Sudan refugee camp facing shortage of midwives

Only four out of the 16 midwives active at a Sudanese refugee camp in eastern Chad are still in service, the women’s head coordinator at the site says. Hawa Issa explained on Monday to Radio Dabanga the Treguine camp is “in desperate need” of more midwives. She claims to have discussed the issue with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is “in charge of the camp”, but the organization said this was a responsibility of the UNHCR.   The head coordinator is urging the UN agency to solve the problem of midwives’ shortage at the camp. Water shortage Separately, Issa reported that last year’s flood during the rainy season in July destroyed Treguine’s water station and its residents do not have access to drinking water. Red Cross used to transport water to the camp until last December, she said, “but they have stopped now”.  The agency also tried drilling five wells in Treguine, although none of them have reached water so far, according to Issa. She is appealing to the UNHCR to find a solution to the water issue and “alleviate the suffering of the refugees”.Photo: Training session for midwives, Ms. Hawa Mohmed and Ms. Hanan Ibrahim show the class the pressure that pregnancy has on the bone structure of the pelvis -El Fasher, North Darfur (Sojoud Elgarrai/ UNAMID)