UNHCR, Sudan
Skit being performed at a UNHCR Information Day, Khartoum, Sudan |
UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) has a huge operation in Sudan covering a wide variety of contexts and human rights problems. People displaced by Sudan's long civil war are returning to South Sudan from many places within and outside the country; however, after years of neglect and destruction, South Sudan still has very little infrastructure, and a brand-new government composed mostly of former rebel leaders. In the East, several hundred thousand refugees from Ethiopia and Eritrea are living in poorly resourced camps. Some have been there for decades, while new refugees are still arriving. More refugees are living here in Khartoum, as well as up to two million Southerners displaced from the war. And finally there is Darfur, where of course conflict still rages.
Working at UNHCR has given me exposure to some of the obstacles faced by humanitarian workers trying to protect human rights in very challenging conditions. It can be frustrating work; at times slow and painstaking, at other times fast-paced and hectic.
Most of my work has been focused on Khartoum. For the first two weeks I assisted with a conference on "livelihood and protection issues among Khartoum IDPs." To decode from UN-speak, this is basically about how extreme poverty is leading to a variety of human rights concerns among the people displaced from war living in the slums around the city.
The rest of the time I've been working on the issue of refugee or internally displaced children without their normal caregiver. Children may become separated from their families in the course of displacement, or may flee on their own to escape particular abuses such as recruitment into armed forces. Even in a major city like Khartoum, free from the war and chaos that have occurred in other regions, it can be a major challenge to respond adequately to such "separated children." There is no well-established government child welfare system, and the traditional child protection mechanisms that refugee and displaced communities would have used back home are often seriously disrupted and may no longer be functioning.
All in all it has been challenging, though rewarding. The opportunity to focus on a specific project has allowed me to really dig in and get into things, which can be daunting in a big UN organization like UNHCR. It has also been interesting to make comparisons and connections with my experiences working with immigrants and refugees back in Toronto at DLS and through the Immigration Legal Committee (IHRP Migrant Rights working group). My experience last summer working on Aboriginal child welfare through the Callwood fellowship provided invaluable preparation as well. I hope to continue exploring these intersections between social services and legal status in coursework when I return.
