News of the humanitarian crisis and inter-tribal violence in Sudan contains dire warnings for the country's future, writes Asmaa El-Husseini Pagan Amum, secretary-general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), has a story. He once went to a restaurant in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia with friends from north and south Sudan. The owner of the restaurant was puzzled to see presumed enemies walking into his establishment together and acting like a group of old friends. "Listen here," he said. "Are you northerners or southerners, Muslims or Christians, from the southern liberation movement or from the northern parties?" "We're just hungry!" Amum and his companions shouted at the restaurateur, as if with one voice. Their answer sums up the condition of the great majority of Sudanese, both northerners and southerners. As prices go up, ordinary Sudanese are having an increasingly hard time making ends meet, with economic hardship across the country having reached near-famine levels and politicians not doing enough to remedy it. As if underlining the problem, the Higher Population Council (HPC), part of the Sudanese government, recently warned that more than half the population of the country now lives under the poverty line, admitting in a report that Sudan's realisation of the UN Millennium Development Goals may be far from being achieved by the deadline of 2015. The country's oil production has fallen short of budgetary requirements this year, and, with falling government revenues, health and education services have deteriorated. Liz Grand, UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, agrees with the HPC's assessment, describing the present humanitarian situation in the country as like a "human hurricane". With nearly 40 per cent of southerners already living in perilous conditions, Grand adds that tribal violence in the country has now risen to a level that is quite out of hand. Yet, despite repeated pleas for humanitarian aid, funding for Sudan has not been forthcoming from the international community. Meanwhile, leaders from both the north and south have largely ignored the humanitarian crisis, preferring to trade accusations instead. According to Grand, 90 per cent of the population in the south lives on less than $1 a day. One in seven pregnant women dies giving birth, and the southern Sudan has only 10 properly qualified midwives. Illiteracy is another problem plaguing the country. At present, only 10 per cent of southern Sudanese women can read and write, and only a third of girls attend school. Grand calculates that the south of the country has only one teacher for every 1,000 students. Health conditions in the south are worsening, with polio, thought to have been eradicated, making a comeback. Vaccination rates among children in the south of the country are among the lowest worldwide, while the food crisis is complicated by the lack of security in the country, the displacement of the population, inadequate rainfall and depressed trade. As food prices continue to rise, nearly 1.2 million people are now in need of urgent help, with the country as a whole expected to suffer from food shortages until at least mid- October. These grim statistics come against a background of inadequate international assistance. In 2009, humanitarian organisations working in Sudan estimated needs of $419 million. Promised $115 million in aid, this figure was later cut down to $85 million, with actual donations totalling merely $60 million. Particularly worrying for humanitarian officials is the escalation of violence in the country, particularly the tendency to target civilians, especially women and children. According to Grand, nearly 2,000 people have been killed since January this year in inter-tribal violence, with clashes driving more than 250,000 people from their homes in the south of the country. Some 22,000 tonnes of food are now needed to meet the shortages in the south, she says, with more than half this quantity needed in Jonglei, one of the states worst hit by tribal violence. Since the beginning of this month, fighting has been going on throughout the south, with the intensity of the current clashes suggesting that the problem surpasses the usual turf frictions over water and pasture rights. Tribal fighting has recently become particularly brutal, with more than 1,000 people killed in one recent raid. Such skirmishes are not new in this part of Sudan, with many tribes fighting over land and cattle. However, the slaughter of women, children and the old, as has happened in recent fighting, is something new. For its part, the SPLM has accused the north of instigating the attacks in order to depict the south as a chaotic region that cannot govern itself. Northern leaders have denied such charges, saying that they are excuses made by officials who have failed to bring law and order to the region. Part of the reason behind the increasing violence is the proliferation of firearms in the south, with harsh living conditions also helping to explain the rising violence. As the economy has deteriorated, many young men have lost their jobs, and some may have been tempted to join militia groups. In addition, the so-called Lord's Resistance Army, a Ugandan militia of 25,000 men operating in southern Sudan, may have been responsible for some of the recent atrocities. Its very presence in the south, some say, fuels the disturbances. However, with ongoing tribal rivalries impeding the need for coexistence, the disarmament of tribal militias is now more necessary than ever. The strife in Sudan will not end unless present talks lead to genuine reconciliation.
