In Labado, East Darfur, repeated outbreaks of violence have destroyed most of the area’s already aging infrastructure, forcing thousands to approach UNAMID’s team site for relief and medical aid.

By Albert González Farran

As a peacekeeping mission, UNAMID’s core mandate is to protect civilians, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance and support the peace process in Darfur. However, during its six years of operation, there have been many times when the Mission has been the only actor on the ground capable of providing life-saving support to Darfuris affected by the ongoing conflict. This is the scenario that played out recently in Labado, East Darfur.

An outbreak of fighting between Government troops and an armed movement in April 2013 decimated the Labado area: the main market, the locality’s schools and the single healthcare facility were looted and destroyed, in the process displacing approximately 29,000 people from Labado and its surrounding villages to different camps across South, East and North Darfur. A few thousand sought refuge in the vicinity of UNAMID’s team site in the area.

Prompt and efficient healthcare is typically one of the most urgent needs of people displaced from their homes. At the time of the Labado displacements, the UNAMID clinic was the only functional medical centre in the area. Recognizing the need, the Mission’s team site medics began to address the situation. Since the Labado violence first broke out in April 2013, the Mission’s clinic has been treating some 200 patients, mostly women and children, each week.

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UNAMID peacekeepers register displaced women from Labado before they are treated by the Mission’s medical personnel. The most common sicknesses reported by the UNAMID medical staff include malaria, typhoid, malnutrition, flu, wounds and eye infections.