HELPING DARFUR

HUMANITARIAN ACTION IN A VERY TROUBLED REGION

NIELS SCOTT
CHIEF, DISASTER AND VULNERABILITY POLICY SECTION, OCHA

The protracted humanitarian crisis in Darfur has received almost unprecedented publicity, much of it bringing sad news of a situation that has barely improved, but also, more positively, news of a massive humanitarian operation which has consistently prevented widespread destitution, hunger and infectious disease being added to the downward spiral of violence.

And because access to this troubled region of Sudan has been so limited, curiosity is naturally generated about daily life and conditions in the region. This article does not pretend in any way to offer a complete picture of life in Darfur, but proposes, by way of a few varied snapshots collected over almost three years spent in Darfur, to shed some light on life on the margins of an ongoing tragedy.

Key lessons
I arrived in Darfur early in June 2004 to head UNOCHA’s office in North Darfur. Humanitarian operations were then rapidly gaining momentum after a hesitant start. But on first arrival on the melting tarmac apron of the airport in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, I saw very little except for a large white airplane which, as I failed to observe, bore the words Air Force Two. The small UN plane which made the 600 km journey to and from Khartoum on a daily basis parked in the shadow of the Boeing. I emerged to look for a welcome of some kind by the OCHA office. Nothing moved. It was only after a WFP colleague helped, by calling on his VHF radio, that I understood U.S. Secretary of State Powell had just arrived in El Fasher and movement to the airport was entirely blocked.

In a few minutes I had learnt some key lessons about working in that region. Firstly, Darfur was almost permanently host to a series of very high-level visitors and while there was a large group of humanitarian workers who would rise each day to work in the various camps of displaced persons and host communities oblivious to all the security, noise and commotion attached to VIP visits, a few other humanitarians (such as myself) would often head straight to the airport and keenly seek to know from which direction the red carpet was being unrolled and, moreover, who was walking down it. But I also learnt from the friendliness of my colleague from WFP about the great solidarity between humanitarian workers throughout Darfur, which is a key to survival in often very difficult field conditions. I also learnt that the cafeteria in El Fasher airport served an excellent omelette and that the owner of the café loved the UN and knew more about the mechanics of running a humanitarian operation than many of us. And, finally, I learned that the skills of patience and listening are paramount in Darfur.

The following day, Secretary-General Kofi Annan visited El Fasher. I watched as he sat in the shade of a beautiful acacia tree to speak with the community elders who had fled with the hundreds of thousands of Darfuris driven from their homes and compelled to live in large camps around the main towns of Darfur. Their world was rapidly changing. Darfur had been struck by drought repeatedly over the last twenty years, but now even more disturbing changes were under way.

Rebel forces
While the Saharan winds were blowing sand onto fertile hillsides, conflict had erupted between the nomad and the sedentary populations fuelled by external forces and exacerbated by outlaws and brigands which resulted in unimaginable cruelty, mass destruction and the displacement of two million people and the destitution of a further million. But despite the violence that was disfiguring Darfur, these men (for there were no women in this group) displayed a peace and serenity which demonstrated their inner strength, pride and faith in traditional systems of governance which may ultimately be the sole means to reconstitute Darfur.

After a few months, it became very clear that while humanitarian assistance was working well in the areas under Government control, large swathes of territory controlled by rebel forces were not being accessed by humanitarian agencies. OCHA’s job was, therefore, to make contact with the rebel groups (there were only two at the time) and discuss how assistance could be moved unhindered through rebel areas and be distributed in an organised manner. Our first trip to meet with the rebel leaders was in a location reached by four-wheel-drive vehicles after a few hours of criss-crossing through the desert and receiving variable directions from our eventual hosts (there was a real fear on their part that, coming for the first time from Government territory, we might be followed). We emerged eventually to sit cross-legged in a circle on a large carpet to begin what proved to be long and fruitful discussions with the rebel groups on the modalities of safe and secure access for humanitarians.

I had brought a bottle of lemonade with me and unthinkingly offered it to my Darfuri neighbours. Their most senior leader angrily told me to put away the bottle and not to “poison” his people. After a few seconds I realised his wisdom. The rebels and, indeed, the local population, only had access to water from boreholes and their health was all the stronger for not having sweet and artificial drinks. In those days, they did not wish to be distracted either by imported soft drinks or what they felt to be the insidious ideas of external politicians. Another important lesson has been learnt on how to work in Darfur.

Situation evolves
By the time I left Darfur two and a half years later I had moved from humanitarian coordination with OCHA to the political side, heading the work of the UN Mission on the ground in Darfur. By the end of 2006 the situation had certainly evolved. There were over 100 humanitarian agencies in the region and 15,000 humanitarian aid workers. African Union ceasefire monitors and civilian police were operational and African troops were providing security for them. But the question of who should or could provide security for Darfur’s terrified civilian population was once more under review and the United Nations was formulating concrete proposals on reinforcing the peace building exercise. Today we are looking forward to the full complement of the joint African Union and United Nations peace building operation becoming effective in Darfur.

I believe we have all learnt a lot since the inception of international assistance to that troubled region and we can continue to learn more as we evolve.

Niels Scott has worked in wide-ranging field operations with the three major humanitarian networks - the UN system, the RC/RC Movement and for an international NGO. He has concentrated on humanitarian affair, encompassing natural disaster and complex emergencies and has undertaken a wide range of functions within emergency relief, preparedness, recovery and development. He has served as Head of Country and Regional Offices for IFRC in Central Asia, Georgia, Haiti and West Africa: as Head of the Darfur Cell for OCHA based in Sudan, as Head of the Regional Office in Darfur for the UN Mission and as Operations Coordinator for Africa at the IFRC in Geneva. He is currently Chief of the Disaster and Vulnerability Policy Section in UN OCHA in Geneva.