ADVOCACY & PROMOTION OF CHILDREN'S
& WOMEN'S RIGHTS
New Publication: Towards a Baseline
A girl born in southern Sudan has a much greater chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth than of completing primary school. To put it another way, one in nine women dies in pregnancy or childbirth but only one in a hundred girls completes primary school.
Some 95,000 under-fives are estimated to have died last year in southern Sudan (2003 population in non-government controlled areas: 7.5 million), most of preventable disease. The total death toll of under fives in the world's 31 industrialised countries (with a combined population of 938 million) was 76,000, according to UNICEF.
These are just some of dozens of alarming new statistics about women and children in the troubled region highlighted in a new study supported by UNICEF. The 71-page publication, "Towards a Baseline: Best Estimates of Social Indicators for Southern Sudan", is published by the New Sudan Centre for Statistics and Evaluation (NSCSE) in association with UNICEF and is published in June 2004.
The report reviews numerous surveys conducted in southern Sudan during recent years and compares them with models and figures from neighbouring countries and official statistics from the rest of Sudan. The indicators presented include: demographics; education; child and maternal mortality; water and sanitation; health and nutrition. After 21 years of war, southern Sudan ranks the worst place in the world for many key indicators of women and children's wellbeing, including shocking rates of chronic malnutrition, primary school completion, immunisation and antenatal care.
As the Sudan north-south peace process enters its final stage, UNICEF urges donors, nongovernmental agencies, southern Sudanese civil society and the de facto governing authorities of southern Sudan to make children's survival and healthy development their top priority.
A census is planned for the interim period following a peace agreement which would provide a baseline for planning and monitoring social progress. Until that census is performed, "Towards a Baseline" provides a much-needed starting point for planning future national and international assistance, which is expected to grow massively after the conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement. The NSCSE is a technical wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM).
The document is available online in PDF format at: http://www.unsudanig.org/Publications/assessments Hard copies can be obtained on request from Florence Kimanzi (fkimanzi@unicef.org).
Child Protection
Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR)
As part of planning for further child demobilisation, UNICEF has seconded a member of the SPLM Taskforce for Child Soldier Demobilisation for a short consultancy to carry out an audit of remaining child soldiers and other children in support roles in the armed forces. The consultant will also work with the SPLM/A to develop a policy for southern Sudan on the prevention of recruitment of children, their release from the armed forces and an end to re-recruitment.
UNICEF was among the agencies which addressed the two parties to the peace agreement on the work of the multi agency working group on DDR. It was stated that child demobilisation is an imperative both for the immediate protection of children from participation in the fighting forces and also as a guarantee of their human rights.
Coordination of Child Protection
A child protection consultant seconded to UNICEF from Save the Children UK spent three weeks in Rumbek working with the interagency Sustainable Returns Team, the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SRRC) and other protection actors, including the United National High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) to identify child protection issues related to the returns of refugees and displaced people. A training plan targetting aid workers, transit point workers, community leaders, administrators and entry point workers is recommended. Child protection agencies working in southern Sudan have also agreed to strengthen tracing mechanisms for separated children.
Child Protection
Mine Risk Education (MRE)
During the month of June, the results of the MRE needs assessment were analysed and a report produced, which is available from Una McCauley (umccauley@unicef.org). The report indicates that settled communities have know a lot about the location of unexploded ordinance (UXO) and mines, although there are some misconceptions about UXO and its dangers. However, it was clear that there needs to be improved mine risk education for displaced and returning populations.
Other Activities
Child-to-Child Census
A mini child-to-child census was carried out in Rumbek county, Bahr el Ghazal, as part of a global UNICEF initiative to find out more about out of school children and why they are not in class
About 100 out of school children were interviewed by 20 school pupils (10 girls and 10 boys) in their areas. The most common reasons for children not attending school were: because they were looking after livestock and taking care of younger children. More details are expected as the questionnaires are tabulated.
Communication
BBC World features UNICEF in southern Sudan
In June, BBC World aired a documentary on rotavirus and diarrhoea as part of a series on diseases called "Kill or Cure". UNICEF's work in southern Sudan featured prominently. The programme summary says: "Virtually every child in the world, rich or poor, is infected early in life by a vicious bug called rotavirus. The lucky ones show no symptoms -- they simply become immune. Others develop severe diarrhoea. Given the best medicine, the victims recover. However, in a country like southern Sudan, where even simple rehydration therapy may be hard to come by, rotavirus is lethal: it's the biggest single cause of severe diarrhoea and it kills a large number of children every year. After decades of civil war, clean water and simple hygiene are the priorities.
At least three vaccines against rotavirus are now on the way. The first could win approval later this year, but it will be marketed in the West where the disease is seldom fatal, and at a price far out of reach of the people who most need it."
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