UN official promises to deliver Darfur displaced memo to Ban Ki-moon

As part of her four-day official visit to Sudan the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator visited the Zamzam camp in North Darfur on Wednesday. Camp’s leaders handed Baroness Valerie Amos a memorandum, which she promised to deliver to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and others in the international community.One of the camp representatives told Radio Dabanga that the memorandum demands protection for displaced people from attacks by the pro-government militia, to disarm the militia and to intensify the role of the UN in the protection of displaced persons. The memo also demanded that Unamid play a less limited role in its mission to protect the displaced “instead of only writing reports as it is the case now”.The source was pleased at Baroness Amos’s “promise” to deliver the memorandum to the UN Secretary General and the international community. “We write memos like this all the time, but never get any response. Unamid must actually intervene to protect the displaced from the continuous attacks on them as well as to assist in bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice,” a Zamzam camp leader said.The memorandum also demands that relief and humanitarian organisations be allowed to return to Darfur to provide support for the displaced; their expulsion has had a markedly detrimental impact on the displaced, they said.It cited the “massive reduction of monthly food rations” by the World Food Program and also pointed out the continued influx of displaced people to the camps. This is exacerbating the crisis as there is a lack of basic services a shortage of food. The onset of autumn also highlights the scarcity of shelter material such as tarpaulins in the camps.At the meeting with Baroness Amos, the head of the camp’s Women’s Union presented demands on behalf of the women at the camp. She described the danger of attack and rape by the militia whenever they leave the camp.The source told Radio Dabanga that Baroness Amos also visited other parts of the camp, including the newly displaced who have fled the conflict areas Muhajeriya, Labado and East Jebel Marra. She listened to them and took note of the water shortage caused by broken pumps.Baroness arrived in Sudan on Monday and spent Wednesday visiting Darfur, where she met with Dr Tijani Sese, Chairman of the Darfur Regional Authority, Osman Kibir, Governor of North Darfur, and Mohamed Ibn Chambas, head of Unamid, in North Darfur capital El Fasher.Photo (by Albert Gonzalez Farran/Unamid): Valerie Amos meets local leaders in a community center in Zamzam camp. During their meeting, Amos and the community leaders discussed the arrival of new  displaced persons from hot pots like Labado and Muhajeriya (East Darfur) and Al Sareif (North Darfur).  Related: Amos Sudan visit to include Darfur after meetings in Khartoum (21 May 2013)See below more photos of the visit of Valerie Amos to North Darfur: Valerie Amos meets Mohamed Ibn Chambas at the UNAMID headquarters in El FasherValerie Amos meets Dr Tijani Sese in the DRA headquartersValerie Amos interacts with a woman at Zamzam camp