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Kids for Kids is a British nonprofit charity formed in 2001 to help children struggling to survive in remote villages in Darfur, Sudan. It is the only charity created specifically to help the children of Darfur. [1] It has been previously listed in the top three UK charities for the International Development Charity of the Year at the UK Charity Awards. [2]
The charity was founded by Patricia Parker OBE to support children who are facing hardship in remote villages of Darfur. Kids for Kids provides long term self-sustainable projects, identified by the communities themselves and, uniquely, run by them. Projects are designed to prevent small problems from becoming disasters. It transforms the lives of individual families - the most deprived in each remote village - out of abject poverty immediately, and transforms the whole community long term.
The original inspiration for the charity was a chance meeting between Parker and a nine-year-old Sudanese child from the village of Um Ga'al who was struggling across the desert in the immense heat of Darfur, to fetch water for his brothers and sisters. It was a walk that took him seven hours, and then he faced the long walk back. The water he collected would also be used to keep three goats alive—their milk was the children's only source of protein, minerals and vitamins.
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Kids for Kids supports grass roots projects that communities identify as the most effective way of enabling them to help themselves. Kids for Kids produces a Project Implementation Manual which is a unique contract between the communities and the charity, detailing what each can expect from the other. All volunteers in each village, and all beneficiaries, are elected democratically. Each year the volunteers and beneficiaries report to the community at an Annual Review Meeting. If the village shows it has been running the projects well they may then request a Kindergarten, Health Centre, Veterinary Centre or other community asset - subject to funding being available.
An extensive tree planting campaign has been funded since 2006, with a Demonstration Garden in the main Tree Nursery in El Fasher, where trees planted back in 2006 are now tall enough to give shade and where people come to picnic at weekends. Kids for Kids has also funded a new Midwives Training School in El Fasher where they fund the training of 40 village midwives each year. But the Key project is a Goat Loan. The poorest 15 percent of families in each Kids for Kids village is lent five goats to provide milk immediately for the children and to enable mothers to have a livelihood as the little flock multiplies. At the end of two years five goats are passed on to another poor family, and so on. Eventually the whole community benefits from this simple, life changing, loan. It has been called the best Microfinance project ever. To ensure that the projects are sustainable and there is clear accountability, the management of the projects is carried out by village committees which are trained in book keeping—but, most importantly, they are accountable to their own communities. This has ensured that the projects have survived even during the worst periods of violence. [3]
Kids for Kids works directly with villagers with the help of one of the most prominent veterinary doctors in Darfur, Dr Salim Ahmed Salim. Dr Salim has been appointed Kids for Kids Programme Manager and, with Project Manager Hassan Mihisi works on projects which include hand pumps, first aid workers, midwives and blankets and mosquito nets as well as tree projects and the new Kindergarten Projects which commenced with the first in Abu Nahla, a remote village northeast of the regional capital, El Fasher. Various communities have said that the Kids for Kids simple integrated projects—the loan of goats and donkeys, training of midwives and para-vets and much more—are enabling them to stay in their homes. [4]
In February 2005 Patricia Parker and her son were abducted by rebels in Darfur but subsequently released unharmed. [5] At one point during the abduction the leader of the rebels shouted: ‘Don’t you understand that I could have you killed at any moment?’ but Parker kept smiling and said: ‘Of course I do—but I also know about Sudanese hospitality and I know that I am perfectly safe’. They were released the following morning. [6] Kids for Kids went on to adopt this village, Kulkul, and is now providing a range of sustainable projects to the families and helping them out of poverty.
In 2013, in response to the appeal of hundreds of women in Darfur, Kids for Kids opened its first Kindergarten at Abu Nahla. This was one of the first brick buildings in the village and includes latrines, a veranda (shade and an extra classroom) a water tank and fruit trees. Kids for Kids worked closely with the State Ministry of Education which is funding the kindergarten's teacher. The Director of the State Ministry of Education said that it is the first school of its kind in Darfur. There are currently 14 kindergartens in villages in Darfur that are fully equipped with toys for both indoor and outdoor use. Other schools include Abu Digeise (supported by Joanna Lumley OBE) Azagarfa (supported by City of London School), Um Ga'al, Kindro, Hillat Hamid, Siwailinga, Golo C and Sakori amongst others. As a result, every village in Darfur has since requested help from Kids for Kids in the building of their own kindergartens. [7]
Since conflict erupted across Sudan in 2023, millions have lost their homes, food is scarce, families are desperate. Famine has been announced. [8] Kids for Kids is delivering emergency seed and Kids Kitchen Kits to villages in North Darfur region lifting families out of dire hardship. Kids Kitchen Kits include will include lentils, ground nuts and cooking oil and other fresh produce for immediate relief. [9]
Kids for Kids has been mentioned with approval in debates in the House of Lords [10] and other notable supporters include Ruth Rendell and Michael Bond. Javier Solana donated half his Carnegie-Wateler Peace Prize money to Kids for Kids in 2007. [11]
Kids for Kids Patrons include Dame Joanna Lumley OBE FRGS, Miriam Margolyes OBE, Timothy West CBE, David Suchet and Lord Cope of Berkeley PC. [12]
The Marrah Mountains or Marra Mountains are a range of volcanic peaks in a massif that rises up to 3,042 metres (9,980 ft). They are the highest mountains in Sudan.
Islamic Relief Worldwide describes itself as "a faith-inspired humanitarian and development agency which is working to support and empower the world's most vulnerable people".
Alight, formerly the American Refugee Committee (ARC), is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization that has provided humanitarian assistance and training to millions of beneficiaries over the last 40 years.
This is the bibliography and reference section for the Darfur conflict series. External links to reports, news articles and other sources of information may also be found below.
World Concern is a Christian global relief and development organization operating in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Haiti, with its headquarters located in Seattle, Washington, United States. World Concern serves approximately 6 million people worldwide and has a staff of 877, with 846 of those being international and 31 based at headquarters.
Kids Alive International (KAI) is a Christian, U.S. based nonprofit organization that focuses on supporting the development of children, families, and communities. The organization has offices in 11 countries, including the United States, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Haiti, Peru, Kenya, South Sudan, Sudan, Zambia, Lebanon, Romania, and Taiwan.
Peter Dalglish is the Canadian founder of the Street Kids International charity and a convicted child sex offender. Until 2015, he was the Country Representative for UN-Habitat in Afghanistan. He is currently serving an 8 year prison term in Nepal after being convicted of raping two young boys.
Tree Aid is an international development non-governmental organisation which focuses on working with people in the Sahel region in Africa to tackle poverty and the effects of climate change by growing trees, improving people's incomes, and restoring and protecting land. It is a registered charity in the UK. Tree Aid has offices in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in Mali, in Ethiopia, in Ghana, and in Bristol, United Kingdom. It currently has programmes running in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali and Niger. Areas of Tree Aid's work include forest governance, natural resource management, food security and nutrition, and enterprise development. Tree Aid reported in their annual impact report 2019/20, that since 1987 it had grown 22 million trees, worked with 1.8 million people, and supported 36,350 people in enterprise groups.
A large-scale, drought-induced famine occurred in Africa's Sahel region and many parts of the neighbouring Sénégal River Area from February to August 2010. It is one of many famines to have hit the region in recent times.
The post conflict South Sudan has huge challenges in delivering health care to the population. The challenges include: crippled health infrastructures, nearly collapsed public health system, and inadequate qualified health professionals. The country is far from achieving the MDGs by end of 2015. The health system needs a major resuscitation, in addition to supporting and developing health training institutions.
Qatar Charity is a humanitarian and development non-governmental organization in the Middle East. It was founded in 1992 in response to the thousands of children who were made orphans by the Afghanistan war and while orphans still remain a priority cause in the organization's work with more than 150,000 sponsored orphans, it has now expanded its fields of action to include six humanitarian fields and seven development fields.
The Darfur genocide was the systematic killing of ethnic Darfuri people during the War in Darfur. The genocide, which was carried out against the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups, led the International Criminal Court (ICC) to indict several people for crimes against humanity, rape, forced transfer and torture. An estimated 200,000 people were killed between 2003 and 2005.
Qatar–Sudan relations are the bilateral relations between the State of Qatar and the Republic of the Sudan. Relations were first established in 1972, when Qatar inaugurated its embassy in Sudan's capital city, Khartoum. Both countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and Non-Aligned Movement.
Sudan is a country that is half desert and much of the population suffers from a shortage of clean drinking water as well as a reliable source of water for agriculture. With the Nile river in the east of the country, parts of Sudan have substantial water resources, but those in the west have to rely on wadis, seasonal wells which often dry up. These imbalances in water availability are a source of hardship, as well as a source of conflict. While storage facilities are limited, many local communities have constructed makeshift dams and reservoirs, weirs, which help in stabilizing farming communities. Farmers also utilize hafirs to store rain water which falls in the rainy season, but groundwater remains a vital source of water for over 80% of Sudanese people. For decades, political instability has led to terrible conditions and thwarted many projects and relief efforts, but aid is making its way through. Several water infrastructure projects have been enacted in recent years, with both domestic and international sources of funding. Funding from the UN has provided 9,550 local farmers with better access to water and fertile soils. A project which also plans to replant forest cover in the wadi to reverse desertification.
The humanitarian crisis following the 2023 Sudan conflict was further exacerbated by the violence occurring during a period of high temperatures, drought and the conflict starting during the latter part of the fasting month of Ramadan. Most residents were unable to venture outside of their homes to obtain food and supplies for fear of getting caught in the crossfire. A doctors' group said that hospitals remained understaffed and were running low on supplies as wounded people streamed in. The World Health Organization recorded around 26 attacks on healthcare facilities, some of which resulted in casualties among medical workers and civilians. The Sudanese Doctors' Union said more than two-thirds of hospitals in conflict areas were out of service with 32 forcibly evacuated by soldiers or caught in the crossfire. The United Nations reported that shortages of basic goods, such as food, water, medicines and fuel have become "extremely acute". The delivery of badly-needed remittances from overseas migrant workers was also halted after Western Union announced it was closing all operations in Sudan until further notice.
The following lists events during 2024 in the Republic of the Sudan.
The following is a timeline of the Sudanese civil war (2023–present) in 2024.
The Golo water reservoir is a reservoir located approximately seven kilometers west of El Fasher in northwestern Sudan. The dam containing the reservoir was constructed in 1947 to provide water to El Fasher. It serves as the primary water source for an estimated 270,000 people in the city and nearby communities and is crucial for the survival of the local population, providing safe and adequate water. In 2014, UNAMID reported the reservoir had lost nearly 80% of its capacity from erosion and silt deposits, with improvements to the dam expected in the future.
Throughout 2024, the population of Sudan suffered from severe malnutrition and human-made famine conditions as a result of the Sudanese civil war beginning in 2023, primarily in Darfur, Kordofan, and neighboring refugee-taking nations such as Chad. Famine conditions were caused in part by deliberate attempts by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to siege and loot cities with civilians trapped in them and by both sides blocking off supply routes to allow food and humanitarian aid to flow through. On 1 August, the Global Famine Review Committee released a report officially declaring that there was a high risk of IPC Phase 5 famine conditions ongoing throughout internally displaced persons (IDP) camps in Darfur near Al-Fashir. More than 1,050 deaths have been caused by the famine and over 9 million people have been displaced as a result of the famine and war.
The Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs) in Sudan, a community-led initiative formed by the resistance committees behind the 2019 revolution, have played a crucial role in providing humanitarian aid during the Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which began in April 2023. As of February 2024, ERRs had assisted over four million people, evacuating thousands and supplying essential resources like clean water and medical supplies. Despite being targeted and facing violence, ERRs remain a symbol of decolonised aid, funded by communities and external donors. Their efforts have been praised by the European Union and U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar.
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