Sudan’s Darfur our worst crisis: Mercy Malaysia

PUTRAJAYA, Nov 5 (Bernama) — Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy Malaysia) president Datuk Dr Jemilah Mahmood has described the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan, as the worst crisis the non-profit organisation has had to deal with in its medical relief work around the world.

She said the situation was worsened by the area’s almost complete lack of basic amenities coupled by Mercy’s limited budget.

This however has not prompted Mercy to stop its relief work. In fact, she said, several of its volunteers quit their jobs in order to join Mercy’s work in Sudan.

“The volunteers say they can find a job anytime,” she said in her address at a ceremony to mark the presentation of a RM300,000 contribution from the government to Mercy Malaysia’s Appeal for Darfur, Sudan Programme. The cheque was presented by Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar to Dr Jemilah at Wisma Putra.

“It is to show the interest of the government to help in humanitarian work,” he said.

Dr Jemilah, when interviewed, said Mercy’s focus was on health as it encompassed food, nutrition and shelter – all necessary to improve the condition of the displaced Sudanese.

“Our main focus has always been on women and children. Now it is always a challenge because the big non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are there and they have big money and big projects.

“So we have to see what we can utilise the money for in a way that is beneficial for the people there and yet is within our budget constraints,” she said.

The refugee camps house some 1.2 million internally displaced persons, 88 per cent of whom are without shelter and 75 percent are children and women.

Dr Jemilah said Mercy would start a nutritional programme for children on Dec 1, and a maternal and child development centre capable of accommodating 1,000 children has been built in Kerinding 2 camp.

“What we are going to do is to use that as a base for us to get the children to come in and get proper nutrition and screen them for malnutrition and so forth, so that they get enough food,” she said.