Causecast

by SARAH NELSON, Contributing Writer

War and political instability destroy the infrastructure of a nation, leaving the most vulnerable citizens to suffer the collateral damage. This week, reports were released that reveal 77 orphans died in Sudan’s main orphanage in Mygomo during the month of September. This shockingly high death rate has lead UNICEF to launch an investigation. On average, the orphanage has about a 12-15 percent mortality rate among children, although the figures from the month of September exceed 25 percent.

The aftermath of 20 years of civil war in Sudan has stripped the country of a sufficient health care system, leading to an increase in maternal and infant mortality. Proper prenatal care is simply unavailable for expectant mothers, creating an increase in premature births or birth complications that result in the death of the mother, child or both. In addition to maternal mortality issues, abandonment has contributed to an alarming rate of orphaned children in the country. The odds are stacked against children who do survive birth in war-torn Sudan, with an average of 305,000 children under the age of five dying each year of preventable causes – a third of them dying within the first 28 days of life.

UNICEF reports show that 26,000 women die annually in Sudan of complications while giving birth. To put that in perspective, Sudan has a population of over 40 million, while all of Latin America and the Caribbean have a collective population of 550 million, and average about 10,000 maternal deaths each year. Sudan’s mortality issue is off the charts.

The situation in Sudan has improved dramatically since the end of the violent conflict in 2005. A decade ago, child mortality soared past seventy-five percent, however U.N. officials still call the current situation horrifying and urgent. Even with the conflict stabilizing in the last few years, peace is still a distant prospect in Sudan. Newly appointed U.N. representative to Sudan, Nils Kastberg, reports seeing nearly 20 tanks rolling through Mygomo for every one ambulance. With a new goal of seeing ambulances outnumber tanks, in turn trading hopes of stability for violence, Katsberg remarks that, “Sudan, more than ever, needs peace.”

The tragedy in Sudan has been called the greatest humanitarian catastrophe of our time, with decades of war resulting in widespread poverty and displacement, largely neglected by the West until recently. We can help end the crisis in one of Africa’s most war torn nations. There are hundreds of humanitarian organizations working to bring peace and sustainability to a country that has known nothing but war for two decades.

• Southern Sudan Humanitarian provides medical supplies, food, and clean water with the help of local volunteers. SSH also builds schools and hires teachers to provide the opportunity for education in a country that has a70 percent illiteracy rate.

• UNICEF is a branch of the United Nations committed to providing aid, including food and medicine, to millions of children around the world.

• CARE provides primary health services to curb mortality rates and teaches life-saving sanitation techniques to health care providers.

• Action Against Hunger provides training for health care professionals, medical supplies, water sanitation, agricultural training and emergency relief to eradicate malnutrition and other results of extreme poverty.

Photo by CG2_SoulArtist, flickr.