As Alertnet is reporting, relief efforts in Sudan are “plunging into Chaos” after Sudanese president Omar al Bashir ordered 16 relief organizations to pack up shop and leave. As one aid worker described it:
“Everything is crazy. Most of the agencies thrown out don’t think they’re going to get back so they’re trying to work out how to transfer everything to agencies still in Sudan.”
Or in plain UN language:
These 16 organizations employ nearly 40 percent of the aid workers in Darfur – 6,500 national and international workers. The total number of humanitarian staff affected by the Government decision in northern Sudan, including Darfur, is 7,610, of which 308 of that number are international staff and 7302 are national.
(…) the Humanitarian Country team in Sudan reports the following implications of the resulting decision by the Government to halt the programs of these 16 NGOs:
1) 1.5 million beneficiaries will no longer have access to health and nutrition services. (…)
2) Water supply, sanitation and hygiene services provided by these NGOs to 1.16 million people will soon be interrupted (…)
3) Some 1.1 million people will stop receiving general food distribution and the treatment of some 4,000 children for severe and moderate malnutrition over the next three months could be interrupted.
As you can see, there are enough reports, analyses and resources on the developments in Sudan out there (thankfully also on its wider implications). However, you should also have your own say on the dramatic developments in Sudan and – more importantly – share your opinion with the people who can contribute to reinstating the aid organizations.