From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

Benchmark 10 Establish the Conditions and Provide the Means for IDPs to Secure Durable Solutions
The Watan scheme is a creative approach aiming to
provide immediate relief to millions of affected individuals—a
task which would surely pose a challenge for
any government—but there are some areas for improvement.
UNHCR’s evaluation of the Watan program in the
floods response points to some serious protection issues
that have arisen, including that not all flood-affected
villages were included and “the process for identifying
flood affected villages was not systematic or transparent,”
but also that there was inequitable access to registration
and assistance, particularly for women, children
and female-headed households, and unaccompanied/
separated minors and child-headed households were
excluded from the WATAN scheme. In addition, not
all registered families could access ATMs to retrieve
the money, particularly in rural areas, and there were
technical issues with the cards and insufficient funds in
some participating banks. 104
Sudan has topped the list of countries with the most
IDPs since statistics on IDPs have been collected. Its two
largest displacement situations are in Southern Sudan
and Darfur. While a peace agreement has been in place
in Southern Sudan since 2005, making it possible to
work to find solutions to displacement, the conflict in
Darfur is ongoing, notwithstanding several attempts to
secure a comprehensive peace agreement with all of the
parties to the conflict. In addition, significant displacements
have occurred in other areas, including Abyei and
South Kordofan. The progress made toward durable solutions
varies across these different situations, although
a common theme is that in all cases, considerable work
remains to be done.
Finding durable solutions to displacement in South
Sudan is especially challenging given the scale of displacement
that occurred during the conflict between
1983 and 2005: 4 million IDPs and 500,000 refugees
104 See UNHCR/Protection Working Group, The WATAN
Scheme for Flood Relief: Protection Highlights 2010 ‐ 2011,
May 2011 (http://floods2010.pakresponse.info/LinkClick.
aspx?fileticket=_SpKC9jJClY%3D&tabid=206&m
id=1604).
147
(making Sudan the country with the largest IDP situation,
even before Darfur). The conflict officially was
brought to an end with the signing of the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement in 2005. In accordance with the terms
of the agreement, Southern Sudan held a referendum
on independence in January 2011, which led to the independence
of the country in July 2011. Over 320,000
Southern Sudanese returned from Sudan between
October 2010 and early August 2011 according to the
International Organization for Migration, which tracks
returns. 105 In the years between the peace agreement
and the independence of what is now the Republic of
South Sudan, the government of the Republic of Sudan
and the government of Southern Sudan largely failed to
establish conditions enabling IDPs to secure a durable
solution to displacement; nevertheless, both governments
pushed for return. However, insecurity, lack of
employment and economic development, lack of basic
services and lack of access to land have impeded durable
returns in South Sudan and adjacent areas. 106 The UN
105 See OCHA, Sudan: Weekly Humanitarian Bulletin, 29 July
– 4 August 2011 (http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/
files/resources/Full_Report_2039.pdf).
106 See for example: IDMC, Sudan: Durable Solutions
Elusive As Southern IDPs Return and Darfur Remains
Tense—A Profile of the Internal Displacement Situation
(www.internal-displacement.org); Kenneth H. Bacon,
“Helping to Rebuild South Sudan,” Testimony before the
United States Commission on International Religious
Freedom, 24 September 2008 (www.refintl.org/policy/
testimony); UN Commission on Human Rights, Report of
the Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human
Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, Walter Kälin—
Addendum: Mission to the Sudan (3–13 October 2005), E/
CN.4/2006/71/Add.6 (13 February 2006) (ww.brookings.
edu/projects/idp/rsg_info.aspx ); Sara Pantuliano and
others, The Long Road Home: Opportunities and Obstacles
to the Reintegration of IDPs and Refugees Returning to
Southern Sudan and the Three Areas, Synthesis Paper,
Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development
Institute, September 2008 (www.odi.org.uk); See also
Joel Charny, “Africa’s Forgotten Refugees and Returnees,”
Statement to the Subcommittee on Africa and Global
Health, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Refugees
International, 20 June 2007 (www.refugeesinternational.
org).