‘Many displaced, malnourished by South Kordofan fighting’: survey

A humanitarian needs assessment in rebel-held parts of South Kordofan state found that 92 percent of the displaced people has left their homes because of the fighting between the Sudanese government and the rebels. Last year, that number was 66 percent. The fighting and indiscriminate bombing of the area has caused high rates of malnutrition, the research found. An international NGO surveyed 808 households and facilitated focus groups in areas controlled by the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N) last August. It wishes to remain anonymous and the surveyed areas to remain unknown, owing to security concerns. The Enough Project published the findings on their behalf for the third year running. It found that 79 percent of the respondents doesn’t feel safe in their homes. Last year, the researchers asked the same question in the same place, and 67 percent expressed this fear. The 12 percent jump correlates with a jump in the share of people who fled their homes because of thefighting, they conclude. Also, an overwhelming 86 percent of the surveyed households stated to have no sanitation facilities; only one percent had access to improved sanitation, being a pit latrine with slab (fig. 5). Number of meals reduces The NGO found that malnutrition in the region is high. The food scores in the region are poor: 80 percent of the non-displaced households showed ‘poor’ or ‘borderline’ food consumption levels. 70 percent of the displaced households experience moderate to severe hunger. The majority of the respondents (65 percent) restrict the adults’ food consumption to feed children, and almost all (81 percent) households reduce the number of meals consumed each week. The most popular food items are sorghum, vegetables, and corn. In their recommendations, the researchers note that activities to immediately meet the most urgent needs of people living in the SPLA-N areas would be food distributions and agricultural support. Also educational support, hand-pump repairs, and the distribution of soap and jerry cans are needed. Bombing affects food security Future food shortages are a concern as cultivated land has declined. In 2014, South Kordofan has seen ‘an upsurge of indiscriminate aerial bombardments that led to mass casualties and displacement […] Recently, civilian infrastructure, including farming plots, grain stores, health facilities, and water holes, have become the targets of aerial attacks’, according to the Enough Project. These events correlate with the survey results stating that 70 percent of all households claimed that insecurity is their primary barrier to food security (fig. 9), followed by a lack of money and assets. Nuba Reports, a network of journalists, confirmed on 14 November that 36 bombs were dropped in ten days’ time in South Kordofan. Two civilians were killed, and 12 wounded, including children. The attacks came as the government approached the negotiation table with the rebel movement, for peace talks on South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. Peace negotiations between the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N on the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile in Addis Ababa are currently adjourned, but the parties close in on concluding an agreement, Thabo Mbeki, the head of the brokering African Union panel, Thabo Mbeki, said on Monday. The border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile state have been the scene of violent conflict since June 2011 when the SPLA-N launched an insurgency against the Khartoum regime. This year, the government intensified attacks on the rebels as part of its so-called “Decisive Summer” military campaign. It has led to large displacement of civilians who could no longer seek refuge in camps in South Sudan, because of the conflict in the newborn state.Read the full Enough Project report here. File photo: Children in the Nuba Mountains, South Kordofan (Flickr) Related: ‘Khartoum and SPLM-N rebels about to conclude peace deal’: Mbeki (17 November 2014) Sudanese army prepares for major offensive in Nuba Mountains (17 April 2014)