From Responsibility to Response: Assessing National - Brookings

Benchmark 12 Cooperation with International and Regional Organizations
Darfur. 28 Immediately after the warrant was issued, the
Sudanese government revoked the operating licenses
of thirteen INGOs and disbanded three national NGOs
in Darfur, 29 accusing them of spying for the court and
passing on information about crimes committed in
Darfur. 30 Some 40 percent of the total aid workers in
northern Sudan—which had managed over half of the
total humanitarian aid delivered to northern Sudan,
including the eastern states and the Three Areas—were
directly affected by the expulsions. 31 The expulsion
threatened to severely obstruct the delivery of health
services to 1.5 million people, water and sanitation to
1.16 million and food aid to 1.1 million people—many
of them IDPs. In June 2009, three of the expelled
NGOs—CARE, Mercy Corps, Save the Children
and the expelled development firm, Planning and
Development Collaborative International (PADCO)
resumed operations in Darfur by registering under
different names and logos. The announcement by UN
Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs
and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes that
the NGOs had been allowed to “return” to Darfur
sparked a sharply negative response from the Sudanese
government, which asserted that Sudan was hosting
new NGOs with new names and logos, not allowing
the expelled organizations to return. 32 Since then there
28 “Darfur One Year after NGOs Expelled,” Radio Netherlands
Worldwide, 4 March 2010 (www.rnw.nl/internationaljustice/article/darfur-one
-year-after-ngos-expelled).
29 UN Security Council, Report of the Secretary-General on
the Sudan, S/2009/211, 17 April 2009, para. 50.
30 “Sudan Expels NGOs, Defies Hague Court,” Mail and
Guardian, 5 March 2009 (www.mg.co.za/article/2009-03-
05-sudan-expels-ngos-defies-hague-court); “Darfur One
Year after NGOs Expelled,” Radio Netherlands Worldwide.
31 Humanitarian Policy Group, ALNAP, “Where to Now?
Agency Expulsions in Sudan: Consequences and
Next Steps,” 26 March 2009 (www.odi.org.uk); IRIN,
“Sudan: Expulsions Leave Gaps in Three Areas, Eastern
Region,” 31 March 2009 (www.irinnews.org/Report.
aspx?ReportId=83708).
32 BBC, “Sudan ‘Allows Aid Agencies Back,’” 12 June
2009 (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8096214.stm);
Michael Kleinman, “Tough Choices for Agencies Expelled
from Darfur,” Humanitarian Practice Network, Overseas
Development Initiative, 6 May 2009 (www.odihpn.org/
173
have been spikes in attacks on humanitarian workers
in Darfur. Darfur has been a dangerous operating environment
not only for humanitarian actors, but also
for other UN personnel. As of June 2011, ninety UN–
African Union Mission in Darfur personnel had been
killed since the mission began in 2008. 33
While historically the government of Yemen has blocked
access to displaced populations and impeded the work of
humanitarian organizations during the conflict, following
the February 2010 cease-fire agreement for the north
of the country, it began to permit international agencies
more access to facilitate the delivery of aid, albeit with
limitations. The government reportedly was worried
that aid would fall into rebel hands. 34 Aid agencies granted
access to conflict-affected regions have faced significant
insecurity, which has consistently undermined
and at times required them to suspend their activities. 35
Renewed armed conflict in late 2010 rendered humanitarian
access very challenging, with UN reporting severe
access restrictions in the governorates of Sa’ada and Al
Jawf in the north, particularly for international staff. 36
Ongoing hostilities and access restrictions, in addition
to attacks on international NGO personnel and assets,
were also reported in 2011 in the northern governorates
report.asp?id=2998); VOA News, “Sudan Denies Some
Expelled NGOs Returning,” 11 June 2009 (www1.voanews.
com/english/news/a-13-2009-06-11-voa52-68802962.
html); ENews, “Sudan Denies Expelled Aid Groups
Allowed to Return,” 14 June 2009 (www.enews.ma/sudandenies_i133254_1.html).
33 UN African Union Mission in Darfur, “UNAMID Facts
and Figures” (www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/
unamid/facts.shtml).
34 Human Rights Watch, “All Quiet on the Northern Front?”
March 2010, p. 51 (www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/04/07/
all-quiet-northern-front-0).
35 IDMC, Yemen: Constrained Response to Protection Needs
of IDPs and Returnees, July 2009, p. 113 (www.internaldisplacement.org).
36 See, for example, OCHA, Yemen: 2011 Humanitarian
Response Plan (http://reliefweb.int).