When Good Intentions Backfire

A displaced Sudanese woman carries her sons in the Otach Displaced Persons camp in the city of Nyala in Sudan's strife-torn Darfur region

Article: UN Humanitarian Agency Says Darfur Violence Hampering Relief Efforts

Taken from: http://voanews.com/english/2007-05-06-voa10.cfm


By Angeline Chua, Political Expert


An Overview

The signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement between the Sudan government and the one rebel group in Darfur was meant to bring peace but has shockingly led to more chaos and violence in the region.

The conflict in Darfur stems right back to 2003, where rebel groups in Darfur rose against the formerly strong Islamic regime, claiming that Darfur was neglected and undeveloped.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs states that humanitarian efforts in Darfur “has been jeopardized by the very agreement meant to bring peace”. Merely weeks after the signing of the agreement with only one rebel faction while the other rebel groups claimed that the agreement failed to meet their power sharing requests and their monetary demands, full-scale fighting broke out in Darfur between the rebel groups. The fighting and violence caused tens of thousands in Darfur to meet with homelessness. Relief efforts have also faced a “progressive deteoriation”, as Antoine Gerard, manager of the Darfur section at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs puts it. This is due to increased attacks on relief workers in Darfur by the rebels, who are unable to be identified and to be held guilty for such attacks thereafter.

Sadly enough, relief workers in places that were formally controlled by the rebels have been raped and beaten. Even in government-controlled places in the country, “Sudanese police have beaten and sexually assaulted relief workers and international humanitarian staff.”

Analysis

When good intentions backfire - such as that which motivated the United Nations humanitarian efforts in Darfur - they still deserve to be applauded. Despite the shocking response of the rebels to the peace agreement, the international community who has tirelessly worked for the realization of the Darfur Peace Agreement deserves commendation for its effort in the past years.

Globalization has enabled other parts of the world to provide aid to a region in distress, just so that its victims need not face desperation when the leaders in their own country have failed them in terms of ridding the country of violence and chaos. Due to international relief efforts provided to the area, these people are able to climb out of their abyss of desperation to meet with the possibility of a peaceful future. Such issues may seem almost impossible to deal with and may even threaten to know no end, such as the conflict started by the rebel groups in Darfur which has lasted for nearly four years.

In times such as this, when any hint of progress is thwarted by an unexpected twist of events that would see all efforts in the past years go down the drain, the victims, an established organization such as the United Nations, together with humanitarian workers who have put aside self to dedicate years to helping the victims may begin to find themselves losing hope at the prospect of seeing the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.

However, in times such as this, instead of eagerly pointing out the loopholes in the peace agreement, criticizing how it failed to take into consideration the mindsets of the various rebel groups, the world should gear up instead on its encouragement towards the people involved just so that they are able to grit their teeth and press on.

It is of course important to find out any inadequacies in the peace agreement or raise suggestions as to how the UN can get the rebels to sign the agreement, but it is even of greater importance that we do not fall into the trap of criticizing without empathy.

Many would see this peace agreement as a failure, but I see it as an international effort to help up to 2.5 million others that would ultimately succeed.