[Montréal, Québec, Canada 22°C] Yesterday, June 11, 2009, John Holmes, the the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, announced that the Khartoum government is allowing 4 of the 13 non-governmental organizations (NGO) expelled from Darfur last March to return. The expulsion had serious repercussions in Darfur and Southern Sudan. In his statement, Holmes said that CARE, Mercy Corps, Save the Children and PADCO (listed in the media as an NGO like the others, it is actually a private consulting firm owned by NYSE-listed, AECOM) “completed [their] initial registration processes in Khartoum.”
After contacting Joy Portella, Mercy Corps Director of Communications, Holmes’ statement is misleading. According to Portella and the official response to Holmes’ statement, “Mercy Corps, which was expelled from Northern Sudan in early March 2009, is not resuming operations in Northern Sudan.” Portella stated in an email that Mercy Corps Scotland has registered to work in Sudan and that he does “not yet know what Mercy Corps Scotland’s work in northern Sudan, including Darfur, will look like. That will be determined by the Mercy Corps Scotland team.” Each of Mercy Corps’ country offices work independently from each other and determine their own programs.
Geneva-based, CARE International, also issued a statement to clarify Holmes’ statement by writing that “CARE USA’s registration in Sudan remains void, and CARE USA will not resume operations in North Sudan” Their press release continued stating, “CARE International Foundation (Switzerland) has applied for a registration to operate in Sudan… CI Switzerland is a distinct and independent organization registered in Switzerland, under Swiss law, and is separate from CARE USA.”
Save the Children has not issued a statement, which may indicate that they may indeed have re-registered to resume work in Darfur and Northern Sudan. I hadn’t heard back from them by the time I submitted this post.
Presumably, PADCO, which was acquired by global design and management corporation, AECOM, will happily resume operations. Considering AECOM is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, they cannot be viewed as an NGO nor a development organization. Their role, like all other for-profit corporations with shareholders wanting dividends, is to make a profit. It will be interesting to learn about the work implemented by PADCO in Darfur and N. Sudan.
i think our governments should do some more proactive task in Darfur. the UN is not doing a very good job in resolving the crisis in Darfur.