Mahamat Haroun Dahab, farmer, Chad: "What we really need here is schools, a flour mill and water"

 

By IRIN

The southeastern Chad border district of Tissi has seen an influx of people fleeing violence in neighbouring western Sudan, among them Chadian nationals who had either migrated there for work or fled earlier violence, and new refugees from Sudan’s Darfur area.

 

Mahamat Haroun Dahab’s family (his wife and four children) are among those from eastern Chad who left the country seven years ago during the conflict there, for Darfur. They recently returned to their Tissi village of Tadjou, after fleeing inter-communal violence. Dahab and his wife told IRIN their story.

 

Photo: Ann Weru/IRIN

Mahamat Haroun Dahab and his wife in the southern Chad village of Tadjou, in Tissi

 

[Dahab:] “I have been here for three months. I arrived in May when the Misseriya and Salamat [ethnic groups; the latter lives on both sides of the border] started fighting in Um Dhukun [Darfur]. I am not sure what they were fighting over. Around us there were people who were killed and injured.

 

“The journey from Sudan to the Chad border was by donkey. Then, once we were on the Chadian side, IOM [the International Organization for Migration] brought us here [to Tadjou village].

 

“We just packed what we had and sought safety; we did not have time to prepare ourselves.

 

“Here we are doing some farming, mainly of sorghum. Back in Um Dhukun I used to slaughter some sheep. I worked as a butcher. But I have always been a farmer.

 

“The land I had here before I fled is where I am planting my crops now; during the fighting this area was deserted and my land and house remained intact.

 

“None of my children have been to school. They are young and I don’t have enough money to register them.

 

“But I have no intention of going back to Darfur. Here, I can practice farming; there [in Um Dhukun] we had to buy things from the market.

 

“What we really need here is schools, a flour mill and water.

 

[Dahab’s wife - she did not give her name:] “We decided to leave [Um Dhukun] when our belongings, such as our [mobile] phones and livestock, started being taken by force by the Arabs.

“We are OK living here [in Tadjou] as we just go to the farm and come back.

 

“But the children really need schooling and some clothes. What we really want is schools.

 

“Myself, I have never been to school. I learned to speak Arabic because people around me speak it; but I can’t write anything or read. A person who doesn’t go to school can’t read Arabic.”

 

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Mali: One year after the crisis began, needs remain massive and challenging

By Moustapha Diallo, The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
 

A few months ago, several humanitarian organizations suspended their activities in northern Mali when cities such as Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal were still under insurgent control. The Mali Red Cross Society, with support from its Red Cross Red Crescent partners, and a few other organizations, braved the danger posed by the conflict to provide lifesaving assistance to thousands of people who remained in the north, and to those who ran to safety in the central and southern regions of the country.

 

In Mopti, in central Mali, where over 40,000 people have sought refuge, the society has been one of the leading agencies in humanitarian operations.

“We were overwhelmed by the sudden and massive influx of people fleeing from the north. The streets were crowded with people,” says Moumouni Damango, regional president of the crisis committee in Mopti. “The Mali Red Cross Society was the first humanitarian organization to come alongside us, bringing its experience and support.”
 

In the early hours of the crisis, hundreds of Red Cross volunteers were mobilized to provide first aid and to transport those who were sick to health facilities. They worked tirelessly to accommodate the displaced, provided them comfort and ensured they had shelter.
 

Given the deterioration of sanitary facilities and challenging hygiene conditions due to overcrowding, volunteers were also mobilized to raise awareness about hygiene, provide drinking water and organize demonstration sessions on water treatment.
 

“The displaced people now make up more than 7.5 per cent of the population of Mopti. Imagine the pressure in terms of water and latrines needs,” said Dr Mahamane Koumaré, Regional Director of Health in Mopti. “Fortunately, thanks to the Red Cross, prevention activities have proven successful. We have not recorded a single case of cholera in an area where it is endemic."
 

The Mali Red Cross Society estimates that displaced people make up
approximately 7.5 per cent of the population of Mopti. Moustapha Diallo/IFRC

 

Since the crisis erupted, the Mali Red Cross Society, with support from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, International Committee of the Red Cross, Movement partners and other organizations, has distributed hundreds of tons of food to displaced people and host families. Essential items including tents, tarpaulins, mosquito nets, soap, and kitchen sets were also provided.
 

The needs of displaced populations and host families remain enormous. Living conditions are poor. Many are still traumatized from what they have witnessed and wait for a better security situation before returning home.
 

For those who want to return now, the way back will not be easy. Without assistance from the Red Cross, the UN and others it will be difficult to return and rebuild their lives in the villages they left. Plans are underway to ensure help is there when people do return.
 

The Mali Red Cross Society recently conducted an assessment to identify what people will need. Indications are they will need everything: shelter, water, food, health care and support in re-establishing their livelihoods. “One of the new areas of focus in our work will consist of putting in place a programme of assistance and support to returnees in the north," said Mamadou Traore, Secretary General of the Mali Red Cross Society. “To achieve this however, we will need the support of all. The needs are too great for us to do it alone.”

 

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Mali: ICRC appeals for funds to boost aid effort

by International Committee of the Red Cross

Now that northern Mali has been in the grip of armed violence for almost 16 months, the living conditions of people affected by the conflict are very worrying and humanitarian needs substantial.

 

To continue to provide appropriate assistance for hundreds of thousands of people caught up in the conflict, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is asking donors for 40 million Swiss francs (around 33 million euros) in additional support.

 

"Communities have been hard hit. They need food, water and health care," said Régis Savioz, the ICRC's deputy director of operations, at a press conference in Bamako. "They need to regain a certain ability to fend for themselves so that they will ultimately be able to forgo outside help."

 

At the end of a visit that included a journey to Gao and Mopti, in the north of the country, Mr Savioz expressed the view that the unstable situation and the violence in northern cities are making living conditions even more difficult. "No significant return of refugees or other displaced people has so far been observed," he said.

 

The additional funding, bringing the ICRC's budget for Mali and Niger to around 75 million Swiss francs (around 61 million euros), will enable the organization to press ahead with the activities it has long been carrying out in the two countries. The operation in Mali and Niger will become the ICRC's second biggest in the world in budgetary terms.

Goundam, Tombouctou region, Mali.
Mali Red Cross volunteers distribute food to displaced people.
© ICRC / I. Sangaré

 

"Every donation will enable us to increase our aid wherever necessary; priority will be given to those who need it most," said Mr Savioz. "To be able to better understand and respond to the needs, we intend to step up our work in Mali, especially in the Gao, Kidal and Timbuktu areas. The time to take action is right now."

 

Mr Savioz also emphasized the importance of the efforts made by the Mali Red Cross to bring aid to needy people. "The Mali Red Cross plays an essential role in Mali, where it is a key partner of the ICRC," he declared. "Without the Mali Red Cross and the cooperation of its thousands of volunteers, to whom I would like to pay tribute, we would quite simply be unable to carry out our aid activities."

 

Around 420,000 people will be given food aid throughout the year and some 186,000 farmers will be provided with seed. In addition, the vaccination and treatment of two million animals and the distribution of 510 tonnes of animal feed will enable 35,000 herding families to maintain their livelihood.

 

The ICRC will continue to provide support for the regional referral hospital in Gao and for community health-care centres. It will also continue to help supply fuel for electrical power stations in the main cities in the north of the country to ensure that water is available to inhabitants.

 

ICRC delegates will carry on visiting people detained in connection with the conflict. Following an agreement signed this very day with the Malian government, the ICRC expects to step up its activities for detainees and to have access to all places of detention in the country.

To view new footage on northern Mali: www.icrcvideonewsroom.org
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Chad - When it Rains, it Pours

by Pierre Péron, Public Information Officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

 

There is an expression that you will hear throughout Africa: “l’eau, c’est la vie.” Water is life. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Sahel, the strip of semi-arid land stretching East to West across the continent, marking the boundary between the Saharan desert and the rain forests of Equatorial Africa.

People in the Sahel are tough, but 2012 is proving to be an exceptionally bad year and the resilience of communities is being sorely tested. More than 18 million people in the Sahel are affected by a major food security and nutrition crisis this year, 3.6 million of them in Chad. Even though the humanitarian community rang the alarm bell early and thousands of tons of food aid have been distributed by the World Food Program, malnutrition rates have soared: UNICEF and partners in Chad have treated more than 100,000 children for severe acute malnutrition since the beginning of the year.

 

There are many reasons for this dreadful situation, but a major factor is that the Sahel region suffered yet another drought last year, the third in a decade. The crop yields were abysmal and people delved into their last reserves of food. These repeated shocks to the system have had a devastating impact on the ability of communities to survive. The rainy months between July and October have been the most difficult, known as the “lean months” or the “hunger season” preceding the next crop harvest. This year the rains started early and are finishing late, initially raising expectations of a better crop yield this time around.

However, the irony is that the rains bring their own problems. This year has seen the worst floods in living memory, with vast areas of the south of the country under water. More than 470,000 people have been affected, 94,000 houses have been damaged, and 34 people drowned. Just as worrying, many crops were damaged with more than 255,000 hectares of agricultural fields flooded. The bad roads and swollen rivers that criss-cross the country make it very difficult to reach these areas, so we are still not sure what will be the impact on the up-coming harvest. In the mean-time, OCHA and humanitarian partners are mobilizing to assist the most affected communities with water, sanitation, and other immediate needs.

 

The village of Ham in the Mayo Kebbi region. ©OCHA

 

And while there may be water all over the place right now, not much of it is clean. The lack of sanitation and the unavailability of clean water make perfect conditions for cholera, which killed more than 400 people last year in Chad. So far in 2012, there hasn’t been any cholera, but NGOs, the World Health Organisation, and the government are all prepared for it. Action plans are set and contingency stocks are in place. The humanitarian community is ready to respond to an outbreak to save lives, but since the water and sanitation budget for Chad is only 17% funded, we can hardly say that all is being done to prevent cholera from striking again.

 

People set up shelters on higher ground in Koukou, Sila Region. ©OCHA

 

With water, also comes mosquitoes and malaria. Médécins Sans Frontières reported that the heavy rains this year brought forward the expected seasonal increase in malaria cases. For children, malaria and malnutrition are a lethal combination. Droughts, cholera, and floods- as if Chad’s problems were biblical enough, the heavy rains have created perfect breeding conditions for swarms of locusts that could mature just in time to attack the crops before the harvest.

So right now, when Chad is at its hungriest and wettest, water can be both a blessing and a curse. The level of the Chari and Logone rivers that run through the capital N’Djamena is rising every day and several neighborhoods are already flooded. A man who waded home from church knee-deep in water told a local journalist: “We prayed many times to God for him to give us rain. Now he has given it to us and although we are now under water, we must accept it rather than regret it. God answered our prayers.”

A street in the Walia neighborhood of N'Djamena. ©OCHA