Sudan government halts work of 50% NGOs in W. Darfur capital

As of 1 January 2013, the government of Sudan halted the work of 50 percent of the NGOs working in El-Geneina camps, West Darfur’s capital, several sources told Radio Dabanga on Wednesday. Five out of the 10 foreign organizations were informed by the government in mid-2012 that they could no longer exercise their activities at the camps by the end of last year, sheikhs from 10 different sites affirmed. They emphasized the organizations were not expelled from Sudan. Instead, they continued, organizations were ordered to stay in El-Geneina, hand over their resources to camps’ residents and focus their programs on voluntary return villages. The Swiss Human Being’s Earth, the French Triangle, the International Medical Corporation and the Canadian War Child are the organizations ordered to alter their programs. While working at displaced camps, these NGOs offered services such as health, education, medicine, distribution of non-food items, kindergartens, water services and livelihood programs. File photo: Derk Segaar/IRIN