The Relief Association of Southern Sudan (abbreviated RASS) was a humanitarian organization in Sudan, operating during the Second Sudanese Civil War. It was the humanitarian wing of the forces of Riek Machar 1991-2003 (initially SPLA-Nasir/United and, later, SSIM/A, SSDF, SPDF). [1] [2] SPLA-Nasir set up RASS to function as a local civilian authority, and for liaisons with United Nations agencies and NGOs. [3] As of 1999, Simon Kun served as executive director of RASS. [4]
Sudan or the Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea to the east, Ethiopia to the southeast, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, and Libya to the northwest. It has a population of 39 million people and occupies a total area of 1,886,068 square kilometres, making it the third-largest country in Africa. Sudan's predominant religion is Islam, and its official languages are Arabic and English. The capital is Khartoum, located at the confluence of the Blue and White Nile. Since 2011, Sudan is the scene of ongoing military conflict in its regions South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and the Blue Nile. It lasted for 22 years and is one of the longest civil wars on record. The war resulted in the independence of South Sudan six years after the war ended.
Riek Machar is a South Sudanese politician who served as Vice President of South Sudan from its independence in 2011 to 2013, and then as First Vice President from April to July 2016. Prior to independence, he served as Vice President of the Southern Sudan Autonomous Region from 2005 to 2011.
RASS was set up by the SPLA-Nasir/United, almost immediately after the revolt inside the 1991 Sudan People's Liberation Army against the leadership of Dr. John Garang. [5] [6] RASS remained closely tied to the SPLA-Nasir military structure [3] and only worked in areas under the control of Riek Machar's forces. [7] RASS staff were generally former fighters and commanders of the movement. [1] During its early phase, RASS was headed by Riek Gai Kok. [8] Later, Timothy Tutlam took over as RASS director. [8] He remained in this position until he died in the 1998 Sudan Air Force crash. [9]
The SPLA-Nasir was a splinter faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel group that fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War. Originally created as an attempt by the Nuer tribe to replace SPLA leader John Garang in August 1991, it gradually became coopted by the government. The break away of Riek Machar from SPLM/A resulted in Nuer ethnic group massacring Garang's ethnic Dinka from Bor in the Bor massacre in 1991. This split resulted in the 1994 National Convention of New Sudan in Chukudum.
The Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) is the army of the Republic of South Sudan. The SPLA was founded as a guerrilla movement against the government of Sudan in 1983 and was a key participant of the Second Sudanese Civil War. Throughout the war, it was led by John Garang.
John Garang de Mabior was a Sudanese politician and revolutionary leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and following a peace agreement he briefly served as First Vice President of Sudan for 3 weeks until his death in a helicopter crash on 30 July 2005. A developmental economist by profession, Garang was a major influence on the movement that led to the foundation of South Sudan.
RASS competed with the SPLA relief wing, the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SRRA), over access to food distribution. [6] RASS became a partner of the Operation Lifeline Sudan. [6] In cooperation with international NGOs and agencies, RASS carried out food distributions. [10] However, the RASS did not possess the organizational capacity to manage the volumes of food aid allocated to it, resulting in periodic misuse of donated food items. [11]
Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) was a consortium of UN agencies and approximately 35 Non-governmental organizations operating in southern Sudan to provide humanitarian assistance throughout war-torn and drought-afflicted regions in the South. Operation Lifeline Sudan was established in April 1989 in response to a devastating war-induced famine and other humanitarian consequences of the Second Sudanese Civil War between the Sudanese government and South Sudanese rebels. It was the result of negotiations between the UN, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) to deliver humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need, regardless of their location or political affiliation. This included over 100,000 returnees from Itang in Ethiopia in 1991.
In 1998 the SSDF admitted the presence of children amongst its fighters, and agreed to participate in a program organised by UNICEF and Swedish Save the Children to demobilize child soldiers. RASS and the Swedish Save the Children began operating a transit camp at Thonyor, near Ler, for some 280 former child soldiers. However, the activities of the camp were interrupted as fighting broke out in the area in 1999. Most of the children were later relocated by RASS and Swedish Save the Children in August 2000 at Nyal. [12]
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), originally known as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 11 December 1946, to provide emergency food and healthcare to children and mothers in countries that had been devastated by World War II. The Polish physician Ludwik Rajchman is widely regarded as the founder of UNICEF and served as its first chairman from 1946 to 1950, when he had to flee the United States in the wake of McCarthyism. Rajchman is to this day the only person that served as UNICEF's Chairman for longer than 2 years. On Rajchman's suggestion, the American Maurice Pate was appointed its first executive director, serving from 1947 until his death in 1965. In 1950, UNICEF's mandate was extended to address the long-term needs of children and women in developing countries everywhere. In 1953 it became a permanent part of the United Nations System, and the words "international" and "emergency" were dropped from the organization's name, though it retained the original acronym, "UNICEF".
Rädda Barnen is the name of the Swedish section of the Save the Children International.
RASS merged with the SRRA in 2003 forming a unified relief organization tied to the SPLA/M, the SRRC. [2] [13]
