An interview with Handicap International's Stanislas Bonnet, East Africa programs manager, about the report "Rescuing the Peace in Southern Sudan."

Handicap International has teamed up with nine other nongovernmental organizations to launch an appeal for peace in southern Sudan. What is the aim of the appeal?

The release of the “Rescuing the Peace in Southern Sudan” report on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the ratification of the peace agreement between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement was an opportunity to draw attention to the fact that the peace agreement, which brought one of the longest and most murderous wars in Africa to an end, is on the brink of collapse. The appeal calls on the international community to play a decisive role in the peace consolidation process, which is expected to end in 2011 with a referendum. We and the NGOs who have also signed the appeal believe that peace is under threat in Sudan. The report also aims to alert people to the disastrous humanitarian situation and the need for funding in southern Sudan.

Handicap International is currently present is southern Sudan. What difficulties are NGOs experiencing?
Handicap International is present in the Bor region, providing support to victims of the conflict, particularly the injured and people with disabilities. Our team has witnessed the arrival of victims of the recent tribal conflicts at the hospital in Bor. The nature of these conflicts has changed and women and children are now at particular risk. For security reasons, we have not been able to launch our operations in one of the two planned operating areas. The delivery of supplies of equipment via land transports is highly complicated, which makes our work very tough.

The NGOs are experiencing major problems in terms of security, supplies and access to populations, and in funding their actions, because funding bodies are reluctant to invest on the ground due to the political uncertainties, whereas the population is in dire need of help.

Is it possible to talk about a deterioration in the situation?
On the ground, we are “in the front row” and we have noted, apart from an extremely difficult economic situation, a deterioration in the security situation due to a resurgence in tribal conflict, fed probably by the north/south conflict, as well as a major decline in the humanitarian situation, with alarming health and nutrition indicators for most of the population, which has already suffered enormously. All of these factors make southern Sudan one of the poorest and most unstable countries in the world today.

In the event of a new war in southern Sudan, what would be the consequences for the people you are helping?
Already in 2009, sporadic violence claimed too many victims, with 2,500 people killed and 350,000 persons displaced from their homes. If the conflict were to widen, the effect would be much greater still for the entire population. And in such a situation, people with disabilities would count among the most vulnerable since, on the one hand, people with disabilities are provided with little or no case management, and on the other, the conflict creates new disabilities among the wounded if they are poorly treated. A new deterioration in the situation could lead to a major humanitarian disaster.

Read more about Handicap International's current actions in southern Sudan.

Read the report, "Rescuing the Peace in Southern Sudan."