• The Security Council held a meeting on 4 February and heard a briefing from the SRSG on the report submitted to the Council on the deployment, under Chapter VI of the Charter, of a multidimensional United Nations peace support operation with adequate resources, including troop strength of 10,130, comprising 750 military observers, 160 staff officers, up to 5,070 enabling units, a force protection component of 4,150 and 755 civilian police.

In his statement, the SRSG indicated that to render peace sustainable, the Government and people of the Sudan would have to choose a comprehensive approach that adresses all causes of conflict in a holistic and balanced way, avoiding new distortions.  “The peace support operation would have to follow the same pattern -– comprehensive and balanced.  It was not the task of the United Nations to carry out functions that could better be fulfilled by the Sudanese themselves”. 

• The Security Council held also a meeting yesterday on the situation in Sudan and heard statements from Sudanese First Vice-President Ali Othman Taha; John Garang, Chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement; and Security Council President, Ambassador Joël Adechi of Benin . The SRSG presented an oral briefing to the Council on the monthly report on Darfur in which he summarized the findings of the report .

He said:  “Over the past six months, performance by the Government of Sudan in complying with its commitments and obligations has been uneven.  Humanitarian access in Darfur has improved.  However, action on human rights, in particular measures to end impunity, have fallen short of what the Government agreed to, and what the Security Council has demanded. The Government has shown willingness to make progress in the political talks on Darfur .  However, fighting continues.  The ceasefire has not been kept.  Those responsible for atrocious crimes on a massive scale go unpunished.  Militias continue to attack, claiming that they are not part of any agreement.  And the Government has not stopped them”.This is a dismal picture, Pronk said, and he appealed to all parties concerned, the African Union, as well as members of the Security Council, to find a creative way to expand the present force into one which can stop all attacks.

• Following yesterday's meeting of the UNSC, the President of the Security Council issued a press statement (copies available) in which the Council:

Renews to the parties its readiness to establish under Chapter VI a full fledged peacekeeping operation in order to support the implementation of the January 9 North-South Comprehensive Peace Agreement and stresses the need for a national ownership in the implementation of the peace agreement; Expects the donors' conference, to be held in Oslo, will also help mobilize resources for reconstruction and development assistance, so as to ensure that the dividends of peace reach all the people in Sudan and to promote national reconciliation; Remains gravely concerned by the dire situation prevailing in Darfur; calls upon the parties to do their utmost to bring the conflict in Darfur to an end as quickly as possible through a sustainable political settlement, including the rapid agreement to a Declaration of Principles in the framework of the Abuja peace talks; Expresses its concern with, and condemnation of, the continuing ceasefire violations and acts of violence in Darfur, especially those reported in these last weeks; deplores the continuing attacks on civilians, the targeting of humanitarian workers and the reported attacks on African Union observers; urges the Sudanese authorities at all levels and all the rebels to fully comply with the demands set forth in its resolutions 1556, 1564 and 1574; condemns the serious crimes under international law which had been committed in Darfur, as described in the International Commission of Inquiry, and stresses its determination to tackle impunity and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice; fully endorses the constructive and crucial role the African Union is playing in Darfur, through its military protection and observer mission on the ground; encourages international donors further to support the African Union endeavours as appropriate and calls on all parties to cooperate fully with the African Union mission and to ensure its freedom of movement and safety in all areas of Darfur; encourages Vice-President Taha and Dr. Garang to use their leverage in Darfur to ensure speedy progress in the Abuja talks.

SRSG

• The SRSG is expected to be back to Khartoum on Friday 11 February. He is expected to head to N'Djamena where he will be attending the forthcoming meeting of the Ceasefire Joint Commission to be held on 15-16 February in the Chadian capital.

Security Issues :

• North Darfur : A convoy transporting family members of a renowned nomadic tribal leader was reportedly attacked southwest of Kutum on 30 Jan., apparently killing some of the leader's family members. The attack has raised tensions in the area.
  
• South Darfur : During an assessment trip to areas situated between Marla and Hijer/Um Kuniya on 1 Feb., AU monitors and a number of humanitarian agencies encountered seven villages that had been totally burnt and three others abandoned, as a result of violence in the past week. Relief agencies are in the process of determining humanitarian needs.
  
• An INGO operating in areas between Saniafandu and Yassin reports that banditry incidents in those areas have increased in the past few weeks. Local authorities have agreed to visit these areas and address the issue.
  
• West Darfur : A food distribution in Abusuruj, a location in Kulbus locality, by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) was disrupted on 2 Feb. when a group of suspected armed tribesmen started harassing some people in the community accusing them of looting livestock.
  
• In another incident on 2 Feb., an INGO distribution team was attacked by a group of armed tribesmen in Saniadadi, a location in Geneina locality. The group reportedly looted 50 bags of cereals and five bags of sugar.
  
• An international NGO reports that an unknown individual looted its guesthouse on 2 Feb. The perpetrator reportedly looted some personal items, two computers and USD 500. The INGO has reported the incident to the police.
  
• Also on 2 Feb, a Water, Sanitation and Environment (WES) truck carrying humanitarian material belonging to an INGO, was fired upon by unidentified gunmen who later looted personal belongings from the passengers. A passenger was injured as a result of the incident.
  
• An INGO vehicle was shot at in Krenik camp on 4 February. The INGO pulled out its entire staff on the day of the incident but moved back in the next day after discussions with local authorities. Initial investigations indicated that the shooting may have not been directed to the INGO vehicle but was a stray bullet shot during a chase of armed militias who had stolen some animals from the market in Krenik.

Protection Issues :

• North Darfur : A committee composed of UN, ICRC, INGO and GoS representatives conducted a preliminary assessment of a parcel of free land allocated to the 25,000 or so IDPs that had arrived in Abu Shouk over the past two months, and found the site suitable for relocating the IDPs. A water survey will be carried out by UNICEF/WES, while the North Darfur Protection Working Group will assess the security and protection aspects of the area to further confirm the appropriateness of the site.
  
• South Darfur : The South Darfur Protection Working Group based in Nyala completed a planning exercise on 1 Feb. where it identified priorities for the group, including tackling violence, particularly sexually and gender-based violence, against the civilian population. The group also identified the voluntary and appropriate relocation of some of Kalma's IDPs as one of the group's main priorities. Agencies have been working on this issue for the past two months and have identified a potential nearby site - Tabeldia Moussa. Agencies are discussing deployment of police officers to the site to guarantee the security of the site, prior to relocating the IDPs.
  
• Agencies continue to discuss the possible relocation of some of Kalma camp's IDPs to Tabaldia Moussa, a nearby site. The most recent setback in proceeding with the relocation was a letter received by an individual claiming ownership of the land. GoS authorities insist that the land is owned by the government and are planning to meet with the humanitarian community to discuss the issue on 9 February.

• A fire erupted in sector 7 of Kalma camp on 8 February, killing a 15-year old girl and a 7-year old boy. Another young child also sustained serious burn wounds as a result of the fire. The cause for the fire is unknown.
  
• Local GoS authorities have arranged a meeting with tribal leaders and a number of humanitarian agencies on 12 February to look into claims by some Arab groups that they own the land close to Kinding 2 camp in El Geneina. HAC authorities further stated that they plan to increase the police presence from six police officers to eleven in the next few days. IDPs have reported on various occasions that they felt unsafe in the camp since the police presence was reduced from 33 to six during the past few months.

Humanitarian Affairs :

Food/NFIs

• North Darfur : Preliminary results of a FAO-led North Darfur food security and livelihoods situation analysis report indicate that that due to this year's poor harvest, the population in North Darfur is likely to face dire food shortages starting in March/April lasting at least until the next harvest of July 2005.
  
• WES reports that it completed a hygiene education campaign in Kassab and Kutum targeting approximately 1,900 households. The agency is also providing water services for around 5,000 persons in both locations. WES further reports that it installed eight hand pumps in Saraf Umra, bringing to total of hand pumps in the location to 21. Oxfam has competed the installation of a submersible pump.
  
• South Darfur : Agencies report that approximately 4,500 people displaced from recent violence in the area have arrived in Gereida. ICRC plans to distribute NFIs to the new arrivals next week to be followed by food distributions. Other agencies are awaiting an improvement in the security situation in the area to resume activities.
  
• FAO reports that it is conducting a comprehensive assessment of the areas that have suffered food shortages to ensure targeted interventions. FAO's general assessment of the food situation in South Darfur indicates that 40% of the arable land was not cultivated during the planting season and that the low levels of rainfall this year have further limited the farmers harvest this year.
  
• Red Sea : Due to last week's security incident in Port Sudan , WFP reports that it expects a shortage of cereals until 15 February. The agency is considering the possibility of distributing half rations now and getting back to the locations to complete the distribution.

• Upper Nile : The lack of rain during the wet season in areas north of Malakal, such as Kosti and Renk, has had an impact on the amount of food being delivered from the North to Malakal. Accordingly, prices for food items in Malakal have risen dramatically in recent weeks. Moreover, Malakal town only has two tractors, one of which is available for agricultural purposes. The one tractor is clearly not sufficient for the upcoming planting and harvesting seasons. The local Ministry of Agriculture has requested from the national authorities 11 tractors for Upper Nile State, one for each province and three for Malakal and has yet to receive a response.

Returns

• UNHCR's Deputy High Commissioner, Wendy Chamberlin, leaves Saturday for a week-long trip to southern Sudan , Uganda and Kenya , where she will look at UNHCR's initial efforts to lay the groundwork for eventual refugee return to south Sudan . UNHCR has opened three offices in southern Sudan -- in Rumbek, Juba and Yei. The Deputy High Commissioner is undertaking the mission to get a first-hand look at UNHCR's start-up operation and to draw international attention to this drastically underfunded programme. Of the nearly $30 million UNHCR requested for the region in 2004, the agency received only about $6 million in donations. For 2005, UNHCR estimates that it needs more than $62 million to begin to create conditions to allow for refugee return. So far this year, no contributions have been received for the programme. The Deputy High Commissioner is expected to meet with authorities and UN partners in Khartoum , to visit the towns of Rumbek and Yei in southern Sudan and meet with internally displaced people in the region. She is then scheduled to visit Uganda to meet with refugees and hear from them directly about their views on repatriation. She will wrap up the trip with a visit to Sudanese refugees in Kenya 's Kakuma camp.Some 223,000 refugees from southern Sudan are in Uganda , 60,000 in Kenya , 88,000 in Ethiopia ; 69,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , an estimated 36,000 in the Central African Republic ; and 30,000 in Egypt . The conflict in the south has also displaced an estimated 4 million more people within Sudan .
  
• UNHCR signed a letter of understanding with GoS on the voluntary return of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) to and within West Darfur on 31 January 2005 . The Memorandum of Understanding signed by IOM and GoS on voluntary return in August 2004 covers North and South Darfur.

• West Darfur : A UNHCR team traveled to Arara on 1 Feb. to investigate reports of returnees in the area. Preliminary reports indicate that around 300 families have returned to the area over the past two months. However, UNHCR would release its final report with final numbers of returnees in a few days. An interagency team plans to travel to this area as soon as the road is cleared for UN travel.
  
• Upper Nile : 12 families arrived in Malakal on a commercial barge on the evening of 28 Jan. from Kosti. WFP and UNICEF provided food and NFI assistance in the presence of HAC and OCHA for these returnees who had not been registered in Kosti and arrived without food or other basic items. These returnees have no relatives in Malakal and are currently staying outside on the river bank in Malakal while waiting for the next barge to take them to Bor

Health

• North Darfur : The International Rescue Committee (IRC) in collaboration with Sudanese Red Crescent (SRC) continues to distribute NFIs, including plastic sheeting, soap and jerry cans to new arrivals in Abu Shouk. The most recent distribution commenced on 2 Feb.

• Humanitarian agencies are investigating reports provided by FAO and GoS that around 12 children may have died as a result of malnutrition in Malha, in Mellit locality, during an unspecified period. The State Ministry of Health (SMoH) and WHO weekly morbidity and mortality report does not reflect any changes in the overall heath situation in the State with malaria continuing to be the main cause of mortality (14%) followed by Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) causing 12% of the death.

• South Darfur : Agencies are concerned that a three-month effort to rehabilitate the laboratory of Nyala hospital has not yet resulted in the effective operationalization of the laboratory. Until the laboratory becomes operational, identification of epidemiological diseases such as Hepatitis E continue to be referred to Khartoum , thereby causing major delays in responding to cases.

• South Darfur : MSF-H reports that it completed a mortality survey in Kalma camp, which indicated an alarming health situation in the camp despite the presence of more than 10 humanitarian agencies assisting the IDPs. Although the final mortality survey is not yet complete, initial indications suggest an increase in mortality due to diaereah diseases due to gaps in water and sanitation interventions and delays in the distribution of NFIs. Kalma camp continues to receive large influxes of IDPs due to heavy insecurity in a number of nearby areas during the months of December and January.

• Unity : Action Contre le Faim (ACF) had to dismantle its Supplementary Feeding Centre (SFC) in Bentiu on 20 Jan. so as to avoid it being demolished by the local authorities as part of the town's re-planning process. The removal of this feeding centre is part of a broader negative trend which is of major concern to the humanitarian community. The re-planning processes in Bentiu and Rubkona could have a severe impact on those most in need of humanitarian assistance in the area. ACF's Theraputic Feeding Centre (TFC) and one of CARE's health clinics in Bentiu have also been targeted for demolition.

• A workshop for 20 HIV/AIDS Focal Points will be conducted by mid-March 2005 and be followed by a joint training of trainers course in Apr. 05. UNAMIS Policy Advisor is to offer technical guidance. This workshop follows a meeting on HIV/AIDS held on 27 January in Khartoum, hosted by UNFPA that brought together all UN agencies (UNAMIS included), GoS Ministries of Health, Defence and Interior, NGOs, clubs for People Living with HIV/AIDS, Religious Groups and other HIV/AIDS stakeholders.

• UNFPA Deputy Representative, Dr. Hassan Mohtashami, will meet in Nairobi on Friday 11 February with partner NGOs to discuss the initiation of the project on midwifery training in Southern Sudan , where UNFPA recently established a new Office in Rumbek. Dr. Mohtashami will also meet Dr. Luka Biond Deng, SPLM/A Director of the New Sudan Center of Statistical Information, to discuss some issues regarding the preparatory phase of the Census, estimated to cost US $ 27 million.

• As a result of the agreement between UNFPA and the GoS, UNFPA Resident Representative will travel to Malakal on January 14 th to discuss with the local Governor and authorities the expansion of UNFPA interventions in the area, including the provision of RH services.

• UNFPA continues its operation in Darfur on reproductive health issues. Since May, the Fund organized over 30 different types of training sessions in the 3 Darfur states, attended by over 2200 participants including medical staff, community and religious leaders, IDPs and students. Since the inception of its interventions, UNFPA has continuously provided Emergency RH kits to the 22 partnering NGOs to cover a total of 700,000 IDPs.

• An interagency facilitation team conducted two of three GBV workshops in South and north Darfur on January 15 and 17 to increase participants' knowledge of recommended standards for multisectoral prevention and response to sexual violence. The third workshop is planned for February 9 th or 10 th in Genina.

• Finally, on the occasion of the International Day of Zero Tolerance of Female Genital Mutilation observed yearly on 6 February the Finally, UNICEF has issued yesterday a press release on female genital mutilation, calling on governments to move swiftly to stop female genital mutilation and cutting (FGM/C), a harmful practice that has currently affected more than 130 million women and girls in countries that include include Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Niger, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Chad, Benin, Togo, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Yemen and Oman. A copy of the press release is available.