Sudan’s army launches relief efforts for children in war zones
KHARTOUM, Sep 12, 2003 (dpa) — Sudan’s government and army began distributing aid to war-affected children in the south and west of the country, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Sulaf Eldin Saleh said Friday.
“This is the first time the government has made such a public commitment,” he said.
Without disclosing the sum of money involved, Saleh said the efforts included the distribution of clothes, food and other relevant items to children.
Children in the war-afflicted areas in the south and west of Sudan are routinely used by warring parties as slaves, child soldiers and human shields against landmines, a practice common in southern Sudan.
The country has been torn by civil war between the mainly Moslem north and the Animist and Christian south since independence in 1956.
Observers have noted that the government may have made the move in an effort to win the popularity of the south prior to the upcoming referendum on self-determination for south Sudan.
The oil-rich state of Unity in southern Sudan is one of three provinces that would be eligible to vote in the referendum.
The Khartoum government and the rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) agreed during peace talks in the Kenyan capital last week on a referendum under international supervision.
No date has been set for the vote and a host of issues surrounding it remain unresolved.
The peace talks were aimed at finding a solution to Sudan’s long civil war, which has deep roots in mistrust between the mainly African and Christian south and the largely Arab and Moslem north.
An estimated 1.3 million have died in the conflict through war and famine since 1983.
Most street children in Khartoum and other towns in Sudan come from either the war afflicted south or drought affected west.
The Sudanese government does not have a record of the number of street children on the streets of Khartoum, possibly owing to fears of criticism about the religious aspects that have led to their deprivation.
A pro-government society catering for street children in Khartoum Amal Friends of Children Society says it receives about ten to fifteen children per day, whereas the Catholic-run Save the Savable programme accommodates more than 60,000 street children in its various centres based in the city.
In a related development, the commissioner announced that 890 tons of food was received from sympathising countries in response to the call by the Sudanese government to help mitigate the effects caused by the recent floods in the country.
Saleh also disclosed the distribution of more than half a million tons of food by the U.N. World Food Programme to the displaced people in the government and rebel held areas.
The programme caters for over 611,000 displaced persons in the government controlled towns of Juba, Malakal, Wau and Raja besides Bantiu, a provincial capital of the Unity state.
Some 10,000 people in the areas under the control of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) have received food aid.