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March 30, 2005

Darfur 2005: Livelihoods under siege

In the Darfur region of the Sudan, the government supported janjaweed forces have killed upwards of 50,000 innocent men, women and children; the attacks on civilian life, coupled with widespread reports of systematic rape have grabbed headlines and caused the US government to put a label on the disaster: “genocide.”

There is, however, another element to the ongoing tragedy in Darfur that has not garnered similar attention. In a two-hour multimedia presentation at Tisch library, Tufts University professor Helen Young and fellow researcher Abdel Monium Osman explained that the livelihoods of tribal communities are “under siege.”

A research trip co-sponsored by the Feinstein International Famine Center at Tufts and the Ahfad University for Women in the Sudan gave Young and her six-man team a window into a number of communities affected by the conflict. Facing significant danger, the team traveled widely in Darfur and neighboring Libya over the span of two months, often spending nights outdoors in rural areas. They visited villages, interviewed hundreds of Darfurian refugees, and briefed a wide range of actors on their findings—including Sudanese government officials, USAID workers, NGOs, and tribal organizations. The ultimate goal of the trip was not “advocacy,” Young explained, but rather an academic study to help different groups “refine strategies for humanitarian intervention.” Presenting themselves as an impartial academic team gave the group unparalleled access to both sides of the conflict.

Young explained that although the documentation of human rights atrocities was not the team’s primary mission, they were there to record people’s histories—“to hear what had happened.” They found a systematic destruction of community livelihoods; looting and pillage of livestock, scorched earth, and villages razed.

Young pointed out that this “direct asset stripping” is outlawed by the Geneva convention, which states that “parties to a conflict must not engage in attacking, destroying, removing, or rendering useless objects indispensable for sustenance.” These continued attacks, Young asserted, could be strengthen the claim that a genocidal campaign is indeed being conducted in the Sudan.

In analyzing the way the conflict between rebel groups and the Sudanese government has affected the lives of Darfurians, Young and her team also looked at the phenomena of “asset erosion” and the increasing failures of “secondary livelihood strategies.” The presentation emphasized that the conflict in Darfur is not as simple as a battle between nomadic herding tribes and farmers who use the land to grow crops--as many in the media have suggested. Instead, Young and her team found that today, most Darfurians typically do both to varying degrees. The bitter conflict, however, has robbed many of both their primary and secondary livelihood strategies, leaving large populations with no alternative besides the refugee camps.

In a place where live animals are the most valuable assets, Young and the team found that the region’s instability has severely restricted critical livestock migration routes. Herders can no longer move their camel and sheep north or south in different seasons for fear of the janjaweed. The closure of the Libyan border has also severely damaged the livestock trade. Remaining families in Darfur are now literally eating the last of their assets, unable to trade them as they normally would.

After doing case studies in six areas, the group came to a number of conclusions. First and foremost was the over-arching determination that livelihoods would need to be central to any future peace deal. Young also had a number of specific recommendations for aid organizations in the region. Humanitarian groups need to demonstrate impartiality and work to extend aid to groups outside of the refugee camps. The team suggested that aid groups review their minimum standards so that they can expand the impact of the humanitarian response. Young also mentioned that NGOs need a better understanding of the political and ethnic roots of the conflict, more emergency preparedness on Darfur’s borders and a viable livelihoods strategy to help alleviate some of the suffering over the long term.

A number of Fletcher students attended the presentation; Alexandra Melby (MALD 2006) said of Young’s team: “Situations like Darfur are so complex that it's hard to figure out what realistic solutions can look like. I think the research Professor Young and her colleagues did on the state of livelihoods is essential to document how the conflict has affected the population in Darfur.” Melby added that she hopes the recommendations of the researchers will demonstrate to actors in Sudan, as well as abroad, “the necessity of working towards a solution to the conflict that will protect and revive the livelihoods of Darfur’s inhabitants.”

Article by Nat Hoopes, MALD '05

Posted by jessica at March 30, 2005 11:59 AM