ICRC News Release KHA 2000184 ICRC Regional Director for Africa visits Sudan

12:09 PM February, 21 2020

Sudanese Online
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On the 20th February, Ms Patricia Danzi, Regional Director for Africa for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) concluded a four-day visit to Sudan. Whilst in Khartoum Ms Danzi met with His Excellency Prime Minister Dr. Abdalla Hamdok, the Minister of Justice, the State Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Director of the General Intelligence Services.
Expressing her appreciation for the encouragement shown by all those present to strengthen the ICRC’s operations in Sudan and to optimize the substantial work done by the ICRC over the years, Ms Danzi remarked:
“I am encouraged by the fact that in addition to our long-standing presence in Darfur, we have been granted permission to open offices in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, where we have been implementing projects on an ad-hoc basis until now. The ICRC is also fully committed to supporting the government’s efforts for the implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL) at the national level and its dissemination and teaching within academic institutions and civil society.”
During her meetings, Ms Danzi also discussed the ICRC’s expertise and long experience visiting places of detention worldwide to monitor conditions and the treatment of detainees, and the confidential discussions that ICRC delegates hold with prison authorities afterwards. She recalled the many times that the ICRC has facilitated the release of detainees in Sudan at the request of the different parties. “I renewed our long-standing offer of service to Prime Minister Hamdok when we met,” said Ms Danzi. During a field visit to ICRC’s assistance projects in Golo, the ICRC’s Regional Director met with women beneficiaries who shared the challenges they face to access their fields, to find and fetch water and to have adequate health care for their children. “The needs of all the different communities in conflict- affected areas of Darfur are huge,” acknowledged Ms Danzi. “The ICRC has been present in Darfur for over 15 years, bringing assistance to the most vulnerable communities and to the displaced, especially in remote areas where there are few humanitarian agencies present but where there is widespread suffering.”
The ICRC has been present in Sudan since 1978, providing assistance to people affected by conflict and promoting the teaching of IHL. During 2019, either independently or in cooperation with the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS), the ICRC assisted 23,000 families with seeds, tools and food, vaccinated 325,800 pastoralists’ livestock against disease, provided emergency medical supplies and equipment to hospitals and health facilities in Darfur and the Two Areas, helped improve access to clean water for more than 444,000 people, together with local water authorities, supported the National Authority for Prosthetics and Orthotics for the treatment and rehabilitation of people with disabilities and facilitated the exchange of over 600 Red Cross messages and more than 10,000 phone calls between separated families.
For further information, please contact: Jessica Barry, ICRC Khartoum, +249912150735
Adil Sharif +249912161493 (Arabic)
or visit our website: www.icrc.org
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