ACTBOX: Famine and humanitarian aid in Sudan

15 Feb 2012 13:00

Source: alertnet // Katy Migiro

Boxes and sacks of food are unloaded from a U.N. helicopter in Pibor, South Sudan, January 12, 2012. REUTERS/Isaac Billy/UNMISS/Handout THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS.

By Katy Migiro

NAIROBI (AlertNet) – Experts warn that a quarter of a million Sudanese could be on the brink of famine by March. War between the government and rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states means that few humanitarian agencies can access to those at risk.

Some 140,000 refugees have crossed into neighbouring South Sudan and Ethiopia and the United Nations (U.N.) warns this figure could reach 500,000 in the coming months.

“It's likely that hunger conditions will have to worsen further before sufficient pressure builds on the government of Sudan to start relaxing restrictions on humanitarian access,” said Aly Verjee, a senior researcher with the Rift Valley Institute.

“Even in such circumstances, Khartoum will resist granting complete and unconditional access. Past mechanisms, notably the Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) model, may be resurrected or re-branded in an attempt to deal with the current crisis.”

Operation Lifeline was a U.N.-coordinated relief effort that flew aid into South Sudan from 1989 to the end of Sudan's Second Civil War in 2005.

OLS: A LANDMARK DEAL TO DELIVER  AID

* In 1988, a famine in Bahr el-Ghazal, now part of South Sudan, killed 250,000 people. The famine was largely caused by Sudan’s Second Civil War, which lasted from 1983 to 2005.

* In 1989, OLS was set up. This landmark agreement among the U.N., the government of Sudan and rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) agreed that civilians had a right to humanitarian aid, even when living in the midst of a civil war. 

* OLS became one of largest humanitarian operations in the world, with up to $1 million a day spent by the U.N. and 40 non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

* OLS’s success depended on the application of international pressure on warring parties to allow humanitarian access. “Corridors of tranquility” were set up to allow aid to be delivered.

* Being in northern Sudan, South Kordofan and Blue Nile were excluded from OLS.

* Under the agreement, flight requests had to be submitted to the government and the rebels for approval each month. Access was regularly denied on security grounds.

AID EFFORT 'FED THE WAR'

* Both warring parties were accused of manipulating aid to their advantage by illegally requisitioning food for their own benefit and looting relief sites.

* Critics charge that OLS did not put enough pressure on the warring parties to negotiate peace. “Focus on the technicalities of  relief  has  often  diverted  international attention away from a realistic strategy for ending the war,” scholar David Keen said.

* In 1998, another famine in Bahr el-Ghazal killed 100,000 people, despite the OLS presence. The government of Sudan had suspended aid in February and March.

* Critics charge OLS with prolonging the war. “Humanitarian aid allows an otherwise weaker opponent to strengthen its resource base and consequently to mount a more prolonged defense,” said Holly Philpot of the University of Denver.

* “In South Sudan, humanitarian aid evolved from a deliberate means of feeding civilians to an unintentional tool for feeding the war…  When both the government and the SPLA sought to manipulate aid for their own benefit, the humanitarian community did not know how to halt the abuse without also stopping aid to victims,” Philpot wrote.

* “The final lesson learned from OLS is that organizations entering conflict zones should have a clear understanding of the principles on which they are not willing to compromise and should have secondary plans (including withdrawal) ready for instances of manipulation or lack of cooperation by belligerent parties,” she concluded.

* In 2005, OLS ended with the signing of a peace deal, which eventually led to the secession of South Sudan in 2011.

AID TO DARFUR

* War broke out in Sudan’s western region of Darfur in 2003 with massive displacement, again, causing widespread hunger.

* In Darfur, more emergency relief has got through, limiting mass deaths.

* Humanitarian aid continues to be delayed and blocked by the government.

* Humanitarian actors have, once again, been criticised for failing to exert more political and economic pressure to sue for peace.

* Oil interests and terrorism concerns have prevented robust diplomacy from the West, according to Keen.

(Editing by Julie Mollins)