Navigation path

RSS feedRSS feed

My Blog

Additional tools

My Blog

Tag ‘Sudan’

The day of safe heaven

Monday, June 20th, 2011


Ten years ago we marked June 20th for a first time as a special day, dedicated to the millions of people pushed out of their homes by conflicts or disasters. In my travels around the world: in Haiti, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan, Yemen, Thailand, Japan, Tunisia, the occupied Palestinian territories, I have witnessed the daily struggles of men and women, children and grandparents to rebuild their lives away from home. As I write this blog I see their faces and hear their stories again. It is a good decision to have a World Refugee Day, to honour them and to lift up attention to their suffering and their aspirations. Read the full entry

Number of views: 2709

Read the full entry | No Comments | Add a new comment

Happy and relieved – the Bulgarian humanitarians who were kidnapped in Darfur are going home!

Monday, June 6th, 2011

Talking to internally displaced people in Kalma camp, South Darfur

The three Bulgarian humanitarian workers, who had been abducted in Darfur in mid-January, were released today. As the European Commissioner for humanitarian aid, but also as Bulgarian and a mother, I am happy and relieved that Branko Chorbadjiiski, Alexander Dimitrov and Veselin Manolov are now out of harm’s way and will soon be reunited with their families and friends. Read the full entry

Number of views: 3894

Read the full entry | No Comments | Add a new comment

Hope and worry on the calendar

Friday, December 10th, 2010

As the year draws to a close, a question I often get from journalists is what I expect will be the biggest challenges for 2011. Considering the nature of my work, this is not an easy question, as disasters often happen without prior warning.

Yet, an easily predictable challenge for next year is Sudan. As the referendum for independence in Southern Sudan nears, so is the expectation that it will mark the first big task the world will face in 2011.

This referendum is a momentous event in the history of Africa, and we all hope it will offer a peaceful, democratic and long-term solution to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Read the full entry

Number of views: 3789

Read the full entry | 1 Comment | Add a new comment

The 1000 day battle against child malnutrition

Friday, September 24th, 2010

Science tells us that the first 1000 days of a baby’s life are critical for its future. Good nutrition during these early days makes a huge difference to a child’s mental and physical health. In my part of the world access to food and health care is a birthright, but for millions of children born in poor countries it is not. This is what the 1000 days partnership to reduce child under-nutrition aims to change.

Joining this partnership was the most important goal of my trip to New York during the United Nations General Assembly. On September 21, a high level event “1000 Days: Change a Life, Change the Future – Partnering to Reduce Child Under-nutrition” co-hosted by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and the Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Micheál Martins, brought together more than a hundred leaders from governments, the private sector and non-governmental organizations. Read the full entry

Number of views: 2554

Read the full entry | 1 Comment | Add a new comment

Drought

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

ECHO Darfur KalmaWith desertification spreading fast because of climate change, drought is affecting millions of people.  This is particularly painful for Africa – because the continent has contributed least to climate change, but suffers from it the most. It is shocking, but true: droughts in Africa account for 95% of the death toll caused by natural disasters.

I was recently in Niger, one of the poorest and driest countries in the world, situated in the region of Sahel, a large stretch of mainly arid and semi-arid land. The population there has always been vulnerable to droughts, but not to the degree we witness today. Although average rainfall levels have remained steady, the arrival of rains has become less predictable, and they often come in very short and heavy bouts, which wash away seeds and destroy crops.  Read the full entry

Number of views: 2049

Read the full entry | 1 Comment | Add a new comment

First rains on Darfur

Friday, June 11th, 2010

Talking to internally displaced people in Kalma camp, South DarfurI arrive in Nyala after a day in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital and most prosperous city. The contrast is so dramatic that it is hard to believe we are still in the same country.  Khartoum, the city where the Blue and White Nile meet, is booming — oil revenues fuel construction everywhere.  It is a capital of a middle income country and only the occasional donkey on the busy streets reminds of Sudan’s rural soul.  

Nyala, in the South of Darfur, has none of Khartoum’s glamour.  It is visibly poor, with mostly unpaved streets, lots of mud houses and frequent electric power failures.  But Nyala is well off compared to the camps, hosting millions of internally displaced and refugees across Darfur. Power cuts  don’t exist there for a simple reason – there is no power to cut. Read the full entry

Number of views: 1476

Read the full entry | 1 Comment | Add a new comment