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Nairobi
— A panel of African civil society leaders, including Bishop Andudu
Adam Elnail, were joined today by the
former UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, Dr. Mukesh Kapila, in
urging African political leaders to use the upcoming African Union (AU)
Summit in Addis Ababa to end the humanitarian suffering in Sudan's
Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
The
panel identified the January 25 Heads of State meeting on Sudan as a
key test of the AU's "credibility" and urged
African leaders to recognise the importance of addressing the conflict
in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile for wider regional security.
Having just returned from a visit to the region, Dr Kapila called for an independent commission of enquiry into the
conflict amongst warnings of "ethnic cleansing".
Bishop
Andudu of Kadugli in the Nuba Mountains said: "I am here on behalf of
my people. This is a war of horror where
children are dying every day. There are no vaccinations, medicine,
there is nothing. In December there were over 230 bombings. We are
calling for AU leadership at its summit next week. This is a rare
opportunity that we mustn't miss."
Dr.
Mukesh Kapila, Special Representative for the Aegis Trust and former UN
representative in Darfur said: "Ten years
ago when I was UN chief in Darfur I tried to alert the world to what
was happening, but it was too late. Today in Southern Kordofon and Blue
Nile I've seen 'Darfur plus plus' with modern weaponry at play. I appeal
to the AU to look at the humanitarian situation
as a priority and establish a full commission of enquiry, with African
leadership, into the situation on the ground."
Nagwa
Konda, Director of the Nuba Relief Rehabilitation and Development
Organization, said: "We have been waiting
for the AU to take action; we have been hearing a lot, seeing
agreements being signed and communiqués issued but nothing has changed
on the ground. I implore the AU to translate all this paperwork into
action. We need more than communiqués: you can't eat a
communiqué, a communiqué can't protect you from air strikes."
