El Fasher, 25 September 2011 - Aid agencies have for too long neglected Darfur’s nomads, was the message from the North Darfur Nomads Peace and Development Network at a workshop which opened today at El Fasher University sponsored by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue of Geneva with support from the Government of Canada.

The event took place at the El Fasher University. Picture by Olivier Chassot.

The nomads complain they see only the dust of the aid agencies cars as they drive by to help others, said Denis McNamara, humanitarian advisor for the project.

North Darfur’s nomads may number one million and make up some 60 percent of the state population, said Hassan Abedlaziz, leader of the new network. He said that for years the term nomad never appeared in humanitarian agencies programmes and that now they have begun to work with nomads, but stark needs remain in terms of water, health care, education and vocational training.

At the same time, nomads are important to the social situation and the peace process in Darfur as they “deal with all communities” as part of their lifestyles. “They carry messages of peace and stability with their movements,” Hassan Abedaziz said. They care for the animal resources which sustain 50 percent of the society, he said.

While some elementary education now covers nomadic communities, young people are frustrated when their educations end early. With no water services available outside the urban areas and suffering the effects of desertification, nomads have critical water needs and are still dying from water scarcity he said.

Many of them have been displaced by conflict but have been hard for agencies to locate and assist, one aid worker said. Some live partly settled lives, living in damras, or small settlements, but these lack midwives and other basic social services, Abedaziz said. “There are no dividends for settlement. Not even five per cent of their needs are met.”

The Center for Humanitarian Dialogue held a similar workshop in Nyala in May 2011, during which UNAMID committed $100,000 in Quick Impact Projects dedicated to Nomadic communities. UNAMID will present further project proposals to the workshop tomorrow. A third workshop will be held in El Geneina later this year.

UNAMID’s nomad projects include a capacity-building program to train members of the Nomadic Forum for Peace and Social Coexistence to increase their administrative management and proposal writing skills. Another project will do awareness raising on conflict prevention and peaceful coexistence between farmers and pastoralists. A third will help the Forum establish an administrative office. And a four will raise awareness among nomadic women of the issues of early marriage and circumcision, as well as on developing income generating activities.

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