UN’s Kofi Annan visits CARE Refugee Camp in Chad

2 July 2004 The Secretary General met with refugees as well as aid workers attached to CARE International and other relief and development organisations. CARE is currently operating four camps and assists up to 59,000 refugees in Chad along the Sudan-Chad border.

CARE has been working in Sudan for more than 20 years, providing humanitarian and development assistance services to vulnerable populations including those displaced by the country’s long-running civil war. CARE is providing humanitarian assistance for up to 400,000 people in the Darfur region and also working with 150,000 displaced people in South Sudan. The Secretary General has already met international humanitarian agencies working to support peace in Sudan. A group of seven international agencies, including CARE, presented their concerns to Mr. Annan and to representatives of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is also visiting Sudan. In their presentation, the agencies urged the leaders to call for a U.N. Security Council resolution to address the gravity of the conflict; to ensure that immediate steps be taken to restore civilian security in Darfur; for a political resolution of the conflict; and for full and unimpeded humanitarian access to all areas of need. Of grave concern to the agencies was the humanitarian crisis affecting the people of Darfur. They called for a rapid increase in scale and quality of the humanitarian response if large-scale loss of life is to be averted. The agencies also urged the secretary General to press all warring parties, with international backing, to commit to an immediate political process which addresses the root causes of conflict in Darfur. Without such a process, the agencies said, the two million Darfuris currently affected by war would be unable to return to their lives and livelihoods. While the agencies welcomed the African Union ceasefire observer mission as an important step towards protection of civilians, they said its impact would have to be monitored regularly, with additional resources or personnel immediately made available by the international community, if required. The NGOs said that high-level political and diplomatic pressure had to be brought to bear on the warring parties to ensure that all aspects of the ceasefire agreement were implemented without delay. Attacks on civilians had to cease and the Janjaweed militia neutralised according to the ceasefire agreement. Finally, they stated, leadership, along with sustained, long-term commitment from the UN, was urgently required. “We hope the high-level visit will set in motion continued UN engagement to not only address immediate concerns but to keep a focus on Darfur until peace and recovery is assured,” said Cynthia Gaigals, a spokesperson for the coalition of NGOs.

About CARE in Sudan: CARE has been active in Sudan since 1979 and works in North, South and West Kordofan, Greater Khartoum, Unity and Bahr El Gazal states. Activities include water supply, reproductive health and family planning, agriculture and emergency food relief. In southern Sudan, CARE has worked with local communities, internally displaced people and refugees from neighbouring countries. Activities include agriculture, health and education. Do coordinate our response to the Darfur crisis, CARE set up a sub-office in Nyala at the start of May.

Notes to editors: For more information, please contact: Kate Bulbulian, UK press office, bulbulian@ciuk.org; tel: +44 (0) 207 934 9347 For interviews with staff in Darfur contact: Lena Elsheikh, lena@sudan.care.org; tel: +249 91 225 2001