South Sudan: The dilemma between responding to human needs and strengthening local capacity
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The work we do at Refugees International brings us to witness protracted humanitarian situations where the forcibly displaced struggle to survive or to restart their lives when they can finally return home. We visit and interview many individuals trying to alleviate suffering, often working in difficult environments and overwhelmed by the magnitude of the needs they are supposed to respond to. The context in which they operate is very complex and it is not always easy to make the right policy decision.
During our mission to south Sudan, which took place in February 2008, we saw how the longer-term focus on building up the capacity of a new government can clash with the urgent immediate need to help displaced individuals.
In October 2007, when conflict broke out at the disputed border between north and south Sudan, nearly 900 households were forced from their homes. An aid agency in the region witnessed these newly-displaced people living without access to food or water. These people needed food distributed to them.
In south Sudan, where peace has been generally restored since early 2005 following the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, everyone agrees that it is time for the recently-born Government of Southern Sudan to take greater responsibility and cater for the basic needs of its people.
Food was available for the people displaced by the October 2007 border conflict, but it did not get distributed for four months as local government authorities failed to provide the transportation and fuel they had promised. While waiting for the authorities to fulfill their promises, malnutrition rates in the area were becoming worrying.
Situations like these involve hard decisions for humanitarian agencies. It is important to build the capacity of the Government of Southern Sudan to provide for the basic needs of its people. But, while these policy decisions are being discussed, thousands of people can remain without food, water and other essential items. In this particular situation, Refugees International believed that the needs of the displaced population should take priority, and after attending an information-sharing meeting among humanitarian actors and government representatives, we expressed our concern about the issue.
A few days later we received confirmation that food distribution was taking place to the roughly 13,600 people in need. It was being led by international actors instead of the local government authorities. Such decisions are not easy, but we think that the international agencies took the right decision in this case.
--Melanie Teff and Andrea Lari
During our mission to south Sudan, which took place in February 2008, we saw how the longer-term focus on building up the capacity of a new government can clash with the urgent immediate need to help displaced individuals.
In October 2007, when conflict broke out at the disputed border between north and south Sudan, nearly 900 households were forced from their homes. An aid agency in the region witnessed these newly-displaced people living without access to food or water. These people needed food distributed to them.
In south Sudan, where peace has been generally restored since early 2005 following the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, everyone agrees that it is time for the recently-born Government of Southern Sudan to take greater responsibility and cater for the basic needs of its people.
Food was available for the people displaced by the October 2007 border conflict, but it did not get distributed for four months as local government authorities failed to provide the transportation and fuel they had promised. While waiting for the authorities to fulfill their promises, malnutrition rates in the area were becoming worrying.
Situations like these involve hard decisions for humanitarian agencies. It is important to build the capacity of the Government of Southern Sudan to provide for the basic needs of its people. But, while these policy decisions are being discussed, thousands of people can remain without food, water and other essential items. In this particular situation, Refugees International believed that the needs of the displaced population should take priority, and after attending an information-sharing meeting among humanitarian actors and government representatives, we expressed our concern about the issue.
A few days later we received confirmation that food distribution was taking place to the roughly 13,600 people in need. It was being led by international actors instead of the local government authorities. Such decisions are not easy, but we think that the international agencies took the right decision in this case.
--Melanie Teff and Andrea Lari
Labels: south Sudan
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