the talks, held under the auspices of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel.
The talks have been designed to enable the two nations to fulfil their obligations under a so-called roadmap aimed at easing tensions, facilitating the resumption of negotiations on post-secession relations and normalizing the relations between the two countries.
“The Secretary-General congratulates the negotiating teams of the two parties for what they have achieved so far,” said a statement issued by his spokesperson.
“He urges both Presidents to now take responsibility for the resolution of their remaining differences, so that their summit concludes with a success that marks an end to the era of conflict and ushers in a new era of peace, cooperation and mutual development for the two countries and their people,” the spokesperson added.
The members of the Council “strongly encouraged the negotiators to continue intensive work to resolve all remaining issues,” Ambassador Peter Wittig of Germany, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for this month, said in a statement read out to the press.
They affirmed that it is the responsibility of the two presidents “to exercise constructive leadership and demonstrate the political will” to ratify the progress made and bridge the remaining gaps to ensure the successful conclusion of the negotiations on 23 September.
The Council also reiterated its grave concern about the “rapidly worsening” humanitarian situation in Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the two areas in recent months owing to conflict and food shortages.
“The members of the Council once again stressed the urgency of immediately delivering humanitarian relief supplies to the affected civilian populations, so as to avoid any further suffering or loss of life,” said the press statement.
South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July last year, six years after the signing of the peace agreement that ended decades of warfare between the north and the south. However, the peace between the two countries has been threatened in recent months by armed clashes along their common border and outstanding post-independence issues that have yet to be resolved.
The situation between the two countries will also be the subject of a high-level meeting to be convened on 27 September in New York on the margins of the General Assembly’s annual general debate.
21 September 2012 – As the United Nations gears up for what is shaping up to be one of the busiest general debate seasons ever – with over 120 world leaders in attendance and around 50 separate side events – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon faces one of his toughest challenges.
“Convincing world leaders to live up to their commitments – that will be quite an important mission for me,” said Mr. Ban, who is preparing for the first General Assembly high-level debate of his second term in office.
In an interview with the UN News Centre, Mr. Ban said world leaders need to do more for their people and put them at the centre of their national priorities.
“There are many world leaders who have their own national policy priorities. But sometimes they do not deliver,” he said. “I will try to be very frank, to tell them where they are falling short, where they need to do more, particularly when it comes to the Millennium Development Goals.”
The Goals – or MDGs, as they are commonly known – were agreed by world leaders at a UN summit in 2000 and sets specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a ‘Global Partnership for Development.’ The target date for achieving them is 2015.
“We have only three years and three months left,” said Mr. Ban. “We have to meet this target by 2015.”
Other issues likely to dominate this year’s general debate – to be held from 25 September to 1 October – are the ongoing crisis in Syria and the humanitarian emergency in the Sahel region of West Africa, along with the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and relations between Sudan and South Sudan.
“This is going to be the biggest season,” said Mr. Ban, who will not only be meeting separately with over 145 world leaders, but also chairing or participating in around 50 side events on issues ranging from the rule of law and disarmament to sustainable energy and nutrition.
“The coming two weeks will be very politically important. At the same time, for me, how to manage this very compact time will be a key challenge,” said the Secretary-General.
“I start my day very early in the morning and stay up to very late in the evening. So my time sometimes has to be controlled minute by minute… I hope that my limited time will be used very constructively for common good.”
21 September 2012 - As part of efforts to transform the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) into a professional force, UNMISS completed a five-day workshop for its members on human rights and military justice today in Juba.
“I assure you that the transformation, to which we have been heading since 2005, … started right away in the department of military justice,” Gen. Joseph Cornelia Loli, director of the SPLA Military Justice Department, said during closing remarks.
He added that South Sudan, as a young nation, needed support and guidance, rather than just criticism.
“We appreciate the support that the human rights and military justice sections of UNMISS have given us for SPLA judge advocates through this training,” Mr. Loli said.
He advised the 22 SPLA soldiers who participated in the workshop to use the knowledge they had acquired in their divisions and added, “This is now your weapon.”
Participants, drawn from all eight SPLA divisions across South Sudan, included 19 military judge advocates and three military police investigators. They shared the challenges they faced, including lack of understanding of their legal role in the military.
“We have noted the challenges in the legal framework and the lack of capacity in many instances,” said Richard Bennet, director of the UNMISS Human Rights Section. “It will take a while to get to the ideal situation, but we are pleased to see progress and want to build on it.”
Mr. Bennet said the SPLA played an important role in creating the world’s newest nation and had a responsibility to continue their contribution to the country’s development.
By CHRISTABEL LIGAMI Special Correspondent
In Summary
The African Medical Research Foundation (Amref) has partnered with health ministries to execute the three-year programme.
The three-year campaign dubbed “Stand up for African mothers,” aims at training midwives and create awareness about maternal deaths in the region.
Lennie Bazira, the Amref Kenya country director, said currently one skilled midwife is able to provide care for 500 mothers every year and safely deliver 100 babies.
Amref plans to train 3800 midwives in Tanzania, 2,250 in South Sudan, 1,500 in Kenya and 1,100 in Angola and Mozambique. The remaining 5,250 midwives will be trained in other countries throughout East, South and West Africa.
The midwives will be trained using diverse methods, including direct entry classroom-based training and competency-based training with technology such as electronic and mobile learning (e and m-learning) to deliver the curriculum.
A programme has been launched to train at least 15,000 midwives in selected African countries, to cut maternal deaths by at least 25 per cent.
The African Medical Research Foundation (Amref) has partnered with health ministries to execute the three-year programme.
The three-year campaign dubbed “Stand up for African mothers,” aims at training midwives and create awareness about maternal deaths in the region.
A new Unicef report released a fortnight ago showed that East Africa has recorded the fastest fall in rates of child mortality worldwide.
The report showed that in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya, death rates have fallen by nearly a half, from over 550,000 to 285,000 in the past 12 years.
However, nearly 50 per cent of all child deaths globally are in sub Saharan Africa, with 17 per cent of them in East and Southern Africa. The campaign has already been launched in Tanzania, Kenya, and South Sudan, and will be launched in Uganda next month.
The other African countries where the campaign has been launched are Angola, and Mozambique.
Lennie Bazira, the Amref Kenya country director, said currently one skilled midwife is able to provide care for 500 mothers every year and safely deliver 100 babies.
“We are training midwives who will educate mothers, look after them in pregnancy, assist them during delivery and do follow ups to make sure mother and baby are healthy,” said Dr Bazira.
Amref plans to train 3800 midwives in Tanzania, 2,250 in South Sudan, 1,500 in Kenya and 1,100 in Angola and Mozambique.
The remaining 5,250 midwives will be trained in other countries throughout East, South and West Africa.
“More midwives will be trained in Tanzania, because the majority of women in Tanzania do not deliver in health clinics,” she said.
Statistics show that only 50 per cent of pregnant women in Tanzania deliver their babies at health centres, due to a serious shortage of personnel in the health sector.
The midwives will be trained using diverse methods, including direct entry classroom-based training and competency-based training with technology such as electronic and mobile learning (e and m-learning) to deliver the curriculum.
Ruth Maithya, a midwife trainer at Amref, said that of using mobile phones, midwives will access world class health education, regardless of their location.
“Such enhanced training opportunities in remote areas will help keep midwives where they are needed most,” said Ms Maithya.
The trainees will learn to manage common delivery complications, such as excessive bleeding, as well as provide mothers with antenatal and postnatal care and teach women how to prevent malaria during, pregnancy, as well as teach HIV/Aids prevention.
“They will be trained to recognise signs of complicated labour and to refer women to better-equipped health facilities,” she said.
mHealth was one of the pillars of the Kenyan government’s health strategy, launched in August 2011, and will be adopted by Amref for the programme.
The mLearning project will enable nursing staff and midwives in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania to develop their professional knowledge without leaving their workplace. They will also use the system to seek advice from colleagues and other experts.
“This in effect will ensure provision of better quality care and easy consultations,” said Dr Bazira.
WHO estimates that over 200,000 women die in childbirth every year in sub-Saharan Africa and the continent might not meet Millennium Development Goal five.
HIGHLIGHTS
UNHCR reports a sharp increase in the number of new refugees from South Kordofan in South Sudan, with 500 new refugees registered in Yida camp.
Poor road conditions hamper flood response efforts in Central Darfur, where the number of people affected by recent floods has risen to 28,700.
More than 200,000 refugees and IDPs have returned to their homes in Darfur since January 2011, according to UNHCR.
Sun, 23 Sep 2012 21:26 GMT
No sign of breakthrough on security deal
South Sudan says Sudan dropping weapons to rebels
Juba accepts AU map, but Sudan says not yet resolved
By Ulf Laessing
ADDIS ABABA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Leaders of Sudan and South Sudan met on late on Sunday to try reach a deal to end hostilities and restart oil exports but there was still no breakthrough on a key security accord after two weeks of talks in Ethiopia, officials said.
Read the full article on AlertNet
Sunday, 23 September 2012 01:14 Muna Tesfai
The chairperson of the Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), Peter Lam Both, has described the humanitarian situation of South Sudanese living in Khartoum as serious.
Addressing Journalists at Juba International Airport upon arrival from Khartoum, Lam, said over 40 thousand South Sudanese are in open stations in Khartoum.
Lam added that the South Sudanese have expressed willingness to return home.
"In the open stations there are 40 thousand people these people are ready to come to South Sudan, we discussed with them we found they are ready to come and the whole of Khartoum they are 107 thousand South Sudanese who are ready to come".
The chairperson of RRC said that more 3,524 South Sudanese IDPs are still stranded in Kosti waiting for transportation to their final destination in Greater Bahr-El-Gazal state.
Lam further added that the minister of social welfare in Khartoum has expressed readiness to hand over orphans and women prisoners of minor crimes, to the South Sudan government.
Sunday, 23 September 2012 00:57 Muna Tesfai
The National Ministry of General Education has called for a change of attitude towards girl child education.
Speaking during a workshop on girl child education in Rumbek, the under Secretary in the Ministry of General education, Deng Deng Yai, said it is the duty of every citizen to advocate against early and forced marriage and promote girl child education.
Deng added that a lack of equality between girls and boys has contributed to the allowance of gender inequality.
"The gap between boys and girls in term of enrolment, retention, progression is very huge and it is important for us to ensure that we bridge the gap and promote the gender equity and promoting gender equality or gender equity as a nation we have moral duty to address the issue of girl education, we also have legal duty because our constitution provide equal rights between man and woman, it also provide for gender equality to be promote through in the country, not only in education, but all aspect of life ."
Participants from the ten states participated in the four day workshop which was organized by UNICEF, in collaboration with the ministry of General Education and Instruction.
New sites for South Sudan refugee camps must be found, as Blue Nile conflict enters second year
Refugees survived "year of hell" - now at risk of disease
Camps sheltering more than 100,000 Sudanese refugees in South Sudan's Maban county are ticking timebombs, on the brink of a major outbreak of disease, international agency Oxfam said today.
At least 16 refugees have already died from an outbreak of water-borne Hepatitis E in the past few weeks and aid workers fear this figure could escalate in the coming months. Oxfam called for new, safe locations to be urgently identified for thousands of the refugees, to ease the burden on the overcrowded camps in Maban.
After one year of conflict in Sudan's Blue Nile state, 109,000 refugees have fled across the border to four camps in Maban, which all face the threat of recurrent flooding due to heavy rains, chronic drinking water shortages and disease. The recent heavy rains have brought massive health challenges. The camps are already above capacity, but there are predictions another 60,000 people may arrive when the dry season makes movement possible in the next few months.
With crucial talks between Sudan and South Sudan set to end in the coming days, Oxfam said the world needs to step up efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in Blue Nile, and to a parallel conflict in Southern Kordofan state, and said an immediate injection of funds is needed to prevent a major disaster in Maban.
The agency called on the Government of South Sudan and the international community to prioritise finding new sites outside of Maban. Sites close to the River Nile were proposed earlier this year, but discussions have stalled.
"These refugees have struggled to survive a year of hell. The Maban camps alone are not an answer to the crisis - there is simply not enough ground water to sustain so many people, and now heavy rains have left people wading through mud to get basic services. So far aid agencies have managed to prevent a major crisis during the rainy season. However, agencies cannot keep trucking in water and air-dropping food year after year. If the refugees stay where they are this will require a sustained supply of funding that will run into hundreds of millions of dollars," said Pauline Ballaman, head of Oxfam's emergency response in Maban.
The lack of drinking water and the frequent relocations of people to try and escape flooding, means refugees are unable to grow food and remain dependent on food aid, so need a suitable longer-term location. Despite the challenges, over the past year Oxfam engineers have managed to double the water supply in Jamam camp, but any disruption to a fragile single source would plunge refugees back to receiving just two litres of water a day - well below emergency standards.
Maban county is among the most remote and least developed areas in South Sudan and during the rains the only way to get aid in is by air or boats. This, and the extremely high cost of fuel and scarcity of materials because of South Sudan's conflict-fuelled economic crisis, has meant the humanitarian response in Maban is one of the world's most expensive. Oxfam's response alone for the next six months requires at least $5 million.
"The Maban camps are among the most challenging environments Oxfam has had to provide aid in. It's likely to be several years before refugees feel safe to return home, and people need to be given the choice of moving to more appropriate camps outside Maban," said Ballaman.
Oxfam warned the environmental strain from the camps in Maban is likely to exacerbate tensions between impoverished local communities and refugees, with growing competition over scarce water and thousands of trees cut down for construction at refugee sites.
Restrictions on humanitarian access in Blue Nile means reliable information is scarce but the UN estimates that 145,000 people who remain inside Blue Nile are displaced or severely affected by the conflict - many likely to be in even worse circumstances than in Maban county. Oxfam called for an immediate end to the fighting and for international pressure to be kept on both sides for peace negotiations to begin, and for sustained aid to be urgently allowed into the region, including into areas held by SPLM-North.
Notes to editors
In addition to the influx of over 100,000 refugees, nearly 13,000 "returnees" have arrived in Maban county from other parts of Sudan since 2010.
Oxfam is providing clean water and sanitation and running public health campaigns for around 28,500 refugees in Maban, in the Jamam and Gendrassa camps. Oxfam also has a long-term programme to provide water to local villages and host communities.
The African Union Peace and Security Council and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) set September 22 as a deadline for Sudan and South Sudan to come to agreement on a number of outstanding post-referendum issues. The UNSC Resolution 2046 calls on Sudan and the SPLM-N to accept the tripartite proposal for unrestricted humanitarian access into Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan states in Sudan.
For more information contact:
Nairobi: Alun McDonald - amcdonald@oxfam.org.uk +254 73666 663
US: Skye Wheeler - swheeeler@oxfamamerica.org +1 617 78400039
South Sudan: Georgette Thomas - gthomas@oxfam.org.uk
UK: Zahra Akkerhuys - zakkerhuys@oxfam.org.uk +44 7525901932
Friday, 21 September 2012 01:06 Muna Tesfai
The Ministry of Water and Irrigation plans to extend piped water to all the ten states by the year 2015.
The Minister of Water and Irrigation, Paul Mayom Okage, says the Ministry is focusing on rural areas and will leave water supply in urban areas to the National Water Corporation. Paul Mayom Okage, who is also chairperson of the board of directors of the National Water Corporation, says the project will cost the government about two billion US dollars.
''As the ministry requests is now largely in the rural water supply and the urban water is now the rule of the cooperation and we only doing assistance in the coordination by the ministry, but our focus now on the very many people of our country who are in the rural settlement it is a significant investment it is not less than two billion dollars that is by making rough estimate as two hundred and five million for a state that is mean we are talking about two billion dollars. We have to also to think about how to manage with the supply, and how to the demand and how to make the citizen responsible for the consumption of the water''
Minister Paul Mayom Okage made the statement at the first board meeting of the National Water Corporation on Thursday.
21 September 2012 – Alors que l'ONU se prépare à l'un des débats généraux les plus chargés de l'histoire de l'Assemblé générale, avec la venue la semaine prochaine à New York de plus de 120 chefs d'État et de gouvernement et la tenue en parallèle de plus d'une cinquantaine d'évènements, un défi considérable se pose au Secrétaire général Ban Ki-moon.
« Ce sera pour moi une mission importante de convaincre les dirigeants du monde de tenir leurs engagements », a déclaré dans un entretien exclusif au Centre d'actualités M. Ban, pour qui ce débat général sera le premier de son second mandat.
« De nombreux dirigeants ont leurs propres priorités politiques nationales, mais parfois ils n'arrivent pas à tenir leurs engagements. Je m'efforcerai d'être franc, de leur dire où sont les lacunes et dans quels domaines il faut redoubler d'efforts, en particulier lorsqu'il s'agit de la réalisation des Objectifs du Millénaire pour le développement ».
Adoptés en 2000, ces Objectifs recouvrent de grands enjeux humanitaires qui vont de la réduction de l'extrême pauvreté et de la mortalité infantile, en passant par la lutte contre plusieurs épidémies dont le VIH/sida, l'accès à l'éducation, l'égalité entre les sexes et la mise en œuvre du développement durable. Ces objectifs devraient être réalisés avant la date-butoir de 2015.
« Il nous reste seulement trois ans et trois mois », a rappelé M. Ban.
Parmi les autres sujets qui domineront le débat général de cette année, figurent la crise en Syrie, les urgences humanitaires au Sahel et en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), ainsi que les relations entre le Soudan et le Soudan du Sud. Le débat général se tiendra du 25 septembre au 1er octobre.
« Ce sera la période la plus chargée de l'année », a souligné M. Ban, qui rencontrera non seulement plus de 145 chefs d'État et de gouvernement, mais présidera – ou prendra part à – une cinquantaine d'évènements en marge du débat général sur des sujets tels que l'état de droit, le désarmement, l'énergie durable ou encore la nutrition.
« Les deux semaines à venir auront une importance politique considérable. Pour moi personnellement, ce sera un défi de gérer mon temps », a annoncé le Secrétaire général. « Je commencerai mes journées très tôt le matin et me coucherai très tard le soir. Mon temps est chronométré et j'espère qu'il sera utilisé de façon constructive pour le bien commun », a-t-il ajouté.
Press Release No.12/323
The European Union today committed €3 million (about US$3.9 million) to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) trust fund to help South Sudan develop essential macroeconomic institutions, policies and skills through the IMF’s expert capacity development activities. IMF Deputy Managing Director Nemat Shafik and Francesca Mosca, Director for Sub-Saharan Africa and Horizontal African, Caribbean and Pacific Matters at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Development and Cooperation, signed an agreement in Brussels today for a contribution of €3 million to the Trust Fund to Support Capacity Building for Macroeconomic Policies and Statistics for South Sudan. The United Kingdom and Norway have pledged additional resources to the trust fund and discussions are ongoing with other donors.
“I am thrilled to welcome the European Union’s support for this vital work. Sustained and inclusive growth requires sound macroeconomic policies, good governance, and development-oriented budgets and policies. Strengthening South Sudan’s capacity will need not only intensive investment, but importantly effective cooperation between donors and technical assistance providers,” Ms. Shafik said during the ceremony. “The trust fund, with a participatory Steering Committee that includes donors and the authorities of South Sudan, provides a crucial mechanism to coordinate, prioritize and evaluate our work.”
“The European Union has made it a priority to help the South Sudanese Government to respond to the country's multiple economic and development challenges,” Ms. Mosca noted. “By becoming the principal donor to the Trust Fund, the EU wants to forge a privileged relationship with the IMF, and concert efforts towards strengthening economic governance in South Sudan. Only through strong institutional structures and by applying coherent and state-of-the-art policy frameworks will the Government be able to manage and use its abundant domestic resources effectively for the benefit of the South Sudanese people,” she said.
Background Information
The Republic of South Sudan became an independent country in July 2011 and the 188th member of the IMF on April 18, 2012 (see Press Release No. 12/140). On April 9, 2012 the Executive Board of the IMF added South Sudan to the list of members eligible for concessional lending (see Press Release No. 12/298). Since independence, the Fund has been stepping up the provision of technical assistance and training to South Sudan (see Press Release No. 11/292). Over the past year, staff has been providing the authorities with policy and technical advice in a number of areas, including foreign exchange policy and reserve management, central bank organization, public financial management, fiscal revenue, and macroeconomic statistics.
The Fund is coordinating with donors and technical assistance providers to support South Sudan through a dedicated trust fund for capacity-building of about US$10.3 million over the next three years.
IMF EXTERNAL RELATIONS DEPARTMENT
Public Affairs
E-mail: publicaffairs@imf.org
Fax: 202-623-6220
Media Relations
E-mail: media@imf.org
Phone: 202-623-7100
Increased rains cause damage but benefit some late-planted crops
Key Messages Although crop conditions are generally good, heavy rains and flooding have affected several counties in Unity, Upper Nile, Jonglei, Northern Bahr el Ghazal, Warrap, and Lakes states, with negative impacts on crop performance in these areas. A likely mild to moderate El Niño event is expected to result in a wetter-than-normal October to December season in eastern and central South Sudan. This is likely to damage crops in flood-prone areas but benefit late-planted crops in other areas, and to prolong water and pasture availability in pastoral zones.
Food prices remained relatively stable during August, although substantially higher than the five-year average and last year. Prices of sorghum have begun to ease in line with seasonal trends though they remain above average in almost all markets. The highest sorghum price was observed in Bentiu, where the increase was 128 percent greater than last year. Prices are expected to decline from October through December as harvests take place.
First season crops have been harvested in Greenbelt and parts of Hills and Mountains livelihood zones, where markets are fully stocked with local products. In other zones, consumption of green crops has begun, and local production will supply
September 21,2012 (WAU) - The medical board of Warrap state’s ministry of health on Friday issued a statement on Friday warning the public against buying medication from unlicensed vendors.
The board expressed its concern about the “rampant” sale of medication in the state by untrained vendors who buy their supplies on the black market neighbouring countries.
It is alleged that medication is shipped into the state via Kaya and Nimule from Uganda and Nesito from Kenya.
The unlicensed sale of medication poses a twofold threat; untrained vendors are liable to administer the wrong medication in the wrong dose to the customer, and the medication itself, being from an unknown source, may be counterfeit.
The World Health Organisation estimates that as much as one third of the medication in some developing countries is likely to be counterfeit.
The Warrap release warned that the full extent of the law would be exacted upon those found to be contravening the legislation which requires vendors to hold a license in order to sell certain medication.
The release also noted that “medicines exposed to direct sunlight, dust and dirt can undergo chemical changes which are hazardous and dangerous to your health.”
If the medication is not counterfeit and has not been damaged, South Sudan, has one of the world’s lowest literacy rates; 27 percent for those aged 15 and over are literate. This means that the potential for the incorrect administering of medication is all the more ominous, from the perspective of the unlicensed vendor and the recipient.
(ST)
