Aid Work in Darfur: Practicalities and Pitfalls

Washington, D.C.: The camps stunk of donkey dung and urine. It was the only smell in the hot, dry heat of Darfur that Robert Lankenau remembered. The clean, colorful clothes of the women stood in stark contrast to the corrugated tin roofs of the makeshift dwellings in the camp, providing a modicum of joy in the most desolate region of Sudan. For in this vast desert the size of France, punctuated by pockets of urban activity where camps for the internally displaced have sprung up, the 21st century’s first genocide is taking place. After more than a year working in Darfur, however, Robert*, who is the Darfur Field Director for CHF International, has not lost faith in the work he and his fellow aid workers do. “I felt and still feel excited to be in Darfur and to try to implement solid relief interventions,” he told me via email as he made his way to neighboring Chad for an assessment of what appears to be an increasingly dire situation there. The 31-year old German citizen is no novice, however, having previously worked in Afghanistan and Egypt. Darfur, the most hard-hit region in a country torn by war, famine, ethnic cleansing, repression and forcible displacement, is not a place for beginners. But it offers valuable experience to the more seasoned aid worker or those with career or appointment ambitions who want to get experience and check that box. The devastation facing Sudan is most severe in Darfur, where government-backed Janjaweed militias have engaged in massive ethnic cleansing that several organizations have labeled genocide. Although the whole of Sudan has been affected by the ongoing violence that broke out in 2003, the humanitarian crisis in Darfur is a primary focus for international aid and development groups because of the millions of internally displaced persons and the genocidal conditions in the more remote areas of the region. The situation in Sudan is complicated, with various levels of conflict and progress in different parts of the country. In 2005 the government in Khartoum signed a peace accord with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), based in the south, creating the Government of National Unity and bringing to an end, after 21 years, Africa’s longest-running civil war. But fighting continued in Darfur, despite a May 2006 peace accord, where the Sudanese armed forces and Janjaweed militia have targeted civilian populations for ethnic cleansing, rape, and kidnapping. President George W. Bush has called it genocide. The violence in Darfur has left more than 400,000 dead according to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the United Nations, and forced more than 2 million from their homes. The U.N. estimates that there were almost 6 million internally displaced persons in all of Sudan last year, meaning that about 15 percent of the population must find shelter, food, and security outside of their homes. Now the violence has spilled across the borders into Chad, and there are now more than more than half a million Sudanese and Chadian refugees. Although the groundwork is being laid so that development can take place once a peace accord that actually stops the fighting is signed, Darfur continues to be an acute humanitarian emergency. Many of the world’s largest and best funded NGOs work in Darfur, including World Vision, CARE, Oxfam, and the ICRC, along with several French, British, Italian and Australian NGOs and smaller local and niche-specific ones. In fact, according to one aid worker, she saw very few Americans. Some of these organizations, especially French NGOs, offer interships, volunteerships, or short-term contracts that anyone with prior field experience would stand a good change of getting, according to Robert. “Most expat staff in Darfur have prior experience elsewhere,” he said, a notion reiterated by Elizabeth, a 27-year old Washington, D.C. native who worked for the International Rescue Committee in Darfur. “This is not the place to send a novice or be a novice,” she told me. “I was relatively green compared to a lot of my colleagues and that was challenging to me.” Several people working in Darfur mentioned coworkers who had worked in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans or the post-Tsunami disaster relief. “We’re fully in a protracted complex emergency, so life-saving interventions are not the only program areas anymore,” Robert explained, meaning there are a wider range of assistance programs preparing for life after the conflict. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) also has a significant presence on the ground and provides funds to dozens of other organizations that provide everything from direct humanitarian intervention to infrastructure rehabilitation to security, stabilization, and media services. The primary USAID players are the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), which provides first responders in emergency humanitarian situations, and the Office for Transition Initiatives (OTI), which focuses more on peace building and development. Both have full-time staff in Sudan, but only OFDA works in Darfur, which is still in a critical phase and has not passed out of the emergency threshold, said Fiona Shanks of OFDA. Her organization recruits personal service contractors for 11 month to 2 year assignments through the Global Corps recruitment agency, though many jobs are reserved for U.S. citizens only. The U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), on the other hand, reserves most of its posts, 70 percent, for Sudanese nationals, and a standing call for National staff directs those interested to apply through the UNMIS Web site. Foreign nationals with technical expertise and peacekeeping knowledge form an important part of the mission since they often serve as coaches and trainers. Non-Sudanese citizens, however, must apply through the specific U.N. agency for which they would like to work. Created in 2005 to help implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), UNMIS’ mandate includes both immediate assistance and long-term development, a recognition of the fact that the devastation caused years of war has destroyed much of the national economy, the country’s infrastructure, and the human population, making economic recovery a long-term process. But working in Darfur is not easy. “Darfur is by far the most challenging work environment I’ve ever been in and I don’t expect I will ever work again in a place that’s so difficult,” Elizabeth told me. Not only do the working conditions impose a burden on those trying to help, she explained, but the government of Sudan makes it a “priority” to make life difficult for aid workers, especially those working on sensitive issues, by requiring excessive amounts of paperwork, spying on them, and interfering with their work. “The difference between working under the watch of the Tanzanian government and the Sudanese government is like night and day,” she said, detailing the obstacles erected by a government hostile to international assistance. “It makes Tanzania look like a Disney cruise.” Much of the relief work is focused on the teeming camps for internally displaced persons, the largest of which have grown up in the shadow of the three biggest towns in each of the three regions of Darfur. In some places the camps are barely distinguishable from the city itself as more time passes and fewer people expect to go home. The camps not run by NGOS or international organizations tend to be miserable, as one woman who worked for OTI put it. The conditions everywhere are harsh. The heat, lack of electricity, trash and dearth of common comforts are among the hardest things for Western aid workers to deal with. Yet the aid workers have it far better than the millions of displaced Sudanese who have been forced to make the refugee camps their homes. “Seeing tens- or maybe hundreds of thousands people camped out there in 50C heat under plastic sheeting and tiny straw huts is pretty miserable,” said David Hartstone, who went to Sudan twice, first on a graduate fellowship with Save the Children and then as a grants coordinator with the IRC. The IRC, one of the biggest humanitarian organizations working in Sudan, focuses on emergency relief in Darfur, where four years after the conflict the situation continues to be defined as an acute crisis. A recent $2.75 million donation from actor George Clooney has bolstered the organization’s public profile and represents yet another attempt to provoke the world into action to stop the genocide in Darfur. Yet even as world leaders vacillate over the semantic designation for the violence, thousands of people with experience in emergency relief, humanitarian assistance, and international development have made their way to Sudan in order to help the people of Darfur. The difficult conditions mean that most tours of duty last six months to a year, though when aid workers leave the country they risk not being allowed back in by the government authorities. Some aid workers have thus effectively been denied their “rest and relaxation” leave. UNMIS authorized military and civilian assistance to the war-torn country, but those working in sensitive sectors like human rights, gender violence, and democracy building often find it difficult to obtain exit and re-entry visas, meaning they will lose their job if they leave. Getting the initial entry visa also requires an explanation of the purpose of travel to Sudan and a sponsor letter from the NGO and government partner detailing what the person will be doing and whether they intend to go only to Khartoum or elsewhere. Nonetheless, officials will approve visa applications from those affiliated with legitimate organizations in about 48 hours rather than the normal 4-8 weeks. “They see humanitarian workers as a cash cow,” Donald Mulligan, the Sudan desk officer at the State Department, explained in an interview, detailing the requirements for getting a visa. Unfortunately, he said, humanitarian work is “definitely a growth industry” in Sudan, which is experiencing its “Golden Age” of humanitarian assistance. But even if it is the Golden Age for aid work in Darfur, the ability to pay salaries depends on continued contributions by the international community. David pointed out that one of the most pressing needs at the moment is to guard against “donor fatigue.” Nonetheless, he said, “emergency relief does not solve conflicts so it can only complement a political process, not replace it.” Thus a more inclusive peace process and a broader, more efficiently mandated peacekeeping force is essential in his view. Until then, however, aid workers will continue to play a vital role in Sudan. “Good people are always needed and the average stay is maybe less than a year,” said David, “so maybe obtaining the work is not the hardest part.” Rather, as everyone agreed, the hardest part is trying to do the work that needs to be done in conditions that are challenging, and at times seem hopeless. “Things will go wrong, every day things will go wrong and it tests your patience and your sanity like nothing else,” said Elizabeth. “If you can’t roll with that, if you’re used to things going in an orderly efficient fashion then don’t go.” Oh, and her advice for those going to Darfur? “Bring peanut butter and crystal light!” * The views expressed in this article are those of the individual aid workers and do not represent those of their current or former employers. In cases where identification would put a worker or their colleagues at risk I have not included full names or specific job titles. 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