Humanitarian News: Oxfam and CSF Darfur working together
Alex Nataros, Associate Staff Writer
Amid urgent calls internationally for more troops in Darfur due to renewed conflict in the western region of Sudan, Canadian Students for Darfur have announced their partnership with Oxfam Canada by which all money raised by the national student organisation will go to Oxfam’s relief work in refugee and displacement camps throughout the region.
Since 2003, when the war first broke out, two million people — half of Darfur’s population — have been displaced to camps along the western border and in neighboring Chad. According to the UN, 30,000 people have been displaced in the past month alone.
Clement Apaak, the national chair and founder of Canadian Students for Darfur (CSFDarfur) and Simon Fraser Student Society president, is pleased by the partnership between the organisations. “The fact is that Oxfam is one of the world’s most well respected and renowned international organisations,” he said. “We [CSFDarfur] know that Oxfam has a track record of working in Sudan. Oxfam did not just go to Darfur because the conflict broke; they had been there for 20 years.”
According to Oxfam Canada Executive Director Robert Fox, CSFDarfur, formally launched last October at SFU by Senator Romeo Dallaire, has already been successful in getting Darfur in the minds of Canadians. “CSFDarfur has done a good job of making Darfur more prominent and making people more aware. The political role is key for CSFDarfur — and the fact that Canadian students have taken on the issue is telling,” he said.
As Apaak noted, “Oxfam is providing everything — we’re talking about 800,000 people who have lost everything. Whether it’s basic sanitation, water, education, shelter, and even food, Oxfam is trying to provide everything that is needed just for basic survival. We [CSFDarfur] don’t have what it takes to go to Darfur — but Oxfam is there on the ground.”
Fox, who traveled throughout Darfur to learn about the humanitarian crisis last October, cited some of the roles and challenges for Oxfam aid workers in the region. “Humanitarian protection is one of the areas where we work. One of the risks that women face is when they leave the camps to collect firewood, they are subject to violence — particularly rape,” he said. “So part of our work is to identify alternative fuel sources, identify different ways for them to organise themselves to collect wood safely.”
“There are a whole series of concrete measures that people who are trying to respond quickly to emergencies haven’t thought of or thought through, and so our experience and expertise in these areas is key in ensuring that people in the camps — many of whom are elderly and children, and the majority of who are women — are as safe as they can be in those camps, while at the same time trying to address the issues that keep them in the camps,” he added.
Fox discussed the long-term impacts of keeping the Sudanese in refugee camps, noting the contrast between the traditional nomadic life and the current dense, nearly urban, setting. “If we can’t create peace and allow people to return to their homes, then many may never return to their homes,” he said. “There’s a whole generation of children that’s at risk of being raised in refugee camps and not having the experience and skill set that’s required to successfully be a herder or farmer.”
Commenting on the current situation, Fox noted that, while continuing peace talks are a source of optimism, the situation remains dire. “There are continuing violations of people’s human rights. There are continuing attacks on communities — as recently as this month there’ve been people moved into camps,” he said. “There is no short-term progress that we can see in resolving the conflict.”
Both Fox and Apaak were unsure of what the new Conservative government has planned for the Darfur agenda. As Fox noted, “We’re all looking with great interest to see whether the change in government has an impact on Canada’s role in Sudan,” adding that the previous Liberal government had played an active role in trying to promote the peace process.
Apaak was less optimistic. “I’ve heard a few comments here and there [from the Conservative government], but they don’t have a concerted plan of action — not just on Darfur but for anything pertaining to developing countries. That worries me.”
SFU President Michael Stevenson, a political scientist originally from South Africa, praised the partnership between Canadian Student for Darfur and Oxfam. “The agreement with Oxfam gives the campaign all the credibility and accountability that people might have asked questions about,” he said. “Ultimately the credit lies with students, and particularly those at SFU who took this initiative last year — an initiative of which I’m very proud. There’s far too little recognition given to the enormity of the genocide in Darfur — and the partnership between Oxfam and CSFDarfur can help bridge this.”
Stevenson recalled meeting Senator Romeo Dallaire, the former commander of the UN mission in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide, and his convocation address last October at SFU. “The awful tragedy is that we seem not to have learned many lessons,” Stevenson noted, suggesting that history is replaying itself in Darfur.
While Apaak looked forward to future initiatives that Canadian Students for Darfur has planned, including an upcoming national vigil and walk, he suggested that “the main thing is for our organisation is to encourage individual initiatives,” citing chapters at McGill, UBC, the University of Alberta, and at numerous colleges in B.C.
Apaak concluded, “We as human beings have an obligation to help other people in need, whether we know them or not. It’s very important that we try to empathise with the victims. It’s very easy to see ourselves as separate from those who are suffering from these inhumane and tragic conditions like the conflict in Darfur. I would liken it to when you walk by and see an older person fall down from a wheelchair, you don’t just walk by — you stop and help. That is the vision that I want people to keep in mind — although we don’t see the people of Darfur on our street, we can visualise their needs and try to do what we can to help them.”
To donate to the CSFDarfur Oxfam fund, or to get involved with or start a chapter, go to www.csfdarfur.net.