Darfur

Life in Darfur
Darfur is widely recognized as the worst humanitarian crisis today, as the region struggles to recover from 20 years of civil war and continues to be plagued by intense rebel attacks. Despite a north-south peace agreement signed in 2005, the situation in Darfur, in western Sudan, has worsened. While the civil war claimed 1.5 million lives on its own, another 300,000 people are believed to have died from disease and malnutrition as a result of the ongoing fighting in Darfur. Two million people are also expected to have been displaced, with approximately 240,000 spilling into the deserts of eastern Chad. For those who have fled across borders, the resettlement areas offer little promise, as food, water, health care, and other critical resources are scarce. For those who have been unable to flee Darfur, localized attacks are a constant threat to their well-being. Relying almost exclusively on humanitarian agencies for support, the residents of the Darfur region would often be without food, water, shelter, and health care if it was not for international aid.

Although the UN deployed forces into Darfur at the beginning of 2008, the security situation continues to deteriorate, as localized clashes between armed groups and aerial Government assaults have driven thousands more from their homes in recent months. Crop failure also has led to increasing food insecurity and has pushed whole communities to relocate to benefit from food distribution and other services.

Helping Communities Help Themselves
Bringing Relief
Operating in Sudan since 1994, International Medical Corps (IMC) continues to offer emergency assistance to the people of Darfur through a network of mobile medical clinics and static health centers. Its health services benefit a population of 450,000 – 75 percent of them internally displaced– in West and South Darfur. These outreach services include:

•  Primary health care
•  Secondary health care, including surgery
•  Maternal and child care
•  Expanded immunization
•  Health promotion
•  Nutritional screening and therapeutic and supplemental feeding
•  HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention
•  Water and sanitation

International Medical Corps has successfully implemented water and sanitation facilities that work to reduce waterborne illness and other hygiene-related problems. The project has provided clean water, latrines, and water distribution points in three areas in West Darfur. IMC also has made surgery and emergency obstetric care, including cesarean sections, available to thousands in West Darfur through a rehabilitated hospital in Um Dukhun.

With food insecurity worsening across the region, International Medical Corps will continue to provide nutritional support, particularly for children and pregnant or lactating women. As crop failure forces more communities to migrate, IMC will continue to identify and screen vulnerable individuals and monitor the nutritional well-being of populations throughout Darfur. IMC’s support to Darfurians expands beyond the region, providing health care and other services to those who have left their homes to resettle in refugee camps in Chad. Click here to learn more about IMC’s humanitarian work in Chad.

Enabling Self-Reliance
Working to create lasting impact on the quality of life in Darfur, International Medical Corps’ programs train nationals to fulfill the following roles in their programs:

•  Traditional birth attendants who can help ensure clean, safe deliveries for Darfurian and refugee mothers and their babies
•  Health care workers to provide primary health care through IMC-supported health clinics, hospitals, maternity clinics, and    health care units, as well as nutritional support
•  Community health workers able to educate their peers in basic health, such as preventable diseases

Education is central to all International Medical Corps operations in Darfur. IMC provides on-the-job training for nurses and doctors who have just completed medical school, as well as general health education for community members. Darfurians have the opportunity to become community health workers responsible for peer outreach in disease prevention, maternal and infant health, and other curative and preventative measures.

You Can Help Build Change That Lasts
Despite the international attention and assistance that Darfur has received, the ongoing violence continues to cause population shifts and hinder the development of even the most basic infrastructure. While International Medical Corps has made great advances to create and support a medical network in Darfur, clashes among armed militias, armed robberies, and other safety risks still threaten the lives and well-being of its residents. Please join IMC in supporting those impacted by the Darfur conflict, and together, we can work to end this humanitarian crisis. Click here to help Darfur and other IMC programs worldwide.