Nearly five years after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended the civil war, medical needs throughout southern Sudan remain at urgent levels. Violent inter-communal clashes throughout the year have left hundreds dead and thousands displaced. Sporadic attacks on villages by the Ugandan rebel group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), near the border of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), caused thousands of Sudanese people to flee their homes and Congolese refugees to cross the border and seek refuge in Western Equatorial state.

Almost three-quarters of the population in southern Sudan still have no access to even the most basic health care services. Throughout the year, MSF in southern Sudan treated thousands of patients for malnutrition, malaria, and tuberculosis, and provided obstetric-gynecological care. MSF teams also responded to cholera and kala azar outbreaks in several states including the capital Juba.

In Darfur, sporadic war-related violence and clashes over resources continued to inflict a human toll throughout the year. Providing aid for Darfur became much more difficult following the expulsion by Sudanese authorities of 13 international aid agencies– including two sections of MSF—and three Sudanese organizations in the wake of the International Criminal Court's indictment of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Remaining aid workers struggle to provide meaningful humanitarian assistance to those in need in an atmosphere where general insecurity and kidnappings targeting aid workers reduce their ability to assess new needs, and respond to ongoing needs of the nearly 2 million displaced people remaining in camps.

Humanitarian aid agencies organize the distributions of food and non-food items. People waiting in line (mostly women) are exposed to the heat of the desert, which often reaches 50 degrees Celsius (120 Fahrenheit) in the shade. [Kalma Camp in Darfur, Sudan 2007 ? Voitek Asztabski / MSF]

A moment of rest at Kalma Camp, Darfur region. [Kalma Camp in Darfur, Sudan 2007 ? MSF]

Comments