Critical gaps in Darfur Aid - fears of impending food and water shortages by John Holmes, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator 12:48pm 25th Mar, 2009   24 March 2009    United Nations humanitarian officials today commended the cooperation of Sudanese Government staff on an assessment of relief needs in war-torn Darfur, while they warned of high risks ahead following the ouster of crucial aid groups.    While a “significant effort” is being made by the Government, the UN and remaining aid groups to plug some of the immediate gaps, “these are band-aid solutions, if I can put it that way, not long-term solutions,” John Holmes, Emergency Relief Coordinator told reporters in New York.    For the long-term, the survey, conducted between 11 and 19 March, discovered gaps in food aid; health and nutrition; non-food items and shelter; and water, sanitation and hygiene upon which some 4.7 million Darfur residents depend for survival.    Sudan decided to eject 13 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that provided much of that aid on 4 March, immediately after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Al-Bashir. The operations of three national NGOs have also been suspended.    Concrete plans will have to be put in place if these gaps are to be bridged in a sustainable, long-term manner two months from now, Ameerah Haq, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, said in the country’s capital, Khartoum, as she released the results of the joint assessment.    Funding, plus adequate technical management, coordination and administration, previously provided by the experienced NGOs, must be replaced, Ms. Haq stressed.    In the area of water, she said that currently, over 850,000 people are still being served thanks to the quick engagement of the Government’s water department, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and national NGOs.    However, within four weeks existing funds for spare parts and fuel for water pumps and other necessities will be depleted, while sanitary facilities will need urgent maintenance to prevent disease outbreaks.    While the Sudanese Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) are trying to address the gaps in health care, according to the assessment, salaries and staff are in place only until the end of April and up to 650,000 people currently do not have access to full health care.    The survey showed that food needs have been covered for March and April for about 1.1 million people, thanks to a one-time distribution by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) through local food committees. However, by the beginning of May, just as the gap between harvest times approaches, further distributions will not be made unless WFP finds new partners, Ms. Haq said.    On housing, Ms. Haq said that about 692,400 people waiting for shelter materials before the rains begin will not receive them unless the UN Joint Logistics Centre finds partners to carry out the distributions and gains access to existing distribution lists.    In all sectors, she said, expertise in technical assessments, planning, programme design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation has been lost, and the quality of relief, even if taken over by national NGOs, could suffer.    Administrative hurdles, such as the lack of travel permits and technical agreements, also hinder the work of NGOs as well as line ministries in their work, she said, although she welcomed the Government’s commitment to fast track the technical agreements of all remaining NGOs.    Since the decision to oust the NGOs, besides trying to fill aid gaps, the UN has continued to advocate for a reversal of the expulsions, and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been in close contact with Arab and African leaders and members of the Security Council.    An estimated 300,000 people have died and another 3 million have been displaced in Darfur, where rebels have been fighting Government forces and allied Arab militiamen, known as the Janjaweed, since 2003.    5 March 2009    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appealed to the Government of Sudan to urgently reconsider its decision, taken after an international court’s indictment of the country’s President yesterday, to expel 13 groups aiding some 4.7 million people in strife-torn Darfur.    “The decision by the Government of Sudan to expel 13 non-governmental organizations involved in aid operations in Darfur will, if implemented, cause irrevocable damage to humanitarian operations there,” his spokesperson said in a statement.    With such major actors as Oxfam, Care International, International Rescue Committee and Save the Children, and some 6,500 staff, affected, a UN relief official today confirmed that the expulsions will cut humanitarian capabilities in Darfur by at least one half.    The Sudanese action came immediately after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.    Reacting to the Court’s decision yesterday, Mr. Ban had pledged that the UN’s humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, with some 25,000 personnel on the ground in Sudan, will continue, stressing the ICC’s status as an “independent judicial institution.”    In his statement today, the Secretary-General stressed that the ejected non-governmental organizations (NGOs) provide impartial humanitarian assistance.    He also expressed concern about the safety and security of staff members of the groups, stressing that the confiscation of their equipment, money and other materials, which has been reported, “is unacceptable and must end immediately.”    Sudanese officials have demanded that some organizations turn over a list of their assets and banking details, and some have had computers, communications equipment and vehicles confiscated, according to Catherine Bragg, the UN’s Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator.    Ms. Bragg told a news conference in New York that some international staff working for the NGOs were given only 24 hours to leave Sudan and several staff members were detained for a few hours and then released.    She said the NGOs affected were: Action Contre la Faim (ACF), Care International, CHF International, International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mercy Corps, both the French and Dutch branches of Médecins sans Frontières, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam GB, PATCO, Solidarite and Save the Children Fund of both the United Kingdom and the United States.    “These agencies are vital implementing partners for the UN and account for at least half of the humanitarian capacity in Darfur,” she said. 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