World Emergency Relief Brings Urgent Aid to Sudan's Forgotten Communities

World emergency Relief has brought urgently needed humanitarian aid to thousands of people living in remote communities in southern Sudan where they face a daily struggle of extreme poverty with little or no support from international aid agencies.

WER donated essential medical supplies and equipment to communities in the Ikotos region of southern Sudan where it is working in partnership with local development agencies Africa Inland Church (AIC) and All Nations Christian Care (ANCC).

The charity has also teamed up with Scottish charity Glasgow the Caring City to bring the much-needed aid.

Ikotos district has little infrastructure including a sorely inadequate access to healthcare facilities. There is just one health clinic in the district, staffed by a medical assistant and six nursing assistants and serving a population of more than 184,000 people.

For those in need of medical assistance, chances of survival are further reduced by the lack of transport in the area. Medical facilities with surgical capacity are often hours or days away. From Ikotos itself it is a four-day walk to reach the nearest electricity or telephone.

Alex Haxton, WER UK Director of Operations, and Jeremy Horner, WER UK Programme Manager, last week travelled to Ikotos district to evaluate WER's work in the region, and to discuss future partnerships in long-term development work within the region with the ANCC and AIC.

According to Haxton, there are virtually no international NGOs operating in the region - the two main international agencies present in the area are in the process of withdrawing their operations, leaving behind the all too familiar legacy of incomplete programmes and unfinished buildings.

"The people of southern Sudan appear to have been forgotten by international aid agencies because of other severe problems in the Darfur region of Sudan. But WER's policy is to go into areas where there are communities which have been forgotten or are ignored," said Haxton.

"The Sudanese war and the problems caused by the LRA have prevented local people from working in order to sustain themselves, but the people we met in Ikotos show a great determination to rebuild their lives.

"WER is privileged to be working with ANCC and AIC to not only bring relief to these communities, but to work in partnership with them to build for the future," he said.

Four additional communities within the region were able to receive general humanitarian supplies last week when WER assisted AIC in its distribution of the goods.

WER has been providing support to people in southern Sudan since 2004 and is the only international aid agency to have actively responded to the needs of local communities during a major cholera outbreak in Ikotos district earlier this year.

A total of two tons of emergency medical supplies were provided by WER to Ikotos health clinic in response to the epidemic. With funds raised through an emergency appeal, WER is working with ANCC and AIC to develop long-term relief efforts, including the building and stocking of a new treatment centre, plus improvements to the water, medical and sewage infrastructure to help prevent future outbreaks.

WER and ANCC are also working together to address the urgent need for improved access to safe water sources throughout Ikotos district. This will include the provision of a mobile drilling rig, at a cost of approximately £50,000, for the establishment of water boreholes in the region. Drilling is due to commence early 2007.

To make a donation to support WER's work in southern Sudan, or for further information, please call WER on 0870 429 2129 or visit www.wer-uk.org