Sudan: Humanitarian Action in Darfur, weekly bulletin no. 39, 06 Nov 2008

Key overall developments

- Field work of the Darfur Food Security and Livelihood Assessment (DFSLA) and Darfur Nutrition Assessment (DNA), launched on 26 October, progressed during the week. As of 01 November, two (2) clusters in West Darfur state have been assessed while teams in South Darfur have already covered Nyala camps, Yassin, Abu Ajura cluster as well as Ed Daein and Haskanita areas. In North Darfur, teams covered five clusters, which included Abu Shouk IDP camp, Sag El Naam, Armadyat, Tawila and Hilat Babiker. The assessment in Fazi Dor cluster will be completed on 02 November. Kabkabiya town, Saraf Omra, El Fasher rural and Dar El Salam rural are also included in the coverage.

Needs and response by sector

Education

North Darfur

- UNICEF released 81 recreation kits, 312 pencil boxes, 739 textbooks, 107 English textbooks, 815 pens, 100 blackboards and 2,715 blackboards to Malliet, Sayah, and Rokoro (Jebel Marra) schools benefiting 4,050 school age children 50% of whom are girls.

- In collaboration with the State Ministry of Education (SMoE), UNICEF and the school feeding department of the World Food Programme (WFP) conducted training for 20 female cooks and 20 school teachers - 50% of whom were female - in 20 schools to acquire additional skills on food processing.

- UNICEF supported the child friendly community initiatives (CFCI) to complete the construction of nine (9) permanent classrooms and two (2) offices in Garni, Kinana and Lawabid schools benefiting over 500 school age children, 50% of whom are girls.

Food Security and Livelihoods

North Darfur

- Oxfam began a new training course for paravets in Kabkabiya this week. In the last two (2) months, graduates from previous paravet courses have treated 86,815 donkeys; 53,658 sheep; 79,080 goats; 40,562 heads of cattle; 25,189 horses; 48,341 camels; and 333 poultry in surrounding rural areas. A rural veterinary pharmacy is also being established.

- Oxfam distributed 288 goats to 72 households in Kabkabiya, providing four (4) goats to each household. The goats will be used for milk and improving the families' livelihood opportunities.

- Oxfam trained 23 teachers in Kabkabiya - four (4) male and 19 female - on natural resource management, as part of efforts to help communities use natural resources more efficiently and sustainably.

- A mission from the European Community Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO) visited El Fasher from 26-30 October to discuss WFP activities, with a particular focus on the blanket supplementary feeding programme. The mission also observed the ongoing Darfur food security and livelihood assessment (DFSLA) and Darfur nutrition assessment (DNA) assessment.

- The first level of an inter-agency verification exercise of beneficiaries - currently under the emergency caseload - in Shangil Tobayi and Shadad IDP Camps was completed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Action Contre La Faim (ACF) teams on 28 October. Results are currently being compiled and analyzed. The second level of the exercise is expected to take place by November while the exercise will be completed by December.

South Darfur

- A joint mission to Sania Afandu was completed on 28 October by WFP and cooperating partner Samaritan's Purse. The mission team visited four (4) village clusters of Marla, Sania Afandu, Dito and Um Kunya to look into the food security situation, agricultural prospects, market fluctuations and grain distribution among the displaced population as well as the local residents, who have been inaccessible over the last six (6) months due to insecurity. Information on population movement to and from the area was also collected. Final findings will be shared shortly.

- WFP is preparing for the roll out of a food security monitoring system for South Darfur scheduled to commence in January 2009. Preparatory activities include training of staff on data collection, pilot testing the monitoring questionnaire and establishing a database for monitoring of data.

- WFP cooperating partner Solidarités, submitted a preliminary assessment report on the humanitarian situation in Muhajeria and Shaeria, following the fighting which took place in September/October. WFP is looking at the possibility of distributing emergency rations to selected households in Muhajeria in November, pending further discussion with Solidarités and a planned mission to the area with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

West Darfur

- The October general distributions were completed during the week, reaching over 100,000 beneficiaries with 2,000 metric tons (MT) of food commodities in 20 distribution sites in West Darfur.

- According to the State Ministry of Agriculture, preliminary findings of the pre-harvest assessment indicate that the overall agricultural production has improved compared to last year. Poor harvest has been reported in some pocket areas, such as Kulbus, mainly due to pest infestation. An assessment report will be finalized by end of November.

Health and Nutrition

North Darfur

- Oxfam teams in Shangil Tobayi and Shadad IDP Camps rehabilitated a total of 13 destroyed latrines over the last two (2) weeks.

South Darfur

- With UNICEF support, 58 midwives graduated from Ed el Fursan and Buram midwifery schools. A further 100 midwives will graduate from Nyala midwifery school supported by UNICEF next week.

West Darfur

- A UNICEF joint project with the international NGO Help Age International (HAI) trained 60 youth peer educators from four (4) IDP camps around El Geneina - Riyad, Krinding 1, Krinding 2, and Ardamata - in HIV/AIDS education. The training utilized standardized HIV/AIDS modules and materials developed by both UNICEF and the Sudan National AIDS Program (SNAP). The trained personnel - ages between 15 and 24 years - will continue with awareness raising activities in their respective areas and will later in the month have a follow up refresher course.

- With UNICEF support, 14 midwives were trained on the supplementation of Vitamin A for post partum mothers in Garsila locality. Additionally UNICEF released 256 tins of Vitamin A supplementation to the Ministry of Health for the forthcoming National Immunization Days (NID) campaign.

Non-Food Items (NFIs)

South Darfur

- With UNICEF support, the international NGO Samaritan's Purse, distributed soap to three (3) schools in the East Jebel Mara. Approximately 6,969 students will have received soap and hand washing training.

Protection and Human Rights

South Darfur

- UNICEF - in collaboration with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) - conducted a workshop on psychosocial support to gender-based violence (GBV) survivors. The workshop was attended by 40 Government of the Sudan (GoS) police officers. The purpose of the workshop was to strengthen the GoS police's response on GBV in South Darfur.

West Darfur

- Child friendly community initiatives (CFCI) - with the support of UNICEF - conducted training for 60 community development committee (CDC) members in planning, implementing and monitoring of small projects.

Water and Sanitation

North Darfur

- UNICEF and the state water corporation (SWC) water and environmental sanitation (WES) team jointly facilitated sanitation promotion workshops in Dar El Salam and Malliet localities. Five hundred and forty (540) school children in Abu Zerega and 450 children in Mellit received hygiene and hand washing messages and received soap as part of the promotion.

- UNICEF and the SWC/WES team mobilized the community of Abu Zerega to construct household latrines. So far, 250 slabs have been constructed with 25 household completed.

- With the support of UNICEF, WES trained 30 village health committee members and 30 female hygiene promoters in villages in Dar El Salam locality. A further 30 women in Abu Shouk IDP Camp were trained by WES in hygiene promotion activities and messages. The team reached 1,800 households in Abu Shouk with hygiene messages.

South Darfur

- With UNICEF support, the drilling of shallow wells and hand pumps were completed by WES in Ed al Fursan and Al Salam locality. These are estimated to assist 4,000 people in rural areas.

If you have inputs for the next edition or questions and comments on this one, or other media and public enquiries, please contact:

Nahla Zarroug, Information Analyst, United Nations, Khartoum, Sudan, Email: zarroug@un.org, Telephone: +249-9-12160065

For other media and public enquiries, you may also contact:

Orla Clinton, Public Information Officer, United Nations, Khartoum, Sudan, Email: clinton@un.org, Telephone: +249-9-12174454

Imad Hassanein, Media Officer, United Nations, Khartoum, Sudan, Email: hassaneini@un.org, Telephone: +249-9-12178035