Dr Habaib Makhtoum, President of the Sudanese Red Crescent, is currently taking part in the General Assembly of the International Federation in Geneva. (p16767)
Sudan has been affected by a series of humanitarian crises which have made the headlines for months. Many organizations are working in Sudan but no one has human resources capacities comparable to those of the Sudanese Red Crescent which relies on a network of up to 400,000 volunteers. Dr Habaib Makhtoum, President of the Sudanese Red Crescent, is currently taking part in the General Assembly of the International Federation in Geneva. Jean-Luc Martinage asked him about the main challenges faced by his National Society.
Question: The Sudanese Red Crescent is currently responding to a series of disasters, both natural disasters and related to conflicts. What are your urgent priorities at this time?
Our first priority is to meet the needs of the thousands of people displaced or affected by conflicts, especially in Darfur but also in other areas such as southern Sudan and eastern Sudan. We especially help displaced people return home and start a new life, since many of them lost everything. But Sudan is not only affected by conflicts. We are also regularly hit by natural disasters which often lead to the spread of epidemics. This is our second priority. To answer to all these different needs is a real challenge for us.
Question: Sudan was one of the countries in Africa badly hit by the floods during the summer. What is the situation now?
Things are slowly getting back to normal in the affected areas but the situation was very serious. More than 600,000 people were affected in 16 states. Thousands of houses were destroyed. Crops and livestock were also swept away. As soon as the water level rose, our volunteers went into action to minimize the consequences for the local communities, distributing tents, blankets food, medecines, mosquito nets and water purification tablets, among other items. Mobile emergency relief units were also deployed, bringing highly needed support to local communities. We launched an international appeal with the International Federation for 5.5 million Swiss francs. Our priority is now to help communities which lost everything to restore their livelihoods.
Question: With so many disasters to respond to, how do you plan to strengthen your capacities?
The Sudanese Red Crescent has already trained thousands of volunteers. But some of them don’t stay with us and move to work with other organizations. We would like to find incentives to keep them with us longer. Also, we would like to train people differently. The idea is to hire advisors and organize short courses on specific issues such as vaccination, malaria, hygiene, emergencies, camp management and rehabilitation, instead of long general training sessions. HIV is also a concern. In Sudan, we not only have orphans from conflicts but also because their parents died of AIDS. We want to do our best to take care of these children while they are kept in their communities together with their relatives.
Question: Is your network of volunteers one of your biggest asset?
Clearly we are the only organization in Sudan which relies on a network of 400,000 trained volunteers working in every single part of the country. We work every day to be more efficient in each of the fields we cover. One of the best illustrations of the increased awareness of our capacities among the humanitarian community is the fact that more and more organizations knock on our door to develop partnerships or joint projects. We are very much ready to give positive answers to these requests as we believe in the power of partnership.