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	Famine and conflict risks confront south Sudan by AFP / United Nations News Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Sudan - Dafur   Nov 2009   Famine and conflict risks confront south Sudan, by Peter Martell. (AFP)   Southern Sudan faces potential famine and the risk of further ethnic conflict, with over one million people already hit by serious food insecurity, the UN Children''s Fund deputy head warned Sunday.   A second year of poor or badly timed rains, coupled with months of insecurity between rival ethnic groups, threatens to have a "serious impact" on children''s lives if swift action is not taken, said Hilde Johnson, deputy executive director of UNICEF, on a visit to Sudan.   "The crisis is going to hit very, very hard," Johnson said, speaking in Bor, the capital of Jonglei state and one of hardest hit areas.   "We are just seeing the beginning of it -- we have at the moment 1.2 million people in southern Sudan affected by a serious food insecurity situation," she added.   The dry season is just beginning in the south, but people are already hungry with the failure of harvests, and the situation is expected to worsen in coming months as the few reserves of food are used up.   Poor rains in recent weeks mean that local cattle herders are expected to begin shifting their herds soon to find fresh pastures and water, bringing them into conflict with rival ethnic groups in the region.   "If we are not able to handle the situation well, we can expect very, very significant levels which can border on the red flag emergency that becomes a famine," Johnson warned.   More than 2,000 people have died and about 250,000 thousand others have been displaced in inter-tribal violence across southern Sudan since January, according to the United Nations.   "When natural resources are actually being diminished on a daily basis, you will see hard pressure coming in on already meagre resources," said Johnson, who also visited Upper Nile state, another area of concern.   "This will exacerbate conflict, there is absolutely no doubt - it is not only the food but the water and grazing that are reduced, and then of course tensions increase."   Southern Sudanese officials said they were worried for the future in a region often blighted by conflict or famine.   "There is famine because this year there has not been rain in many of the counties," said Kuol Manyang, the Jonglei governor. "Where there was peace, there was no rain, and where there were good rains, there was insecurity", he added.   The UN World Food Programme (WFP) began last week to air-drop food for some 155,600 people in the south on November 5, to the three states of Jonglei, Upper Nile and Warrap.   The two-and-a-half-month airlift is dropping supplies to remote communities where roads are blocked by rains, and where conflict, high food prices and poor harvests because of drought have left people struggling for food.   It is a tense time for the region - still struggling to recover from a 22-year civil war that ended less than five years ago - with elections due in April followed by a referendum on the south''s potential full independence due in 2011.   July 2009   The "heart-wrenching" crisis in Darfur continues, by Alain Le Roy.   Five years after the UN Security Council had placed the situation in Sudan"s war ravaged western Darfur region on its agenda, the top United Nations peacekeeping official today expressed his deep frustration that everyone - the Government, the rebel movements and the international community - had failed to muster the political will to address the crisis "in all its heart-wrenching complexity".   Briefing the Security Council on the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), Alain Le Roy, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said: "While the situation on the ground may have changed, we are in many ways no closer to a solution now than when the issue was first taken up by this august body."   The lack of forward movement since 2004 was deeply distressing because of the human suffering that had occurred in the intervening years, he said. It was also deeply frustrating because the elements for a solution to the conflict had in many ways always been clear. "The Government must make serious concessions and illustrate its commitment to Darfur through active investment in its people and infrastructure."   On the other hand, rebel groups must make the interests of their people the sole priority, compromise among themselves and agree on a serious platform for discussions, he emphasized. "Abstaining from dialogue is not a policy, it is a posture," he added, calling on supporters and patrons of both the Government and the rebel movements to refuse once and for all to support war. Arms and financial support must stop flowing, and safe havens must disappear. Without sustained progress in each of those areas, "we will not see a resolution to this crisis [but instead] we will continue to meet in this Chamber to discuss an apparently intractable situation".   Above all, the will to peace and the sacrifices required to achieve it would come from the Sudanese themselves, who bore the ultimate responsibility for bringing stability to Darfur, he said, adding: "We need to continue to hold them to the highest standard in this regard." At the same time, the international community, particularly countries in the region, should play a central role in creating the conditions that would help the Sudanese address those challenges, by providing concrete incentives to reach agreement and guarantees that new agreements would be implemented.   On the status of UNAMID, he said that nearly the entire authorized 26,000 troops and civilian police would be in Darfur by the end of the year, and that the level of violence has been significantly reduced in the 18 months since the Hybrid Operation had been authorized. UNAMID now functioned in an environment that was very different from the one it had originally been mandated to address. "Large-scale violence and associated civilian deaths and displacement are no longer hallmarks of the crisis," he said.   Yet, the evolution of the crisis did not in any way diminish the tragedy of Darfur, or lessen the suffering of the 2.7 million displaced people, he said. But it did require that actions taken correspond with realities on the ground. "The United Nations will have to adapt to be effective," he said, noting that the changes would also affect mediation efforts.   Highlighting the direct links between the Darfur crisis and the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which had ended the civil war between the North and South, he recalled that, in an earlier briefing to the Council, he had shared serious concerns regarding implementation of the accord. Delays, misunderstandings and disagreements between the partners on key issues, including border demarcation and census results, continued to put the Agreement at risk. "Failure of the CPA would result in a deep crisis throughout Sudan and the region, and would cause further suffering to the already vulnerable populations," he warned.   July 2009   The Burden of War. (Harvard Humanitarian Initiative)   Since independence, both Sudan and Chad have suffered from instability and violence. In Sudan, brief peace from a twenty year civil war ended in 2003 when fighting broke out in Sudan"s southern region of Darfur. According to the BBC, the Darfur conflict is seen as "one of the worst nightmares in recent history," resulting in the deaths of over 300,000 and the displacement of 2.7 million. In late 2003, unrest from Sudan spilled across the border into neighboring Chad, contributing to additional population displacement and adding to the urgency of relief efforts. HHI Fellow Alex de Waal offers more analysis on Making Sense of Darfur, on the link below. Visit the related web page
	United Nations condemns use of suicide bombs and terrorist acts against Civilians by United Nations News Pakistan / Iraq / Indonesia / Afghanistan   Oct 2009   Car bomb kills 86 in Pakistan market. (AFP & agencies)   A car bomb tore through a packed market in Peshawar on Wednesday, killing 86 people among the dead and trapping casualties under pulverised shops.   The explosion detonated in a crowded street in the Meena Bazaar of Peshawar, one of the most congested parts of the northwest city, sparking a huge blaze and ending in carnage routine shopping trips for scores of people.   "We have received 86 dead bodies, 213 people were injured, there are children and women, we are facing a shortage of blood," Doctor Hamid Afridi, head of the Peshawar"s main Lady Reading Hospital told AFP.   A hospital official outside the casualty wing spoke of harrowing scenes. "There are body parts. There are people. There are burnt people. There are dead bodies. There are wounded," said Doctor Muslim Khan.   The area was one of the most congested parts of Peshawar and full of women"s clothing shops, toy shops and general market stalls popular in the city of 2.5 million. " This is the most congested area of the city," Sahibzada Mohammad Anees, a senior local administrative official, told TV channel Express.   UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the bombing of a crowded marketplace in the Pakistani city of Peshawar that has killed more than 80 people and injured at least 160 others, the latest in a series of deadly attacks targeting civilians across the country.   “I want to express my outrage at the loss of so many innocent lives,” Mr. Ban told a press conference, describing the bomb attack as appalling. Mr. Ban noted that many of the victims of the bombing were women. “No cause can justify such inhuman and indiscriminate violence,” he said, extending his condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims.   On 9 October at least 50 people died after a suicide blast in Peshawar and a separate bombing a week later in the same city killed 12 others. Deadly explosions and gun attacks have also been recorded in other major cities across Pakistan this month, including the national capital, Islamabad.   Aug 2009   Top UN envoy condemns "abhorrent" bombings in Baghdad and Mosul.   A top United Nations official has strongly condemned the recent bombings that targeted worshipers in two of Iraq"s major cities, leaving dozens of innocent civilians dead or injured.   At least 36 people were reportedly killed or wounded as a result of the car bomb that exploded on Friday outside a mosque in the northern city of Mosul as well as several explosions that struck the capital, Baghdad.   Ad Melkert, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon"s Special Representative for Iraq, described the bombings as “an abhorrent crime targeting worshipers while they prayed and others as they embarked on their mid-Shaaban pilgrimage.”   The mission said UN agencies are working with local officials and the Iraq Red Crescent Organization to deliver humanitarian relief to families affected by the bombings. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has provided basic household supplies to some 50 families whose homes were badly damaged.   The attacks come just over a week after bombings at five Shi"a mosques across Baghdad which drew strong condemnation from the Secretary-General. “Attacks against places of worship cannot be justified by any political or religious cause,” Mr. Ban said in a statement following the 31 July attacks.   July 2009   UN Security Council and Ban deplore deadly hotel bombings in Indonesia.   The UN Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have strongly condemned the bombings of two hotels in central Jakarta that killed at least nine people and injured dozens of others.   The Security Council adopted a presidential statement in which members voiced outrage and offered “deep sympathy and condolences to the victims of these heinous acts of terrorism and to their families, and to the people and Government of Indonesia.”   “The Security Council reaffirms that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed.”   The presidential statement added that States must also ensure that any measures taken to fight terrorism must meet their obligations under international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law.   July 2009   Terrorism kills more Afghan civilians than any military action – UN mission.   The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has spoken out against the use of suicide bombings and other terrorist activities, which it says kills more civilians than any other military action.   The reaction came after last Thursday’s bomb blast in Logar province which killed more than 20 people, including children on their way to school. UNAMA condemned the “barbaric” attack, the latest in a string of violence targeted at aid organizations.   “The United Nations in Afghanistan has long made clear its deep concern about the use of suicide bombs and terrorist acts in populated areas,” Nazifullah Salarzai, a spokesperson for the Mission told a news conference in Kabul today.   “These are resulting in more civilian casualties in Afghanistan than any other military tactic, and must stop. The civilian population of this country has a right to be safe from violence and threats.”   The head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also spoken out against last week’s attack, stressing that the children of Afghanistan, like children everywhere, have a right to be protected from violence and to develop free of threats, intimidations and violent attacks.   “Even where they do not suffer directly from the violence, when children are not allowed to feel safe at school or travelling to school, their education and their prospects suffer, and the futures of their families and their communities are undermined,” said Ann M. Veneman.   UNICEF has recorded 98 school incidents in the period from 1 May until 24 June 2009, including direct attacks by small arms and rockets, arson, and threats. Ms. Veneman said these attacks “pull the country backwards and threaten the advances that have been made in education and child health in recent years.” Visit the related web page
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