Crisis and Opportunity in Darfur

By: Katherine Marshall

April 20, 2009

It's hard to find any silver linings in the dark gathering clouds in Darfur. It's the time of year that many parts of Africa call the "hungry season" or the "soudure" (a joint whose parts are welded together and thus is liable to break). The rains are about to begin, and with them comes planting season. Mud roads and tracks become impassable. Food from last harvest is gone and the new harvest is months off.

In Darfur, the hungry season threatens to bring famine. Darfur's long-running, epic humanitarian crisis drags on, a crisis that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions into camps (USAID provides regular updates of the horrendous numbers). Millions are kept alive - fed, provided with water and basic supplies, by one of the world's largest ever humanitarian efforts.

It involves thousands of workers, hundreds of organizations, working under the most difficult circumstances, not least the grudging tolerance of the host government. Their work is remarkable, and an inspiration, but all who labor in Darfur know that they are providing only palliative relief and staving off tensions that could worsen the situation.

Darfur's crisis reached new levels this month after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir, President of Sudan, for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The government reacted swiftly, evicting 13 large international organizations working in Darfur. Key organizations left in haste, valiantly trying to hand over operations like shipping food supplies and keeping water systems going.

No clear reasons were given for the orders, but the Sudanese government may suspect these groups of providing information to the ICC. The Sudanese contend that any relief should be provided by Sudanese organizations, though few have the capacity to deliver in the extraordinarily challenging circumstances of Darfur.

The humanitarian community debates fiercely whether it was wise to issue the arrest warrant for a sitting president who cannot, now, in practice, be brought to trial. It is a blessing that some organizations are still allowed to operate in Darfur, including World Vision and Samaritan's Purse. There will be plenty to analyze later about the different treatment and about what might have been done differently; Franklin Graham, founder of Samaritan's Purse, had written an op-ed piece in early March in the New York Times, Put Peace before Justice, which may explain why his group was not evicted. But at this stage, with starvation looming, there is little merit in speculation or blame. Finding ways to save the lives of millions is job number one. Diplomats and activists are hard at work at every level. President Obama discussed the topic with many of them in late March.

Amidst these darkening skies, the energetic effort by the founder of Islamic Relief (the world's largest international Muslim faith-inspired organization), Dr. Hany El Banna, now head of the Humanitarian Forum, stands out. Dr. Hany sees in the crisis a real possibility first to mobilize the Muslim world and its humanitarian organizations, and second to bring the different parts of the humanitarian community together. A workshop in Khartoum at the end of April will address the immediate humanitarian needs. The Arab League, the Organization of Islamic States, and the Islamic Development Bank are among those engaged.

The Darfur crisis may be the leading call to conscience in the world today, and its most painful aspect is its vast complexity; it defies easy solutions. It is thus encouraging that this crisis is not about religion, and, with almost all those involved Muslims, religion is not even a pretext. But Darfur tugs at the conscience of different faiths, with Christian and Jewish groups long-standing leaders of the global effort to mobilize for action on Darfur. Muslim groups have played less prominent roles in the past, though they are among the humanitarian groups at work on the ground.

The crisis offers an opportunity for strong Muslim leadership and for bold interfaith action. Let's hope that the Humanitarian Forum yields concrete results that allow help to be delivered immediately, before it is too late. And that it will open doors for urgent discussions leading to real and lasting solutions. Darfur's pain has gone on for far too long.

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