Watchlist Sudan: Report

INDICATORS IN SUDAN	All of Sudan	Southern Sudan[1]	Darfur
Population	Estimated 36.2 million, total (World Bank, 2005)	Estimated 7.5 million (Towards a Baseline, 2004)	Estimated 6 million (various)
Voting Age	17	17 (No recent elections have been held in southern Sudan)	17 (No recent elections have been held in Darfur)
Gross National Income (GNI) per Capita	US$640 (World Bank, 2005)	Estimated US$90 (Towards a Baseline, 2004)	Unavailable
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)[2]	Estimated 343,600 Sudanese refugees (UNHCR, October 2006) Estimated 5 million IDPs	Unavailable	Over 200,000 refugees from Darfur in Chad (UNHCR, 2006) Estimated 1.8 million IDPs in Darfur (IDMC, 2006)
Infant Mortality (under 1)	63/1,000, Sudan (UNICEF, 2004)	150/1,000 (Towards a Baseline, 2004)	116/1,000 males, 96/1,000 females (WHO, 2004)
HIV/AIDS	Estimated 1.6% prevalence rate[3] (UNAIDS, WHO and UNICEF, end of 2005)	Estimated 2.6% (Towards a Baseline, 2004)	Unavailable
Education	50% male and 42% female primary school enrollment (UNICEF, 2000–2004)	20% primary school enrollment (Towards a Baseline, 2004)	Estimated 28% of school-age children (approximately 167,241) in school (UNICEF, 2005)
Gender-Based Violence (GBV)	Conflict-related GBV, including sexual slavery of women and children, rape by military forces, sexual exploitation and forced marriage, is known to be a widespread problem in Sudan. FGM and non-conflict-related sexual violence are also problems.	Conflict-related and post-conflict incidents of GBV have been known to occur in the South. Prevalence information, however, is scant. Social stigma has likely prevented many survivors from seeking crucial support and services.	Armed groups and forces have subjected girls and women from Darfur to a brutal and systematic campaign of rape and sexual violence. Prevalence information, however, is scant.
Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW)	Mines and ERW are believed to affect 21 of 26 states in Sudan, and UN and national authorities estimate mines or ERW affect up to one-third of the country, with the vast majority located in the South and central Sudan. (Landmine Monitor 2006)	There have been no recent serious allegations of landmine use since the signing of the CPA; UXO remain a problem. (Landmine Monitor 2006)	Landmine use is not indicated in Darfur and UXO remains a problem. (Landmine Monitor 2006)
Small Arms	One of the largest build-ups of small arms in the world. Young people, especially males, are heavily armed for military and other purposes.	Widespread presence of unregulated small arms and light weapons. Residents of the South, particularly of the Lakes State, are heavily armed.	Heavy flow of arms from southern Sudan and Chad into Darfur. Government and rebel groups are heavily armed. UN and EU have active arms embargos on Darfur.
Child Soldiers	All armed groups in Sudan are known to forcibly recruit children under age 18. Children remain in the ranks of the SAF and are associated with rebel groups and government-backed and tribal militias. (S/2006/662)	Credible evidence that the SSUM and SPLA continue to recruit or use children. Militias that have not joined the CPA continue to recruit in southern Sudan and Khartoum. (S/2006/662) An estimated 1,000 children have been released since the CPA.	Government-backed militias, JEM, SLA, Chadian opposition forces and Camel Police recruit and use children in Darfur. (S/2006/662)

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS	2003 Status	2007 Status
Convention on the Rights of the Child Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography	Ratified (1990) · Signed (2002) · Not Signed	Ratified (1990) · Ratified (2005) · Acceded (2004)
Other Treaties Ratified	International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Protocol; Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (signed)	Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (acceded 2003); Mine Ban Treaty (ratified 2003)
United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Sudan	United Nations Security Council had not debated the situation in Sudan.	1714 (October 2006), 1713 (September 2006), 1709 (September 2006), 1706 (August 2006), 1679 (May 2006), 1672 (April 2006), 1665 (March 2006), 1663 (March 2006), 1651 (December 2005), 1627 (September 2005), 1593 (March 2005), 1591 (March 2005), 1590 (March 2005), 1588 (March 2005), 1585 (March 2005), 1574 (November 2004), 1564 (September 2004), 1556 (July 2004), 1547 (June 2004)
United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict	1460 (January 2003), 1379 (November 2001), 1314 (August 2000), 1261 (August 1999)	1612 (July 2005), 1539 (April 2004)

SUMMARY

The protection and well-being of children and youth in Sudan are at a crucial juncture. While children in the South are enjoying increased protection and access to services, those in Darfur and other areas of Sudan are enduring unspeakable acts of violence and abuse.

Humanitarian agencies in Darfur operate in an extremely volatile environment that poses significant operational challenges and threatens the security of civilians and humanitarian personnel. Government policies that restrict the movement of humanitarian workers and attacks and threats by armed forces and groups have stymied aid operations throughout Sudan, particularly in Darfur, in the East and around Khartoum.

Watchlist is concerned about apparent deliberate efforts by the Government to suppress information and prevent agencies from collecting and disseminating details on attacks against children and their protection needs, particularly in Darfur and the East. These efforts prevented many reliable experts working in Sudan from contributing information to this report, as they expressed concern about the safety of staff and beneficiaries of programs and potential retributive attacks or threats. As a result, some pertinent information related to the well-being of children in Sudan was not included.

Access to information on violations against children is also limited by chronic insecurity. As a result, some sections of this report may detail attacks perpetrated by only a few armed groups. This does not imply greater culpability but reflects instead the limited access to information. Many actors in Sudan have acknowledged that all parties to the conflict have violated children’s rights.

In this report, Watchlist has included information on violations against children in Sudan in each of the major categories identified by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 1612 (2005) on Children and Armed Conflict. These violations include killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abduction, denial of humanitarian assistance, attacks on schools, and recruitment and use of children by armed forces and groups. In addition, various other violations, such as forced displacement and torture, also continue to be committed against children and their families.

The following are highlights of Watchlist’s findings:

Killing and Maiming

While most areas of the South have enjoyed improved security, extreme violence and fighting have continued in Darfur, recently escalating since mid-2006. Armed forces and groups operating in Darfur continue to kill and maim children and youth, and humanitarian agencies have documented cases of armed groups shooting, mutilating and torturing children.

Rape and Other Forms of Sexual Violence against Children

Prevalence rates of rape and other forms of sexual violence in Sudan are unknown and difficult to determine given fear and stigma that surrounds reporting, retributive action taken against women and girls who do report, customary and statutory laws that penalize the survivor and humanitarian agencies’ limited or total inability to provide related services for survivors in many parts of Sudan, particularly in the East and Darfur. However, it is widely believed that rates of sexual violence throughout Sudan are high.

In Darfur, incidents of sexual violence are reportedly perpetrated by all armed groups in the region and are often extremely brutal. Sexual violence is used by Arab militias in Darfur and Chad as a tool to subjugate and humiliate non-Arab girls and women, and acts of sexual violence are often accompanied by racial epithets and other degrading comments.

Denial of Access to Humanitarian Aid

While the delivery of humanitarian aid has improved in some parts of Sudan, humanitarian agencies operating in Darfur continue to face challenges in providing much-needed assistance to civilians. Bureaucratic obstacles and complicated administrative procedures imposed by the government further impede the delivery of humanitarian goods and services, while armed forces and groups in Darfur have repeatedly attacked aid agencies. Attacks have included looting property, carjacking humanitarian vehicles, stealing and/or destroying humanitarian goods, confiscating vehicles, harassing expatriates and national staff and levying illegal taxes on humanitarian goods. These attacks have forced some agencies to withdraw from some parts of Darfur or from the region altogether, leaving hundreds of thousands without access to life-saving support and assistance.

Attacks on Schools and Hospitals

While attacks on schools have waned in the South, southern Sudan continues to have the lowest school enrollment rates in the world, with an estimated 25 percent of primary school-age children enrolled in school. Attacks on schools in other areas of Sudan, particularly Darfur, have increased. Schools, students and teachers in Darfur have been attacked by various armed groups and many schools have been forced to close, contributing to the limited education opportunities for children in Darfur.

Reports of recent attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities in the South are sparse. However, despite the relative abatement of attacks, the South still lacks an adequate health infrastructure and qualified health personnel, with only one doctor for every 100,000 people and one primary healthcare center for every 79,500 people. Attacks on hospitals, medical facilities, medical staff and humanitarian agencies are frequent in Darfur. These attacks have severely hampered access to healthcare, and aid agencies estimate that only 40 to 50 percent of people in Darfur have access to health services.

Abductions

Armed groups operating in Sudan and in border areas have abducted children to serve as combatants. The LRA is estimated to have abducted over 16,000 Ugandan and Sudanese refugee children, while refugee children in Chad have been abducted by Chadian and Sudanese armed groups and forces.

Girls in Darfur have also been specific targets of abduction by armed groups. Many girls in Darfur are abducted during attacks on their villages and once abducted, may be gang-raped, often multiple times by each perpetrator. Many girls are held in these conditions for a period of a few days and then released, often naked, to find their own way. Some abductions last for months or result in forced marriages.

Children Associated with Armed Forces and Groups

Reports indicate that most armed groups in Sudan, particularly the Janjaweed, Justice and Equality (JEM), South Sudan Unity Movement (SSUM), Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), recruit and use children. While the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) continue to deny the presence of children in their units, SAF representatives have acknowledged that there are children in other armed groups that have recently been incorporated into their forces. Recruitment of children has declined in southern Sudan, although militias that were not party to the CPA initiated recruitment drives prior to their incorporation into the SPLA or the SAF to bolster their negotiating power. Sudanese militias have also recruited children and other civilians amongst refugee populations in Chad.

Other Violations

In addition to the six egregious violations identified by the United Nations Security Council, Sudanese children continue to face a spectrum of other violence and abuses. These include forced displacement, forced labor and trafficking for labor and sexual purposes. Sudanese girls have been trafficked within and out of Sudan to serve as commercial sexual workers while others have been trafficked to work as domestic servants. Boys as young as four or five years old have been trafficked to Arab Gulf countries to work as camel jockeys and beggars. Children and young people are further threatened by violence and insecurity due to the presence of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) and the widespread availability of small arms and light weapons throughout Sudan.

Recommendations

In this report, the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict makes urgent recommendations to the authorities of the Government of National Unity (GoNU), the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and the Government of the Republic of Chad; all armed groups operating in Sudan; the UN Security Council; the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS); the humanitarian community in Sudan; and donors. Of primary importance, Watchlist calls on all armed forces and groups operating in Sudan to immediately halt violations against children. Additionally, all actors must take immediate action to protect children and young people in Sudan from further abuse and to find ways to assist and support those who have suffered the consequences of decades of armed conflict.

CONTEXT

North-South Sudan Conflict[4]

Sudan’s two-decade civil war, waged mostly between the Government of Sudan in the North and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the South, was one of the world’s longest-running wars. In January 2005, the warring parties signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement putting an end to direct hostilities (see below: North-South Peace Process). Experts estimate that the war caused over 2 million deaths either directly or indirectly by famine, illness and other threatening situations, though this number has recently been called into question. The war encompassed North-South hostilities and various localized conflicts within different regions. Religion, ethnic identity, colonial history, land, food and desire for control over natural resources, particularly oil, water and grazing land, all played a role in the outbreak and perpetuation of the armed conflict.

Both government forces and armed opposition groups committed massive violations against Sudanese children and other civilians throughout the war years. Parties to the conflict committed egregious violations against children in all areas identified by the UN Security Council in its Resolution 1612 on Children and Armed Conflict (CAC), including killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence against children, denial of access to humanitarian aid, attacks on schools and hospitals, abductions of children and recruitment and use of child soldiers, as well as many other violations, including torture, forced slavery, forced displacement and others.[5]

North-South Peace Process

In January 2005, the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the SPLM signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), putting an end to more than 20 years of war between North and South Sudan.[6] The CPA was negotiated over a three-year period with facilitation by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).[7] The CPA provides for a six-year interim period, at the end of which the people of southern Sudan will hold a referendum on whether they wish to remain part of a united Sudan, under the government system established by the CPA, or if they wish to secede.

The CPA provided for the restructuring of the GoS, including the adoption of an interim national constitution, the establishment of a Government of National Unity (GoNU) and a semi-autonomous authority in the South known as the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS). Under the one-country, two-system model, the North and South share power, resources and wealth but maintain separate armies. The president of the GoS, General Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, became president of the GoNU while the first vice presidency was assumed by the leader of the SPLM, Dr. John Garang de Mabior, later replaced by Salva Kiir Mayardit.[8] In June 2005, the GoNU and the National Democratic Alliance, composed of SPLM/A and smaller northern-based parties and armed groups, signed an additional peace agreement.

CPA also required all non-legal militias, referred to as “other armed groups”[9] in the agreement, to join either the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) or the SPLA by January 9, 2006. Many non-legal armed groups have followed this regulation. Yet, incorporation into the SAF and the SPLA has been partial and inadequate overall, resulting in continued instability and insecurity in the South. In November 2006, fighting erupted in Malakal between government forces and the SPLA resulting in the deaths of at least 150 people, including 50 civilians, and injuring approximately 400. This incident marked the heaviest fighting between the SPLA and GoNU forces since the signing of the CPA. Insecurity in the South has also led some pastoralist communities to maintain defense forces, such as the White Army, linked to the Lou clan of Nuer ethnic group, in order to protect livestock.

Overall, implementation of the CPA has been extremely slow and difficult. While the agreement ended one of Africa’s longest-running wars, it only encompassed two parties to the conflict, resulting in a lack of broad support throughout the country, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG), Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement: The Long Road Ahead, March 2006. As the international community has shifted attention to the dire situation in Darfur it has failed to remain deeply engaged in the implementation of the CPA, allowing various parties to exploit gaps in the CPA, fuel underlying ethnic tensions and hamper efficient implementation.[10]

Darfur Conflict

Though conflict has long plagued the region of Darfur, the current conflict began in February 2003 when two rebel movements, the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) emerged, calling for an end to the government’s political and socioeconomic marginalization of Darfur.[11] In 2006, the SLA/M leadership split at the highest levels on dissension over signing a peace accord with the GoNU (see below: Darfur Peace Process), resulting in the formation of two separate SLA factions of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), one led by Minni Minawi (SLA-MM) and the other by Abdul Wahed (SLA-AW).

Beginning as early as 2002, rebel groups launched attacks on over 80 police stations and military posts, killing several hundred policemen and creating a security vacuum, especially in rural areas. In response to these assaults, the Government of Sudan responded with disproportionate counterattacks and launched a campaign of repression that targeted the civilian population of Darfur. Sudanese military and paramilitary forces began carrying out a bloody policy against these ethnic populations, which included killings, sexual violence and burning of villages.

As part of the government campaign to suppress the rebel movements, the government-backed Janjaweed militia, often in coordination with Sudanese soldiers, continues to commit systematic human rights violations against children and other civilians in Darfur. Government forces have used Antonov aircraft, MiG fighter jets and helicopter gunships to bomb villages, kill civilians and force people to flee their homes, increasing levels of death and injuries in a more horrific and accelerated version of what had already happened in many parts of southern Sudan, according to Amnesty International (AI), Sudan: Arming the Perpetrators of Grave Abuses in Darfur, November 2004. Government aircraft are also used in reconnaissance to support ground attacks by government-backed militias.

Violations committed by government forces and allied militias against children and other civilians have included extra-judicial executions, unlawful killings, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, abduction, destruction of property, looting of cattle and property, destruction of means of livelihood and forced displacement, according to AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War, July 2004. Girls and women have specifically been targets of abduction, sexual slavery, torture and forced displacement. Scores of children have been separated from their families.

By the end of 2004, nearly 2 million people from Darfur had been uprooted from their homes due to the armed conflict. Many fled to other parts of Darfur while others sought safety over the border in Chad. The exact number of those who have been killed is difficult to calculate, however estimates range from 60,000 to 400,000, including those who have died as a direct or indirect result of the armed conflict, according to Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). In November 2006, President al-Bashir stated, responding to a recently released UN report on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Darfur, that the number of deaths had not yet reached 9,000.

In addition to violations against children perpetrated in the course of fighting between government forces, militia and rebels, grave violations have also been committed in the course of fighting between rebel groups and among rebel factions. In an incident in September 2006, fighters loyal to non-signatory rebel groups used mortars and heavy weaponry to attack an SLA faction near Gereida in Southern Darfur, killing approximately 40 people and forcing three major humanitarian organizations to temporarily suspend operations in the area.

Since January 2006, violence in Darfur has reached new levels of intensity and frequency, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Sudanese military tactics now includes broad aerial bombings to clear villages of civilians, followed by looting and violence by ground troops and militia. Refugees fleeing Northern Darfur have reported frequent aerial bombardments by government planes and helicopter gunships, before, during and after Janjaweed attacks. Similar reports have also been recorded in Southern and Western Darfur. In Gereida, Southern Darfur, well over 20 villages were attacked between January and April 2006 by armed militia and/or government forces, according to OHCHR. From August to September 2006, a brutal campaign likely resulting in several hundred civilian deaths, including many children, was conducted by militia groups[12] in the Buram locality of Southern Darfur with the knowledge and material support of the government authorities.

Most of the widespread, systematic and grave violations perpetrated by various armed groups against children and other civilians, mainly of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups and other agro-pastoralist groups in Darfur, have been committed in an environment of utter impunity. Although the UN Security Council has referred the situation in Darfur to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the GoNU has rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction and denied ICC investigators access to Darfur. The GoNU has since established a special national criminal court to look into grave rights violations committed in Darfur. However, the selection of cases to be investigated appears subjective, ignoring some of the more serious crimes, and sentences in some cases have not reflected the gravity of the crime committed.

Darfur Peace Process

On April 8, 2004, the GoS, SLA and JEM signed a cease-fire agreement for the armed conflict in Darfur, which included the establishment of an international Ceasefire Commission (CFC) to monitor the agreement. The CFC eventually led to the deployment of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS).[13] Despite these steps, violence continued to rage in Darfur.

On May 5, 2006, the GoNU and SLA-MM signed the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). SLA-AW and JEM officially rejected the DPA, arguing that it does not provide sufficient individual compensation for people affected by the conflict and that it does not provide the people of Darfur with sufficient political representation. On June 8, 2006, another group of rebel leaders, including some formerly associated with SLA-AW and JEM signed a Declaration of Commitment to the DPA. The signing of the DPA sparked an outbreak of protests by IDPs who support JEM or SLA-AW across Darfur, revealing the widespread dissatisfaction with the content of the DPA and the desire for greater international intervention in Darfur.

Armed conflict and violations against children and other civilians have continued to rage in Darfur despite the signing of the DPA and the Declaration of Commitment to the DPA. On June 30, 2006, members of JEM and the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance and the Deputy Chairman of SLA-AW founded the National Redemption Front and signed a declaration opposing the DPA. Abdul Wahid, the leader of the SLA-AW faction, did not sign the declaration.

Throughout the second half of 2006, various rebel factions merged and split and several new rebel movements were formed. Furthermore, the command and control structures of some movements continued to be ambiguous and fractured. This has created complications in implementing cease-fire and peace agreements and made negotiations with some groups extremely difficult. The continuous shifting of allegiances between armed groups in Darfur and subsequent insecurity in the region has stymied the provision of basic services for children and their families and effective implementation of child protection programs.

Eastern Sudan Conflict^{^[14]}

In eastern Sudan, various political parties and armed movements began using violence to protest their perceived historical marginalization by the central Sudanese government in the mid-1990s. The two largest groups leading this movement are the Beja Congress, representing the Beja people, and the Free Lions, representing the Al Rashayidah people. In January 2005, these two groups merged to create the Eastern Front, which is both a political party and an armed group. The Government responded with efforts to undercut the Eastern Front, such as using divide-and-rule policies and creating tribal militias. Government policies in eastern Sudan have made it extremely difficult to express grievances through normal political channels, according to ICG, Sudan: Saving Peace in the East, January 2006.

In March 2005, the UN worked with the Eastern Front to achieve an agreement to suspend hostilities. However, negotiations broke down and fighting again accelerated. By early 2006, both the government and the armed opposition had perpetrated new, violent attacks. In one incident in January 2006, the government used artillery and aircraft to bomb the Eastern Front headquarters near the town of Hamesh Koreb, allegedly killing at least two children.

In June 2006, the Eastern Front and the government agreed to a cease-fire and signed a Declaration of Principles, agreeing to lift the state emergency in eastern Sudan, to release prisoners of war and to refrain from conducting hostile media campaigns. On October 15, 2006, after months of negotiations, both sides signed a power and resource sharing agreement confirming that representatives from eastern Sudan will be permitted to hold positions in the central government.

Sudan-Uganda Border: Lord’s Resistance Army

The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a northern Ugandan rebel group that has committed countless atrocities against civilians in northern Uganda and southern Sudan for over 20 years. The LRA is estimated to have abducted over 16,000 Ugandan and Sudanese refugee children. Both adults and children have been abducted as war booty and forced to become soldiers, porters, laborers and sex slaves for the rebels. Reports describe rebels forcing child captives to kill, cook and eat human flesh; sew infants into the bellies of cows to suffocate them; and commit acts of brutality against other children and adults. Girls have been held as sex slaves and subsequently become pregnant and contract HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Children who have attempted to escape have been killed with clubs and other weapons in front of the others to discourage future attempts.

The GoS was a longtime supporter of the LRA, while the Government of Uganda had been known to support the SPLM/A for many years. In 2001, under international pressure, the GoS disavowed its support for the LRA and pledged to seek the release of the abducted children, though ultimately these actions did not win the release of the children. In 2005, the LRA increased its presence in southern Sudan, raiding Loka and Lainya on the Yei-Juba road and launching an attack for the first time in Western Equatoria.

Northern Uganda Peace Process

In late 2004, LRA and Ugandan government officials began peace talks, but the initiative broke down early in 2005. Another cease-fire in April 2005 lasted only 18 days. In September 2005, the ICC, with support from Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, issued indictments for five senior LRA officials, including the LRA’s chief, Joseph Kony. The indictments were met with minimal support from the local community in northern Uganda, which had long advocated for an amnesty policy and traditional reconciliation mechanisms as the quickest means to restoring peace in the North.

In December 2005, the LRA leadership and the government once again agreed to revive the peace process, although the LRA continued its brutal attacks on civilians. On August 26, 2006, the parties signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement in Juba, southern Sudan, with facilitation by Riek Machar, vice president of the GoSS. The agreement included a provision for the cessation of military action by both the Ugandan army and the LRA and other activities that could undermine peace negotiations. It also required the LRA rebels to assemble in two designated zones in southern Sudan (Owiny Ki-Bul in Eastern Equatoria and Ri-Kwangba in Western Equatoria) within three weeks of the signing of the agreement. It required southern Sudan’s SPLA to monitor and protect these assembly sites, and required the Ugandan government to ensure the LRA’s safe passage to the designated zones and to allow the LRA rebels to leave the zones peacefully if the peace talks should fail.

The provisions of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement have been fraught with difficulties, such as disagreements about rescinding the ICC indictments and allegations by both sides of staging attacks against them.

Nevertheless, a new phase of the peace talks began in September 2006 with the goals of reaching a comprehensive solution that would cover the LRA’s participation in national politics and institutions, the social and economic development of northern and eastern Uganda, the resettlement of IDPs and the demobilization of LRA rebels.

This phase of the talks has proceeded slowly, yielding limited results due to ongoing accusations and counteraccusations of truce violations by both parties to the conflict. Citing concerns about attacks and government-plotted ambushes around assembly points in southern Sudan, the LRA withdrew from the peace process, bringing the talks to a standstill until December 2006. On December 17, 2006, the parties signed an addendum to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, extending the cease-fire to February 28, 2007, and obliging the LRA to assemble within one month in the two neutral assembly points identified in the original Cessation of Hostilities agreement. However, on January 3 and 4, 2007, the LRA allegedly led two attacks in southern Sudan, killing 13 people. At the time of writing, no further information was available on these attacks.

UNMIS

On March 24, 2005, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1590, which established the UN’s peacekeeping operation in Sudan, United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), and tasked it with supporting the GoNU and the SPLM in implementing the CPA.[15] UNMIS, which grew out of the United Nations Advanced Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS), is also tasked with facilitating the voluntary return of refugees and IDPs, providing demining assistance and contributing towards international efforts to protect and promote human rights in Sudan. While Resolution 1590 authorized UNMIS to deploy up to 10,000 military personnel and an appropriate civilian component as well as civilian police, the more recent Resolution 1706, adopted in August 2006, increased UNMIS’s potential strength to 27,300 military personnel plus additional civilian staff. As of November 2006, UNMIS staff included approximately 10,000 uniformed personnel, including 8,732 troops, 611 military observers and 680 police, and more than 2,800 civilian personnel.

UNMIS military personnel are mandated to take action under Chapter VII of the UN Charter in order to protect civilians and UN personnel under imminent threat of physical violence.

UNMIS is comprised of the following units: Protection of Civilians, Civil Affairs, Gender, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Military, Police, Political Affairs, Public Information, Rule of Law and UN Volunteers. The UNMIS Human Rights Unit monitors, documents and reports on violations and abuses against civilians. It is comprised of approximately 80 Human Rights Officers deployed to field offices in el-Fasher, Nyala, Geneina and Zalingei, in Darfur; the transitional areas of Abyei and Kadugli; and Kassala in eastern Sudan and Juba in South Sudan.

UNMIS Child Protection Unit

UNMIS also includes a Child Protection Unit (CPU), comprised of approximately 15 child protection advisors (CPAs) located primarily in southern Sudan and Darfur. The CPAs are tasked with supporting the peace processes in eastern Sudan and Darfur and supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in the South. The primary areas of focus for the CPU are: children in conflict with the law; abuse and exploitation of children; abduction and children’s rights of return; children associated with armed forces and groups; and political, social and cultural participation of children.

The primary activities of the CPU are to:

monitor and investigate grave violations of children’s rights;
support the Government of National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan to help end grave violations of children’s rights;
ensure that UNMIS and peace process institutions extend protection to children;
Monitor implementation of provisions of the CPA related to children, such as DDR;
support United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and national DDR Commissions with DDR planning; and
facilitate communication between UNMIS officials and children in local communities.

The CPU also provides training and capacity-building for UNMIS personnel and conducts investigations into allegations of child recruitment and other violations. The CPU reports information about violations against children through UNMIS structures and to cease-fire bodies, such as the Ceasefire Joint Monitoring Commission and the Area Joint Monitoring Committee. It also refers cases requiring intervention to child protection working groups, lawyers, police and military officers.

Humanitarian Assistance in Southern Sudan

The pastoralist economy of southern Sudan has been decimated by years of war, leaving virtually no infrastructure intact in most areas. The UN reported that the region has only 14 kilometers of paved roads, leaving many areas inaccessible during the rainy season. The influx of returning refugees and IDPs to impoverished areas has further strained limited supplies of food, water and other essentials. Aid agencies operating in the South are struggling to assist new returnees and other civilians. The weak infrastructure, limited capacity of new government structures, insecurity, high presence of mines, lack of adequate funding and other logistics have posed significant challenges. Outbreaks of diseases, such as cholera, dengue and yellow fever, have far surpassed the capacity of local medical clinics.

Humanitarian Assistance in Darfur

Currently, Darfur is host to one of the largest humanitarian operations; 92 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and Red Cross/Crescent Societies and 14 UN agencies maintain a presence. As of October 2006, this included 894 international staff and over 12,500 national staff. However, deteriorating security, poor roads, limited staffing and funding, lack of safe vehicles and government restrictions have prevented aid agencies from reaching children and other vulnerable populations in Darfur. Despite the size of the humanitarian operation in Darfur, approximately one-third of displaced people in Darfur are cut off from humanitarian assistance due to violence and insecurity, according to a UNICEF spokesperson in BBC News, “Darfur Malnutrition “Rises Again,” April 26, 2006. In a statement released on December 15, 2006, six major NGOs operating in Darfur reported that increasing military activity, banditry and direct violence against aid workers had deteriorated humanitarian access in Darfur and left more than one-third of the region inaccessible to aid agencies. Additionally, World Food Programme (WFP) reported that an average of 250,000 targeted people per month had been cut off from assistance in 2006 due to insecurity and subsequent population movements.

Aid workers have been threatened, carjacked, robbed, beaten and killed by various armed groups. In May 2006, the UN reported that NGO vehicles in Southern Darfur had been found with their roofs cut off and machine guns mounted atop for use in combat. In November 2006, the Norwegian Refugee Council, which had led camp coordination efforts in Kalma camp in Southern Darfur for over two years, was formally expelled by the government as a result of continued obstruction and harassment by local authorities. Between 2004 and 2006, the organization’s activities had been suspended five times, for a total of 210 days. From June 25 to 27, 2006, the GoNU suspended all UN activities in Darfur after UNMIS allowed a humanitarian official linked to the SLA to travel in one of its aircraft; exceptions were granted for WFP and UNICEF.

Despite committing to a moratorium on government-imposed restrictions on humanitarian workers in Darfur, the GoNU has continued to impede and restrict humanitarian assistance by harassing aid workers at airports and preventing staff from entering Darfur by denying visas and obstructing travel. The Government and associated militia groups have set up real and de facto blockades of humanitarian assistance in their attempts to isolate the SLA factions by blocking roads and preventing essential items, such as food and fuel, from entering certain SLA-held areas, according to OHCHR.

Attacks on humanitarian workers surged in mid-2006. In July 2006 alone, eight humanitarian workers and two government officials of the Water and Sanitation Department were killed in various incidents in Darfur. Those killed were staff members of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) Oxfam, CARE, Relief International and Tearfund, as well as the local NGO Sudan Social Development Organization (Sudo). Other attacks on humanitarian operations in July included carjacking, armed robbery and intimidation of humanitarian staff. In December 2006, Agence France-Presse reported that several aid workers in Gereida were attacked in their compounds by unidentified assailants, subjected to mock executions, beaten and, in one instance, raped. Seventy-one employees of humanitarian agencies were evacuated following this attack, the single largest on humanitarian operations since they began in 2004, according to Agence France-Presse, “Aid workers beaten, raped,” January 5, 2006. Former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland has warned that attacks against relief workers are relentless and threaten day-to-day operations in many areas.

Lack of funding has also hampered the provision of humanitarian assistance to children and other civilians in Darfur. In 2006, WFP was forced to cut its food rations in Darfur due to lack of resources (see below: Health Situation in Darfur). Also in 2006, UNICEF warned that severe funding shortage for its operations in Darfur including immunization programs for children, provision of water and sanitation programs and support for education.

Human Rights Defenders

NGOs, journalists and politicians who voice human rights concerns and human rights survivors who report violations in Khartoum, Darfur and eastern Sudan are subject to harassment, arrest, detention and physical abuse by police or other government officials, according to OHCHR. Local human rights defenders who raise human rights concerns or who cooperate with the international community are also at risk of arrest and detention. In many cases, the Government has confronted human rights defenders as being enemies of the State. NGOs whose program activities focus on human rights abuses, the rule of law, conflict resolution and peace-building have had their meetings shut down, according to OHCHR.

In one example, a leading Sudanese human rights group, Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), faced accusations and legal prosecution by the Government in apparent attempts to silence the organization’s public reporting of human rights violations.

In another example, in Kassala, eastern Sudan, national security officers arrested five members of the Kassala Beja Congress between April 3 and 4, 2006, in relation to a peaceful sit-in organized by the group in March; the group was protesting in front of the UNMIS Kassala office against the continued detention of their colleagues and general harassment by government security officials, according to OHCHR.

Ongoing Violence: Killing and Maiming of Children

In 2006, the UN Secretary-General wrote in his report on Sudan to the new UN Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (S/2006/662) that the SPLA, Sudanese Armed Forces, White Army, SLA (Minawi faction) and Popular Defense Force are responsible for killing and maiming children in North and South Sudan and Darfur. Examples include:

* March 2006: A local leader in Gereida reported that 150 children were missing after government-allied militias attacked villages around Gereida. As of May, at least 30 of the missing children had been found dead in various locations between Joughana and Gereida. (S/2006/662, para. 29e)

* April 24 to May 15, 2006: Thirty-three children were killed during fighting in Ulang and Akobo (Jonglei State) between the White Army and the SPLA. (S/2006/662, para. 28a)

* May 9, 2006: Two Popular Defense Force Soldiers killed a 14-year-old boy in Kaas, Southern Darfur. (S/2006/662, para. 29b)

* May 9, 2006: Government security forces entered Khamsa Dagaig camp in Western Darfur following the eruption of protests against the DPA. They fired directly upon houses and civilians, severely wounding a 12-year-old girl and a pregnant woman. (OHCHR, Fourth Periodic Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan, June 2006)

* June 21, 2006: Attackers, reportedly associated with the SAF, killed three people, including a young Dinka boy, when they raided Gumbo village, Central Equatoria State. (S/2006/662, para. 28c)

* August 28, 2006: Hundreds of Habbania militiamen associated with the government brutally attacked several villages in the Buram locality of Southern Darfur. In Tirtish, militiamen armed with heavy weaponry stormed the town on horses and camels and in vehicles. They shot civilians, set fire to dwellings and shops and reportedly threw women and children, including children as young as three years old, into burning buildings as they attempted to flee. (OHCHR, Fifth Periodic Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan: Killing of Civilians by Militia in Buram Locality, South Darfur, October 2006)[16]

* October 29, 2006: Hundreds of armed men dressed in camouflage and described by locals as Janjaweed militiamen attacked at least eight villages and one IDP camp in the Jebel Moon area of Western Darfur, reportedly opening fire on civilians, rounding up livestock and plundering, burning and damaging food stores, water supplies and other goods. They killed 50 civilians, including 26 children—21 of whom were under the age of 10—during the attacks, according to OHCHR, Sixth Periodic Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan: Attack on Villages Around the Jebel Moon Area, October 2006[17]

Reports of violations against children and other civilians in eastern Sudan are sparse due to high levels of insecurity and subsequent lack of humanitarian access. However, some reports have emerged. In one example, on January 26, 2005, peaceful demonstrators from the Beja ethnic community in Port Sudan presented a list of demands to the Red Sea State Governor. On January 29, Sudanese security forces allegedly used live ammunition against demonstrators armed with sticks and stones, attacked houses in nearby areas and wounded residents, including children, by throwing grenades inside homes, according to Amnesty International (AI), Sudan: Overview Covering Events from January to December 2005. A similar protest in Kassala town reportedly resulted in the beating of two students by security forces. According to AI, investigations were set up in both cases, but findings have never been made public.

REFUGEES AND IDPs [18]

In August 2006, there were an estimated 5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan, including 1.8 million in Darfur, according to figures compiled by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).[19] Approximately 2 million IDPs, mainly from southern Sudan and Darfur, reside in and around Khartoum. As of October 2006, there were an estimated 343,600 Sudanese refugees living in neighboring countries, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As in most situations of displacement, approximately 70 to 80 percent of the Sudanese refugees and IDPs are women and children. Responsibility for monitoring and reporting on the human rights situation of IDPs and returnees is divided amongst UNMIS’s Human Rights, Child Protection, and Recovery, Return and Reintegration Units, UNHCR and UNICEF.

IDP Children on the Streets and in Prisons in Khartoum

There are still no official numbers of street children in Khartoum. However, they are believed to number in the tens of thousands. These children, mostly IDPs from southern Sudan, are regularly seen sleeping in markets and working petty jobs. In addition, street children may be forced into begging, commercial activities or domestic labor, according to African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN) and Anti-Slavery, Report of the Eastern and Horn of Africa Conference on Human Trafficking and Forced Labor, July 2005. These children are often from families with absentee parents who are too poor, exhausted or traumatized to care for their children, according to Bridge of Hope, an organization on the outskirts of Khartoum that cares for street children.

A dozen street boys associated with Bridge of Hope explained that they and their peers regularly use glue as a drug when on the streets. They explained that the glue dissipates their pain from hunger and makes them braver in facing beatings from the police or when attempting to pick pockets, according to IRIN News, “Sudan: Living on the Streets,” September 26, 2006.

Although fewer in numbers, thousands of girls also live on the streets in and around Khartoum. These girls often have fewer options for work than their male peers. In many cases, these girls are forced to engage in transactional sex in order to earn money, while others sell cigarettes, fruits or sweets. Many of these girls also face increased risks of sexual violence while living on the streets, according to a 2001 multi-agency report, Children of the Sug (meaning “market” in Arabic).

In 2004, Al Manar Volunteer Organization, a local NGO in Sudan, reported that over 1,000 women were being held in Omdurman Prison near Khartoum. Most had been arrested for selling alcohol or marijuana as they had no other means for feeding their children. Eighty percent of the women in Omdurman prison were southern Sudanese internally displaced women. Seventy percent of the women were serving short prison sentences—up to six months—however, 30 percent were serving sentences up to 20 years. As a result, children of these inmates have faced abandonment or have turned to the streets. Some younger children have been permitted by the authorities to stay with their mothers in jail.

In the case of two sisters whose mother was incarcerated, the elder stayed with a friend while her mother was in prison, but the younger, a 7-month-old baby remained with her mother in a prison cell shared by 20 other women and their children under 10 years old. According to the Al Manar study, the facilities are not properly equipped for the estimated 150 to 200 children under age two who were living inside the prison. Because the majority of the children came from IDP camps or squatter conditions, 95 percent were not vaccinated against preventable diseases and 77 percent were malnourished at the time of the study.

A credible source told Watchlist that a 15-year-old girl had been arbitrarily detained in 2005 by police officers when they arrested her mother for illegally brewing alcohol. The girl was incarcerated in a Khartoum prison and later reported being raped by three prison officials.

Refugees

Sudanese refugees in neighboring African countries continue to face varying levels of insecurity and hardship, dependent largely on the country, camp or urban area of asylum. In many instances, they continue to face violence, abuses and other rights violations while displaced. For example, over 200,000 Sudanese live in refugee camps in western and northern Uganda, where they have faced ongoing attacks, raids, abductions and other abuses by the LRA and other armed groups.

Sudanese refugees living in the Arab world face a different set of challenges. In Syria, Sudanese refugees have faced various logistical obstacles posed by the authorities in their attempts to obtain papers that acknowledge their status as refugees. In one incident in December 2005, a group of approximately 500 Sudanese refugees nominated five refugees amongst them to represent their grievances and requests for assistance to the UNHCR Damascus office. Fearing attack, UNHCR representatives called the Syrian police, who used tear gas against the refugees and made mass arrests. Four refugees sustained serious injuries, including two pregnant women who suffered miscarriages, according to the Sudan Human Rights Organization-Cairo.

In Egypt, Sudanese refugees have faced dire conditions and are consistently denied their rights. In December 2005, 3,000 Sudanese refugees were forcibly and violently removed from a temporary protest camp they had set up several months earlier in Mohandiseen, near the Cairo UNHCR office. Nearly 4,000 Egyptian riot police used water cannons to forcibly remove the refugees. According to IRIN News, upwards of 30 Sudanese refugees were killed, including approximately 15 children.

Sudan is host to approximately 231,700 refugees from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda and Chad, according to the U.S. Committee for Refugees, World Refugee Survey 2006.

Refugees from Sudan in Chad

Over 200,000 refugees from Darfur have sought safety in Chad. Since 2000, UNHCR has established 12 camps along a 400-mile stretch of the Western Darfur border with Chad. The camps accommodate most of the refugees who have fled into Chad. Approximately 4,000 to 5,000 others remain outside the camps, watching over livestock and attempting to earn a living, farming or working in local markets. Many unregistered refugees desire official registration and in some cases have waited several months in order to obtain registration and therefore access to assistance. While UNHCR and various INGOs have moved into eastern Chad supporting the refugees and administrating the camps, clean water, food and other basic necessities have remained in short supply and camps are generally overcrowded.

Once inside Chad, girls and women from Darfur continue to face risks of rape and sexual assault by civilians or militia members when collecting water, fuel or grass near the border, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), No Protection: Rape and Sexual Violence Following Displacement, April 2005. For example, 10 girls and women from Farchana refugee camp were arrested by Chadian police while collecting firewood and one 15-year-old girl told HRW that during her three-day imprisonment, she was locked in a small cell along with another girl, two women and five men from Chad who repeatedly raped them.

Tensions are often high between the refugees and host communities, according to the Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children (WCRWC), “Don’t Forget Us”: The Education and Gender-Based Violence Protection Needs of Adolescent Girls from Darfur in Chad, July 2005. Girls and women in the four camps in Chad—Iridimi, Treguine, Mille and Breidjing—told a visiting delegation from the WCRWC that they had been beaten and raped by local villagers when they ventured out of the camps in search of firewood. In other instances, villagers intimidated the girls and took the firewood they had collected.

The refugees also continue to face attacks by the Sudanese armed groups who have made regular incursions into eastern Chad. During the Janjaweed attacks in Chad, children and other civilians have faced abuses similar to those committed by the armed groups operating in Darfur. In one case, a 13-year-old boy told AI that he was abducted in Chad by Janjaweed and security forces and taken to a camp near Khartoum where he was stripped naked and flogged, according to AI, Sudan: Death and Devastation Continue in Darfur, June 3, 2004. In 2004, amid these incursions, UNHCR and partners arranged an emergency relocation of some refugees away from the insecure border towards the interior; however, attacks continued.

In February 2006, a father told a New York Times reporter that his two daughters, ages 13 and 16, were shot by Janjaweed raiders, one in the chest, the other in the arm while they were collecting firewood near Adré, New York Times, “Refugee Crisis Grows as Darfur War Crosses a Border,” February 28, 2006. In November 2006, the village of Koloy, 20 kilometers from the border of Sudan, was attacked twice by a large number of armed militiamen riding horses and camels and accompanied by two vehicles, identified by inhabitants as Janjaweed. The second attack left 17 villagers dead and wounded 25 others; some were reportedly dragged to death behind vehicles. The attack was so violent that nearly all of Koloy’s 10,000 inhabitants fled north to Adré.

IDPs

Persons displaced within Sudan generally live in inadequate conditions and have limited access to basic resources and services, such as food, water and adequate sanitation. The majority of Sudanese IDPs, approximately 2 million people, live in and around Khartoum. Approximately 270,000 of these IDPs live in four official camps, while the remaining IDPs are dispersed throughout the capital, living primarily in squatter settlements around the city.

Most IDPs in and around Khartoum live in extremely poor and insecure conditions with limited access to schools, medical support and other basic services. In 2004, the global acute malnutrition rate amongst children living in and around Khartoum neared 30 percent, according to the UN, United Nations and Partners: 2005 Work Plan for the Sudan, November 30, 2004. Many IDP children are unable to attend school and those who do face challenges at school. In Khartoum IDP camps, 48 percent of children are not attending school, according to Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), May 2006. These IDP children are often kept out of school because their labor is critical to their family’s survival or because schools lack the necessary staff and materials to provide adequate education (see below: Education).

Many IDPs in and around Khartoum continuously fear attacks, forced relocation and threats of violence. An estimated 900,000 IDPs and urban squatters living in Khartoum have been forcibly relocated by the Government since 1989, according to figures compiled by IDMC. This includes approximately 250,000 who have been relocated since October 2005, when the GoNU announced its decision to resume demolition of IDP camps and squatter areas in Khartoum.

While the Government claims it intends to allocate permanent plots of land to IDPs, relocation methods are often harsh and many IDPs wind up in desert areas outside Khartoum without access to the most basic services. Humanitarian aid workers caution that further relocations and camp demolitions may create a humanitarian crisis that would further push premature returns to southern Sudan.

Since 2005, both squatter areas and more permanent settlements have been raided by government authorities, resulting in death, injury and imprisonment of IDPs, according to AI. In one example, on August 17, 2005, armed police surrounded Shikan IDP camp, in Omdurman, Khartoum, and emptied the camp of its residents. Five hundred families were moved to Thawra camp while 170 families were moved to Al-Fatah III, according to AI, Sudan: The Rights of Khartoum’s Displaced Must Be Respected, August 23, 2005. Both Al Fatah III and Thawra lack service to meet IDPs’ most basic needs. Water, healthcare and educational facilities are nonexistent in Thawra while Al Fatah III had one water pump at the time the families were relocated there.

In May 2005, security forces entered Soba Aradi settlement, allegedly with tear gas and live ammunition, with the intention of relocating the occupants. In the violence that ensued, an estimated 30 police officers and civilians, including two children, were killed, dozens were injured and hundreds arrested. As a result of this incident, by July 2005, 31 people, including six children, had been convicted of related offenses; the adults were sentenced to prison while the children were sentenced to 20 lashes each.

In August 2006, over 12,000 IDPs were forcibly evicted from Dar Assalaam camp in Al Jazeera State, violating an agreement made between the community and the local government on a proposed plan for resettlement. The camp, which had been in existence for more than 20 years, was surrounded by heavily armed police as bulldozers began to raze dwellings. This incident led to several arrests, injuries and deaths, including the death of a child.

Police and security forces frequently break up groups of IDPs living in camps in Khartoum, questioning participants on their discussions and sometimes arresting individuals, according to International Rescue Committee (IRC). IDPs have reported that government authorities consistently monitor the camps to intimidate rather than to protect them.

Between January and February 2005, approximately 750 IDPs, including young boys and girls and elderly men and women who had fled from Darfur to Khartoum, were sent to a school in Mayo IDP camp in Khartoum. At the end of February, Sudanese police raided the school, using batons and tear gas indiscriminately, according to an account of the incident published by Aegis Trust.

IDPs in Darfur

An estimated 1.8 million people are internally displaced inside Darfur, according to figures compiled by IDMC. Infectious diseases and effects of malnutrition have been the main causes of death among displaced children in camps in Darfur. In Abu Shouk camp in Northern Darfur near el-Fasher, approximately 39 percent of the children were suffering from acute malnutrition in 2004, according to IRC. At that time IRC reported that Abu Shouk camp had some of the best conditions for IDPs in Darfur. In the same camp, IRC reported outbreaks of hepatitis, dysentery and measles. The measles outbreak alone killed 23 children.

Thousands of civilians continue to be displaced, or are displaced for a second or third time, due to attacks on IDP camps by government forces and government-backed militia. Between January and March 2006, 150,000 people were newly displaced or displaced again in Darfur. For example, in January 2006, an estimated 57,000 people were forced to flee Mershing, South Darfur, when Janjaweed militia brutally attacked the town and its residents, including approximately 22,000 IDPs who had been seeking safety there, according to UNICEF. The same month, an estimated 15,000 more people were displaced from Shearia, near Mershing, when alleged members of the Janjaweed militia, with support from government forces, fought rebels from the SLA. As civilians fled into the surrounding hills in search of safety, many children were separated from their families. According to one aid worker in the area, approximately 10 children died under these conditions due to lack of water, IRIN News, “Sudan: Thousands Displaced by Recent Attacks in South Darfur,” February 1, 2006.

The following are additional examples of attacks on IDPs:

May 25, 2005: Sudanese security forces attacked Zam Zam IDP camp near el-Fasher in Northern Darfur, reportedly firing indiscriminately amongst IDPs. (AI , Sudan : Overview Covering Events from January to December 2005)
September 28, 2005: Armed Arab militiamen raided Aro Sharow IDP camp in the northern area of Western Darfur, resulting in the deaths of 29 people, wounding 10 others and causing the destruction of approximately 80 shelters. (Save the Children Sweden, Bulletin #3, 2005)
March 15, 2006: Armed forces with land cruisers and armed militias on horses and camels, alleged to be Janjaweed, numbering over 900, attacked and looted Tibon IDP camp in Jebel Marra, Western Darfur, as well as three nearby villages on the same day. They killed 26 IDPs, including three individuals under age 18. (OMCT, Case SDN 300306.CC)

Rebel groups have also attacked IDPs. IDPs in Dabanera informed AMIS that on June 29, 2006, soldiers from the SLA-MM attacked and looted Aradip and Martal IDP camps in Southern Darfur, killing nine people, according to UNMIS, United Nations Situation Report, July 2, 2006.

Without access to secondary school, skills-training programs or other productive activities, thousands of displaced youth sit idle in camps. With a growing sense of frustration and little hope for the future, these young people can become a source of violence and insecurity themselves, exploited and recruited by others into gangs and armed groups or forming gangs of their own. These gangs are becoming increasingly powerful.

In some areas of Darfur, youth have formed patrol groups with the stated purpose of providing security to IDPs due to lack of protection by law enforcement authorities and claiming that these authorities are, in some cases, perpetrating acts of violence. However, reports indicate that these groups have also abused civilians and, in the absence of a functional police force, have increasingly assumed security sector responsibilities, illegally imprisoning and arresting people. In one reported case, a youth patrol beat a woman who they alleged had fraternized with the police. In some areas, youth patrols have split along tribal lines, leaving Fur youth to patrol predominantly Fur areas of the camp and so on.

Refugee and IDP Returns to Southern Sudan

As of August 2006, between 1 million and 1.2 million IDPs, primarily those who had remained in the South, had spontaneously returned to their places of origin, according to UN estimates.[20] In addition, approximately 18,600 refugees from neighboring countries had also returned to Sudan with assistance from the UN, and approximately 73,800 had spontaneously returned as of December 2006, according to UNHCR.

Despite an international framework to support the return and reintegration of IDPs and refugees, and the signing of UNHCR-supported repatriation agreements between Sudan and several refugee host countries, returns have generally taken place without support. IDMC explains that as a result of this inaction, the southern states began to independently organize IDP returns. As of April 2006, more than 300,000 returns had been assisted outside the UN system, according to a reliable estimate compiled by IDMC. Southern Kordofan experienced the greatest number of returnees in 2006, receiving an estimated 175,000 returnees, according to IDMC on the basis of UN information.

Long distances, high transportation costs, mines and flooded roads have created enormous logistical challenges for all agencies attempting to organize returns. In many cases, the trip home has been treacherous and fraught with danger. Returnees have reported encountering militia activity, armed civilians, landmines, forced conscription of children and limited supplies of food and water. In some cases, returnees have been robbed, attacked, kidnapped and raped and illegally taxed. In August 2005, the GoNU and South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF) militia allegedly established roadside checkpoints to harass and tax returnees in the town of Abyei and surrounding areas, according to the Civilian Protection Monitoring Team (CPMT), Report of Investigation No. 102: Assault, Illegal Taxation and Militarization of Misseriya Against Indigenous Dinka by the Government of Sudan (GoS) in Abyei, August 16, 2005.

Many returnees use barges to make the journey home. However, this often entails long delays at way stations in poor conditions and transport in barges that are primarily used for cargo transport and have limited capacity for transporting passengers. Once on the barges, IDPs continue to face harsh conditions because the barges are not equipped with shelter, toilets, water or other facilities for passengers. In some cases, the barges also break down on the way, leaving the returnees stranded.

For example, during a mission undertaken in March 2006, UNHCR reported that some IDPs in Kosti had been waiting at the way station for up to five to eight weeks. UNHCR also reported that many IDPs in Kosti were unaware of the long wait for barge transport and did not have the resources to sustain their prolonged stay. Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) reported that this estimate was not reflective of average wait times in Kosti, which typically total between two and four weeks. ADRA also noted that IDPs at the way station received food rations and nonfood items during their stay. UNHCR found the sleeping and living arrangements to be haphazard, with no separate area for cooking or for people with special needs. They complained of food shortages, despite WFP rations, and running out of money. Additionally, in the chaos of trying to secure a place on the barge, women and children are often muscled out of limited spots, sometimes leading to family separations. To address protection concerns, ADRA has placed child care helpers on barges to assist with first aid and provide support to women and children onboard the barges.

In another case, WFP reported that a family who returned to Northern Bahr el-Ghazal from Khartoum by barge along the White Nile used makeshift shelter and bedding during the multi-week journey. They shared the rusty barge with goats, cargo and approximately 100 other families where food and medical care were limited and there were only three latrines. The Special Representative to the Secretary-General (SRSG) on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced People has reported that passengers, including several children, have fallen off barges and drowned during the voyage home.

A man returning to Malakal told Refugees International (RI) that he had been encouraged to return to his home village so that he could participate in upcoming political processes. However, the trip home was gruesome: three people died of dehydration along the way and he saw several other dead people along the roads.

After arriving home, many returnees are often shocked by the dismal conditions and the complete lack of infrastructure and services, including insufficient schools, health clinics, clean water and sanitation facilities. In some instances, IDPs who have returned to the South later move back to the North, choosing the poor living conditions in Khartoum over the utter lack of opportunity in the South, according to IDMC, Slow IDP Return to South While Darfur Crisis Continues Unabated, August 2006.

Many parents worry that children who attended school in the North will not have education opportunities in the South, as few schools are operational and most are already overburdened. In fact, parents cite fears about limited access to education as a primary reason for not returning home. Some child returnees from the North and former garrison towns may have difficulties attending school in the South, where the official language of instruction is English, after having studied in Arabic in northern schools (see below: Education).

While some UN agencies and NGOs have provided limited humanitarian assistance to returnees, in general such support has been insufficient as the agencies tasked with providing support have been largely underfunded. However, the largest hurdles are due to the general lack of capacity by the GoSS to provide basic services and livelihood opportunities. Absorptive capacity in both rural and urban areas of the South is extremely limited and expected to only slightly increase in the short-term as a result of complications related to the CPA and funding delays. UN officials have warned that refugees and IDPs who have returned could wind up in urban slums in the South, unless massive efforts to provide humanitarian assistance and livelihood opportunities are quickly implemented.

HEALTH

Sudan rely on food assistance while 17 million lack access to safe drinking water. HIV/AIDS is an emerging threat, and malaria, acute respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases kill more than 100,000 children annually. The health of children in Sudan, however, varies widely between regions. While the national under-five mortality rate for Sudan is 90 for every 1,000 live births, the rate in Eastern Sudan (including Gedaref, Red Sea and Blue Nile States) ranges from 117 to 172 deaths for every 1,000 live births.

Health in Southern Sudan

Despite opportunities for improving access to healthcare afforded by the signing of the CPA, one in every four children in southern Sudan still dies before the age of five, according to a UNICEF spokesperson. The South still lacks an adequate health infrastructure and qualified health personnel, with only one doctor for every 100,000 people and one primary healthcare center for every 79,500 people. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the infant mortality rate in the South stands at 150 deaths for every 1,000 live births.

WHO also reports that the main causes of mortality in the South are infections and parasitic diseases such as malaria, diarrhea, measles, tuberculosis and acute respiratory infections. Sudan continues to report cases of rare diseases including yellow fever, sleeping sickness, leprosy, leishmaniasis, also known as Kala-Azar, and others. Southern Sudan is host to approximately 80 percent of the world’s total cases of guinea worm, according to WHO. Although Sudan had been declared polio-free, the virus has gradually reappeared, with 27 cases reported in 2005. However, WHO reports that the outbreak appears to have been curbed.

In January and February 2006, UNICEF, ICRC and other aid agencies reported an outbreak of acute watery diarrhea and cholera in the Central Equatoria region of southern Sudan. The outbreak began in Yei, moved to Juba, and by April 2006 had spread to seven out of 10 states in southern Sudan. Between January 28 and March 28, over 9,000 cases and 249 deaths were reported. To respond to this outbreak, the Federal Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health of the Government of Southern Sudan in conjunction with UN agencies and NGOs, coordinated and set up cholera treatment centers and carried out hygiene promotion activities that included town clean-up campaigns and water chlorination to contain the outbreak and limit the spread of the disease, particularly amongst populations of IDPs and returnees. In Juba, MSF-Spain set up a specialized center with support from UNICEF at the el-Sabah Children’s Hospital and MSF-Holland set up a treatment center in Malakal. As of April 2006, the rate of fatalities due to acute watery diarrhea in Juba had fallen below 2 percent.

Food Shortages and Malnutrition in Southern Sudan

Communities in the South lack access to food and water. Less than 40 percent of the population in the South has access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, according to WHO, and in 2006, UN agencies forecast that impending population returns would add further pressures on food security in the region.

Still, some improvements in the health situation throughout the region have been reported. In 2004, UNICEF reported efforts to increase the number of safe water points throughout the South and attempted to vaccinate all children in Sudan against measles. The UN System Standing Committee on Nutrition reported that the agricultural season in the South had provided sufficient outputs in 2006, and the UN forecast that much of the population would have adequate access to food during the forthcoming dry season.

Attacks on Hospitals and Medical Facilities in Southern Sudan

Reports of recent attacks on hospitals and medical facilities related to the North-South conflict are sparse, a marked improvement to the situation reported by Watchlist in 2003. However, some armed groups continued to target these facilities. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that, beginning in April 2006, clashes between armed groups and direct attacks on villages in the Upper Nile and Jonglei states had forced patients and MSF staff to evacuate clinics in Ulang, Wudier, Lankein, Nasir and Pieri due to threats and outbreaks of violence. In Pieri, most of the patients in the clinic, including 120 being treated for tuberculosis, were forced to flee as armed groups destroyed the clinic, looting medical equipment, drugs and food for patients.

Health in Darfur

Children in Darfur face critical health problems, including lack of access to life-saving medical services and care for treatable diseases and malnutrition. In April 2006, UNICEF reported that acute respiratory tract infections were the main reported illness in children under five years among both camp and village populations. Diarrhea and malaria were reported as the second and third leading causes of illness in children. Both camp and village populations reported that over 45 percent of children had an illness in the two weeks prior to a visit by UNICEF during a survey in the first few months of 2006, UNICEF Darfur Nutrition Update, Issue 3, March/April 2006.

The few health facilities that exist in Darfur find it difficult to operate under the current conditions. Various estimates indicate that only about 40 to 50 percent of people living in Darfur have access to health services. This is in part due to chronic insecurity, which limits the access humanitarian assistance actors have to children and other civilians (see above: Humanitarian Assistance and Humanitarian Workers).

Most people living in Darfur can only receive medical care by traveling to garrison towns, which puts them at risk of being arrested for allegedly associating, or supporting rebel factions. To address this, some humanitarian organizations have deployed mobile clinics and developed other innovative means of reaching vulnerable populations. Mobile clinics provide displaced and village populations with primary healthcare services, prenatal and antenatal care, vaccination services, malnutrition screening for children and other care.

Food Shortages and Malnutrition in Darfur

One of the most severe health situations facing children in Darfur is malnutrition due to severe food shortages. Approximately 70 percent of the population remains food insecure, with 46 percent severely food insecure, and food insecurity has increased in Western and Southern Darfur. In 2004, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) estimated that approximately 2,000 people died every day in Darfur due to effects of malnutrition and disease. In that same year in Kalma camp, Darfur’s largest IDP camp with a population of 75,000 people, 21 children died daily due to the effects of malnutrition. Between January and April 2006, UNICEF reported a 20 percent increase in severely malnourished children, according to an agency spokesperson in BBC News, “Darfur Malnutrition ‘Rises Again,’” April 26, 2006.

Lack of funding has also hampered provision of food rations and other health services. In April 2006, after months of warnings, the World Food Programme (WFP) reduced food rations in Darfur by half and cut rations in eastern Sudan due to lack of donor funding. In May 2006, just 50 percent of the full ration was distributed. After pledges by several donors, the agency announced at the end of May that it was able to increase food rations in Darfur to meet 84 percent of energy needs. Regional insecurity also hampered the delivery of food aid, preventing food distribution to 290,000 people in June 2006 and 470,000 people in July 2006 in Darfur.

Attacks on Hospitals and Medical Facilities in Darfur

Attacks on hospitals, medical facilities, medical staff and humanitarian agencies are frequent in Darfur. These attacks hamper access to healthcare by civilians in Darfur. For example, the UN reported that the SLA practice of hijacking NGO cars led to serious gaps in humanitarian assistance during April and May 2006. As a result of the hijackings, four NGOs were forced to suspend or scale down operations in certain areas of Western Darfur, leading to approximately 1,000 children per month losing out on the opportunity to receive routine vaccinations and approximately 20,000 children under the age of five missing out on polio immunization.

In early August 2006, MSF reported the evacuation of its medical teams in Serif Umra and Jebel Marra, as well as the disruption of mobile clinics and limitations on referrals of emergency cases for surgery due to insecurity and the following attacks on its programs (MSF, Increased Insecurity Hampers MSF Medical Assistance to the Population in Darfur, 8/3/06):

July 14, 2006: Armed men robbed an MSF compound and stole a car in Serif Umra
July 16, 2006: An MSF ambulance was shot at on the road between Geneina and Morney and the driver was beaten

July 18, 2006: An MSF vehicle was stolen from a medical facility in Shangil Tobaya
July 20, 2006: An MSF medical team was robbed and beaten on the road between Golo and Nieriti

Additionally, in September 2006, an IRC health center, pharmacy and guesthouse in Hashaba, Northern Darfur, were looted and a nurse was killed during fighting.

HIV/AIDS

Precise information about HIV/AIDS in Sudan is lacking. According to WHO, prevalence of HIV/AIDS remains low but is steadily increasing. At the end of 2005, the estimated national adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rate amongst people between ages 15 and 49 was 1.6 percent, according to the 2006 Sudan Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections, produced by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), WHO and UNICEF. The Fact Sheet also reported that 350,000 people in Sudan, including 30,000 children under 15, were living with HIV/AIDS. However, this estimate only includes areas in the North and former garrison towns in the South, towns formerly under the control of the GoS until the CPA was signed.

WHO has reported that HIV prevalence rates likely vary amongst regions. In 2005, UNAIDS and WHO reported that HIV prevalence rates may be increasing in the North. Eastern Sudan also risks increasing prevalence rates due to the Government’s marginalization of this region and the limited amount of international aid and support it receives, according to Ockenden International, Combating HIV/AIDS in Eastern Sudan: The Case for Preventative Action, 2005.

Lack of Knowledge among Children and Youth

Limited information and understanding of HIV creates and sustains high levels of vulnerability. Various reports indicate that, even amongst high-risk populations, awareness of HIV/AIDS and how to prevent its transmission is low.

Only an estimated one-third of young adults in Sudan between the ages of 18 and 25 understand how HIV is transmitted, a UNICEF spokesperson reported in 2005. Many believe HIV can be contracted through mosquito bites. While UNAIDS and Sudan National AIDS Programme (SNAP) have launched initiatives to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS, public discussion of sex is difficult and frowned upon in many parts of Sudan.

Prevention and Care

New programs to prevent the transmission of HIV and provide care for people living with HIV/AIDS are underway. In December 2005, SNAP, UNICEF, UNAIDS and other partners launched a campaign focusing on the impact of HIV/AIDS on children. According to UNICEF, the campaign’s main purpose is to educate young people about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent its transmission. Other recent developments in prevention and care include the launch of a National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of HIV/AIDS in Sudan 2003–2007 by the Government; a formal appeal by the GoNU to be included in WHO’s “3 by 5” initiative to treat 3 million people living with HIV/AIDS by 2005; the establishment of a country theme group on HIV/AIDS by UNAIDS and other UN agencies, with the involvement of GoNU representatives as well as international and national NGOs; the establishment by NGOs of a Sudanese AIDS network; and the acquisition of a new grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) to the GoNU for a large-scale initiative to fight the virus.

The National Strategic Plan 2003–2007 identifies refugees and IDPs as vulnerable groups but falls short of explicitly stating strategies and interventions that will target these groups to reduce their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. The government has, however, pledged to uphold international conventions and regulations with regard to refugees and asylum seekers and to work with the concerned organizations to support HIV/AIDS interventions in this group.

HIV/AIDS in Southern Sudan

The relative isolation of some areas of southern Sudan has largely prevented the systematic collection of HIV/AIDS-related data. As southern Sudan is now emerging from years of armed conflict, health experts are concerned that the region might experience a major HIV epidemic due to limited awareness amongst the population about the virus and its transmission, an influx of returning refugees from countries with higher HIV prevalence rates, an increase in cross-border trade, illiteracy, a rudimentary health system and poverty, combined with local cultural practices amongst some populations such as tattooing, scarification, polygamy, female genital mutilation (FGM) and widow inheritance.

Access to information and means of preventing the transmission of the virus and relevant treatment remains low in the South and varies across the region. Individuals wishing to use condoms to prevent the transmission of the virus have difficulty doing so as access to condoms is severely limited. In places where condoms are available, their cost is prohibitive for many people. Additionally, efforts to increase and expand the use of condoms have been difficult amongst Catholic populations of southern Sudan given the Catholic Church’s negative view of condom use.

Southern Sudan’s first voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) center opened in Juba in March 2004 and has since begun providing antiretroviral (ARV) drug therapy to a limited number of people living with HIV. WHO runs ARV treatment centers in and around Juba, Wau and Malakal, while NGOs have established VCT centers in other areas. In addition, the GoSS has established an HIV/AIDS Commission, directly under the president. However, according to the Chairman of the Commission, “not a single penny has been put into the budget.”

HIV/AIDS in Darfur

To date, baseline data on HIV/AIDS has not been collected nor has a situation analysis of HIV/AIDS in Darfur been conducted. According to UNICEF, the disruption of family and community life in Darfur, particularly amongst IDPs, has caused a breakdown in social norms related to sexual behavior. This may result in increased risk for transmission of HIV. In 2004, AI reported that there were no adequate medical facilities to provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS-related medical care to the IDP population in Darfur or the refugee population in Chad, as humanitarian organizations operating there are overburdened and chronic insecurity limits their access to certain populations in the region and strains their logistical and operational capacity.

EDUCATION

Access to education remains a challenge for many children in Sudan. However, recent reports indicate that some children are enjoying increased access to education. In 2005, WFP reported a 71 percent increase in enrollment rates over a 12-month period in WFP-assisted schools in Northern Kordofan. In Kassala, eastern Sudan, where girls traditionally have limited access to education, WFP reported a 15 percent increase in girls’ enrollment in 2004 and a 28 percent increase in 2005.

Enrollment rates, however, vary greatly across Sudan and in many parts of the country, children still lack access to quality education.

Education in Southern Sudan

Southern Sudan continues to have the lowest school enrollment rates in the world at an estimated 25 percent for children. Additionally, an estimated 75 percent of the approximately 1.4 million children between the ages of seven and 14 in southern Sudan do not have access to education, according to the 2005 Sudan Millennium Development Goals Interim Unified Report. Of those children who do enroll in school, only an estimated 2 percent complete all eight years of primary schooling, according to Towards a Baseline: Best Estimates of Social Indicators for Southern Sudan released in 2004.

The region continues to lack a uniform education curriculum, particularly at the secondary school level, which creates additional obstacles to learning and education for children and youth. Some teachers have compiled curriculum from neighboring countries, such as Kenya and Uganda, while other schools administered by NGOs and religious institutions use other teaching practices and pedagogies. For children who change schools, this can be particularly challenging.

Girls continue to lack access to opportunities in education as early marriage and endemic poverty continue to be major impediments to girls’ education. The 2006 Rapid Assessment of Learning Spaces (RALS) concluded that out of the 2,922 learning spaces assessed, girls accounted for only 34 percent of all enrolled primary school students. In addition, only 14 percent of teachers in the South are women, which may limit female role models for girls attending school in southern Sudan.

Due to their high level of interest in education and their strong desire to attend school, many girls and boys seek ways to generate income to pay school fees, rendering them vulnerable to increased risks of exploitation and abuse. Anecdotal evidence suggests that girls sell baked goods and engage in relationships with local traders to gain funds, while both boys and girls undertake agricultural or domestic work during their school holidays.

Limited training and inconsistent application of codes of conduct have increased risks of corruption and exploitation by teachers. While government officials have noted that any male teacher who impregnates a female student will be subject to prosecution, this rarely happens and the family of the girl usually opts to negotiate a financial settlement with the teacher, independent of traditional and formal government structures.

Poor Conditions in Schools in Southern Sudan

The RALS also found that in 2,922 learning spaces, only 461 have permanent classrooms and 913 conduct classes outdoors. Thirty-one percent of learning spaces have toilets or latrines, while 40 percent have potable water available on-site or within 500 meters of the learning space and 16 percent are receiving food assistance. The 2005 Sudan Millennium Development Goals Interim Unified Report found that out of 1,426 schools surveyed in the South, less than one-third have access to health facilities.

The average student-teacher ratio in the South is 42:1 with a total number of 17,920 teachers working in the 2,922 learning spaces; female teachers accounted for 14 percent. Many teachers work as unpaid volunteers and only 6 percent have been formally trained. Teachers in only 56 percent of learning spaces have had access to some form of teacher training in the recent past as years of armed conflict have extinguished many sources of education in the South.

Many schools in southern Sudan continue to lack permanent infrastructure, with classes held under trees or in locally constructed facilities, and many have limited books and other supplies.

Attacks on Schools in Southern Sudan

Few reports of attacks on schools by parties in the South have surfaced since the signing of the CPA, a marked improvement since the release of Watchlist’s 2003 report on Sudan. It is unclear whether this is because attacks on schools have ceased or because incidents have not been reported. The UN Secretary-General documented one attack on a school by the LRA in his August 2006 report on children and armed conflict to the Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict:

· May 23, 2006: LRA forces attacked the Arapi Regional Teacher Training Institute near Juba, Central Equatoria State (S/2006/662). The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) reported that during the attack one government soldier and several civilians were killed while others were injured. JRS also reported that the school was targeted because the agency was operating a food distribution program there for students.

Challenges with Language of Instruction

The GoSS has adopted English as the primary language of instruction in schools throughout the region. This has proved challenging for both teachers and pupils. Some agencies report that children who attended school in the North or in garrison towns, where the primary language of instruction is Arabic, now face challenges in adapting to lessons given in English. In addition, schools in former garrison towns have faced challenges in changing the language of instruction to English as few teachers in these areas have had training in English. In April 2006, out of a total of 17,000 primary school teachers, only 5 percent were trained in the English pattern while 21 percent were Arabic pattern trained. English classes for teachers have been established in several towns throughout the South and agencies anticipate that the transition from Arabic to English will be gradual.

Early Signs of Progress in Southern Sudan

Children in some parts of southern Sudan are benefiting from increased access to education. However, increased enrollment rates have created new challenges. Schools in the South with already overstretched resources face new difficulties in resource allocation as they struggle to accommodate refugee and IDP children who have recently returned to southern Sudan. In Juba, enrollment rates have more than doubled in one year at the Buluk A School in Juba, according to UNICEF, Returning Students Crowd Schools in Southern Sudan, July 31, 2006. As a result, administrators divided the school into morning and evening sessions. Yet, even with the new schedule, classrooms designed to accommodate 50 students are filled with more than 200 students. Facing limited opportunities for education in the South, some youth have returned to Uganda and Kenya to complete their education in refugee camps, where they perceive education services are better.

Several new initiatives are underway to address this and other challenges to education in the South. Most prominently, the GoSS launched a new campaign in 2006 called “Go To School,” which aims to enroll 1.6 million children in school in the South by the end of 2007. Supported by UN agencies, NGOs, local communities and various donors, this campaign will provide over 3.8 million textbooks, teachers’ guides and basic school supplies to schools in the South, construct over 1,500 new classrooms and school structures, and provide accelerated teacher training for teachers and classroom facilitators. In addition, the campaign’s public awareness initiatives are aimed at encouraging parents to send their children, especially their girls, to school.

To address barriers to education faced by girls, several organizations are implementing strategies to increase girls’ access to education. Some organizations have distributed “comfort kits,” which include soap, underpants and six reusable sanitary pads, to teachers and secondary schools to help their female students attend school during menstruation.

Education in Darfur

Darfur’s few schools and education facilities face widespread shortages of teachers, textbooks and other school supplies. Teachers have limited access to training opportunities and receive inadequate compensation. Families of school-age children in rural areas of Darfur are expected to financially support the construction of schools, salaries of teachers and educational supplies for their children.

A WCRWC delegation spoke with several headmasters who had lost teachers because they had gone off to other jobs where they could earn more money, such as collecting firewood. There are no educational opportunities or skills training for children after grade eight in the camps.

For older children there are even fewer opportunities to attend school as secondary schools do not exist in the camps. For many older children, the only chance of attending secondary school is the rare case that a child may be able to afford transportation to the nearest town with an operating school, as well as the regular school fees.

Still, in December 2005, UNICEF estimated that 28 percent of school-age children, nearly half of who were girls, were in school in Darfur. Within the three Darfur states UNICEF reported that 48 percent of children enrolled in school in Northern Darfur were girls, 49 percent in Western Darfur and 42 percent in Southern Darfur. Agencies have noted that the education services provided by the emergency relief effort are the best in the history of Darfur, illustrative of the historical neglect and lack of support from the Government for education in Darfur, according to the WCRWC, INEE Minimum Standards: Darfur Case Study, August 2006. However, these services have been provided in areas of displacement rather than return, affecting the probability of their long-term impact and sustainability.

Attacks on Schools in Darfur

Schools, students and teachers in Darfur have been attacked by various armed groups. In one case, forces from the SLA-MM faction killed 11 students and one teacher as they tried to escape from their school in Dalil during SLA-MM’s attack on villages around Korma town in Northern Darfur between July 4 and 8, 2006, according to AI, Darfur Action Appeal: Korma: Yet More Attacks on Civilians, July 2006.

In 2005, in the Shearia area of Southern Darfur, the Government and armed groups launched attacks against the Zaghawa community and forcibly closed schools. Other violations included beating civilians, systematic looting, arbitrary arrests and denial of access to water and other resources, which eventually led nearly the entire town to flee, according to OHCHR.

Education for Refugee Girls in Chad

Many refugee girls from Darfur who live in camps in Chad have enrolled in school for the first times in their lives. In Darfur, many people lived in rural areas and were subject to marginalization by the Government, which provided little to no services for health and education. In addition, traditional gender norms, which uphold the notion that girls are more suited for domestic tasks, rarely afforded them the opportunity to attend school. Because many refugee families lost property that would typically be maintained by female members of the household, however, girls now have more free time and have thus been permitted by their families to attend school.

Early Signs of Progress in Darfur

IDP girls in Darfur have increased opportunities to attend school, with over 125,000 girls in Darfur enrolled in school in 2005 according to UNICEF Darfur Emergency: July to August 2005 Report. The increasing enrollment rates for girls may be attributed to the separation of displaced families from their homes and livelihoods, which usually require labor from girls, according to UNICEF. In addition, the UN, NGOs and the Ministry of Education have made efforts to conduct enrollment drives and provide school uniforms in the hopes of boosting enrollment rates. Still, a lack of teachers and teachers’ salaries and high school fees remain major constraints for increasing access to education.

To address the shortage of teachers in Darfur, their limited training opportunities and their poor compensation, UNICEF, the Ministry of Education and NGOs launched an in-service teacher training program in July 2005 for more than 2,400 volunteer teachers working in primary schools in IDP camps and host communities. The training program provides participants with a modest stipend, enabling volunteer teachers to remain in their posts, and aims to recruit volunteer teachers for new classrooms, reduce class sizes and increase the knowledge and skills of the volunteer teachers.

As a result of this program and other education initiatives, the total enrollment figures of children in Darfur have steadily increased. In December 2004, approximately 142,330 children (65,470 girls) were enrolled in primary school. By August 2006, close to 510,000 children (224,000 girls) were enrolled in school. The number of volunteer teachers also increased. In August 2005, 1,200 volunteer teachers were working in Darfur; by 2006, this number had climbed to 2,400 volunteer teachers, enabling approximately 120,000 children to attend school. In another positive outcome, the Ministry of Education placed 200 volunteer teachers who participated in the training program in 2005 and 2006 on the payroll for the 2006–2007 school year.

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE^{^[21]}

Information on the prevalence of rape and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV) against girls and women in Sudan is difficult to come by. However, this lack of information does not necessarily indicate that violence against girls and women is not occurring or that the incidence is low. Rather, it is likely attributed to chronic underreporting due to social stigma and insecurity, limited access to services and a reduced ability to collect incident-related data. In addition, criminal law stipulates that women and girls can be prosecuted or punished for adultery if they fail to prove that they had been raped.[22]

Government-backed militias, armed opposition groups and tribal militias throughout Sudan continue to sexually exploit, rape and abduct children into sexual slavery, especially girls. In addition, high levels of poverty and prohibitive school fees have driven some girls into sexually exploitative relationships with government soldiers who have a large presence throughout Sudan and interact regularly with civilians.

Sudan has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world, particularly in the north of the country where it is estimated that close to 90 percent of the female population has undergone some form of genital cutting. Infibulation, the most severe form of FGM, is practiced in Sudan. Infibulation involves the excision of the labia majora and the sealing of the two sides through stitching or natural fusion of scar tissue to create a very small opening, sometimes no larger than the head of a match. Legislation in Sudan prohibits medical practitioners from performing FGM but this ban and associated penalties have been difficult to enforce and the practice continues.

Gender-Based Violence in Southern Sudan

In the South, because of the impact of conflict on livelihoods, many families have married their girls off earlier in order to acquire cows through dowry. Common amongst many tribes in the South, a dowry of cows is usually paid to a girl’s family on her wedding day. In a region where many people live on an average of 25 cents per day, girls have increasingly become an important source of income for many families.

Gender-Based Violence in Darfur

Rape as a Military Strategy in Darfur

Since the outset of the Darfur conflict, girls and women have been subject to a brutal and systematic campaign of rape and sexual violence led by the government-sponsored Janjaweed militia and the Sudanese Army and Air Force, according to AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War: Sexual Violence and Its Consequences, July 2004. The Janjaweed, in collaboration with the government forces, are perpetrating acts of rape and other acts of sexual violence as a deliberate part of their assault on the lives, livelihoods and land of the non-Arab people of Darfur, according to PHR, The Use of Rape as a Weapon of War in the Conflict in Darfur, Sudan, October 2004.

The following are several examples of specific incidents of rape perpetrated by Janjaweed militia and/or associated government forces:

· A 14-year-old girl was raped in a market square in July 2003. The suspected Janjaweed perpetrators threatened to shoot witnesses if they tried to intervene. Other girls were raped in the bush on the same day. (AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War, July 2004)

· Approximately 15 women and girls were raped in different huts in a village on February 29, 2004. The Janjaweed broke the arms and legs of some of the survivors so that they could not escape. (AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War, July 2004)

· A girl, aged 17, was raped by six men in front of her mother. Her brother was then tied up and thrown into a fire. (AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War, July 2004)

· One woman and a group of girls were taken away by attackers wearing civilian clothing and khaki uniforms and raped repeatedly over a three-day period. They were told, “Next time we come, we will exterminate you all, we will not even leave a child alive.” (AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War, July 2004)

· Girls and women were separated, rounded up and gang-raped by militias launching attacks on the villages of Timit, Sugu, Buza and Ardeba in the Kerenek area east of Geneina in January 2006. (OHCHR, Third Periodic Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in the Sudan, April 2006)

Other parties to the conflict have also raped and sexually abused girls and women in Darfur, although these cases are often less documented due to limited access and insecurity. Some examples of rebel-perpetrated incidents include:

· April 19, 2006: The SLA-MM faction launched an attack on six villages in the Tawila area of Northern Darfur as part of the ongoing struggle with the SLA-AW faction. During the offensive, an estimated 400 attackers rode in on trucks, camels and horseback, killing and wounding scores of civilians, raping women and girls and displacing thousands of people, according to the UN. IDPs who fled the attack alleged that the SLA forces were indiscriminately killing, raping and abducting civilians. During the attack, one IDP alleged witnessing the forces raping and killing 15 young women.

· July 4–8, 2006: The SLA-MM faction killed, tortured, raped and abducted civilians and looted civilian property during attacks on the villages of Dalil, Hillat Hashab, Oste, Umm Kitaira, Diker, Talbonj, Magdum and Jafafil around Korma town, Northern Darfur, according to AI, Darfur Action Appeal: Korma: Yet More Attacks on Civilians, July 2006.

Prevalence of Sexual Violence in Darfur

The prevalence of rape and other forms of sexual violence in Darfur is difficult to determine as many survivors never report incidents and humanitarian agencies face obstacles in conducting baseline surveys and assessments. Many girls and women reported being reluctant to report incidents of sexual violence because they fear reprisals and retaliation. One 15-year-old rape survivor, explained, “I did not want to report to the police because they will treat me badly,” according to the Second Periodic Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan, January 27, 2006. Others may fear reporting as some perpetrators are police officers themselves.

In many locations, GBV-related services are limited and security is not guaranteed, presenting ethical obstacles to collecting information on sexual violence. It is believed that many survivors do not report cases, particularly those perpetrated by militants, due to fear of retributive attacks, general insecurity and limited access to confidential and compassionate services. To sketch rough estimates of the prevalence of sexual violence in Darfur, some agencies have used incident-related data, though they acknowledge that this likely represents only a portion of the actual number of survivors.

In its report, The Crushing Burden of Rape: Sexual Violence in Darfur, March 2005, MSF reported that between October 2004 and February 2005, MSF doctors treated almost 500 rape victims between the ages of 12 and 45 years in Southern and Western Darfur. These numbers most likely represent only a portion of the real number of victims in those areas during that time frame. As a result of the release of this report, the director of MSF in Sudan and another MSF staff member were charged with spying and spreading false information and arrested in May, which one analyst reported was part of a larger effort by the Government of National Unity to silence criticism by aid agencies. Though the charges were later dropped and both aid workers released, this case highlights the difficulties agencies face in providing assistance to survivors of sexual violence and publishing reports on sexual violence in Sudan.

The report also noted that out of the 297 girls and women given post-rape treatment by MSF in Western Darfur between 2004 and 2005, two-thirds reported that they had been raped more than once, either by one or multiple assailants. More than half of these 297 survivors were also beaten with sticks, whips or axes. In some cases, visibly pregnant girls and women were raped, leading to at least one miscarriage. In most cases documented by MSF, the perpetrators carr

SUDAN’S CHILDREN AT A CROSSROADS

An Urgent Need for Protection

April 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Population

Voting Age

Gross National Income (GNI) per Capita

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)[2]

Infant Mortality (under 1)

HIV/AIDS

Education

Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW)

Small Arms

Child Soldiers

SUMMARY

CONTEXT

REFUGEES AND IDPs [18]

HEALTH

HIV/AIDS

EDUCATION

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE^{^[21]}

SUDAN’S CHILDREN AT A CROSSROADS

An Urgent Need for Protection

April 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Population

Voting Age

Gross National Income (GNI) per Capita

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)[2]

Infant Mortality (under 1)

HIV/AIDS

Education

Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW)

Small Arms

Child Soldiers

SUMMARY

CONTEXT

REFUGEES AND IDPs [18]

HEALTH

HIV/AIDS

EDUCATION

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE[21]

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE^{^[21]}