Italian envoy concerned for Darfuri children many years without schooling

May 8, 2009 (EL FASHER) – The Italian special humanitarian envoy to Sudan said Wednesday that everyone she heard from at Zam Zam refugee camp voiced concern about Darfuri children living in the camp without schools sometimes since six years ago.

Margherita Boniver, who represents Italy as Special Envoy for Humanitarian Emergencies and Vulnerable Situations, paid a one-day visit to El Fasher, North Darfur.

During a “full and emotional briefing” – as Boniver put it – at Zam Zam camp, the envoy heard stories from both long-time residents of the camp and new arrivals.

“Everybody who took the floor talked about the fact that thousands of children are without any schooling at all,” said Boniver.

At her personal blog in Italian, Boniver noted that 65% of Darfur refugees are women and children. She recalled particularly one tribal leader at the briefing who underlined that the expulsion of aid groups in March has affected education.

“They ran the schools, helped our women. Since they left our children wander the streets and don’t receive any instruction necessary to overcome poverty and prepare for the democracy that would bring peace in Sudan,” the tribal leader remarked in reference to the ousted NGOs.

But the envoy also described the refugee camps as better organized compared to the camp she visited in 2004. “There is some form of stability there. There are even brick buildings and the population seems to be involved in some kind of small economic activities which of course is a sure sign of some kind of normalization, if you allow me to use this word in a place where hundreds, thousands of people have been displaced and refugee life cannot be called normal.”

She said that Italy has been increasing its donation to Sudan in the past three years, now donating 20 million Euros per year to different programmes.

This was Boniver’s third trip to Darfur.

(ST)