During the first six months of the year, the ICRC in Sudan worked through its eight offices in the three states of Darfur to promote respect for civilians and provide necessary assistance to thousands of people in need, despite irregular and difficult access to rural areas caused by prevailing insecurity. It also continued to address other consequences of the conflict and build capacities in the South of the country, from its offices in Juba and Malakal.

Although ICRC's focuses its work in Darfur in rural areas, it had to step in to provide for basic needs in Gereida and Tawila, where other organizations had to pull out for security reasons. It hopes that other organizations will soon resume their activities in these camps.

In Gereida IDP camp, South Darfur:

• 120,000 people received monthly food rations (2,335 tons) and had access to safe drinking water through the operation and maintenance of four water production points, including 17 km of distribution network, 13 storage tanks, and 24 water distribution points;
• sanitation in the camp was managed through the construction and maintenance of 6,000 latrines and the collection of garbage and solid waste, with the support of Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) volunteers;
• the therapeutic and supplementary feeding centre operated jointly with the British and Australian Red Cross Societies treated over 5,000 malnourished children;
• at the health clinic more than 56,000 consultations for respiratory diseases, diarrhoea, bilharziosis, and other ailments were carried out;
• almost 6,000 antenatal consultations and 49,000 curative consultations were carried out;
• National Immunization Days (NID) polio campaigns were supported in delivering 50,305 doses; the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) was supported in delivering 6,006 doses;
• over 25,000 households received tarpaulins to protect their homes from the rains;
• allegations of violations of IHL were monitored.

In Argo, Dali and Rwanda IDP camps near Tawila, North Darfur:

• ICRC assisted 40,000 people with medical and sanitation services;
• established health posts and oral rehydration centres and supplied medical equipment and drugs in support of the health staff;
• built 500 latrines, made access to water points safer and provided technical expertise and materials for repairing hand pumps to the affected population;
• gave training in first aid to fighters in the area and promoted the rules and principles of international humanitarian law (IHL);
• monitored allegations of violations of IHL;
• restored contact between separated family members through the exchange of Red Cross messages.

In Darfur, the ICRC focuses its action in rural areas to support traditional means of livelihoods and prevent further displacement towards camps.

• over 56,000 people (almost 10,700 families) benefited from staple seed, cash-crop seed, seed-protection rations and farming tools in advance of the planting season. A total of 202 metric tonnes of seed were distributed in South and West Darfur;
• more than 57,000 returnees and particularly vulnerable people were provided with 926 metric tonnes of food;
• 70 animal health workers were trained and veterinary kits provided to 19 cattle-herding communities;
• 12 villages were assisted with various production intervention items such as donkey carts, water-tanks, air tanks, clothing (jerbas), wheelbarrows, donkey saddles, etc;
• 7,300 households were provided with complete essential household item kits (jerrycans, tarpaulins, kitchen sets, mats, clothing, buckets, etc.).

ICRC rehabilitated water points in rural areas, providing more than 470,000 people in Darfur (as well as their livestock) with safe drinking water:

• 77 hand pumps were repaired;
• 46 protected wells were upgraded;
• 37 water yards (water points with mechanized equipment) were rehabilitated in 107 settlements, also along migration routes of nomadic communities;
• local authorities were assisted in the rehabilitation of two urban water networks.

ICRC carried out primary health care and war surgery in Darfur, provided support to the Juba Teaching Hospital and provided orthopaedic rehabilitation to amputees in different regions of Sudan:

• four primary health care centres supported by ICRC in Darfur, and covering a population of 185,500 persons, performed nearly 8,000 antenatal consultations and 57,000 curative consultations;
• vaccination campaigns were facilitated in Jebel Moon, Abata and Jebel Mara, where staff of the Sudanese Ministry of Health were not able to go for security reasons;
• National Immunization Days (NID), including polio campaigns were supported in delivering over 72,000 doses and the Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) supported in delivering nearly 32,000 doses in Darfur;
• the Field Surgical Team (FST) intervened 12 times and treated 49 weapon-wounded in Darfur;
• two First Aid training sessions, combined with dissemination on IHL, were conducted to 69 members of armed opposition groups;
• two workshops on war surgery were organized together with the Sudanese medical staff of Nyala and Al Fashir hospitals, benefiting 105 doctors and nurses;
• in Juba, Southern Sudan, the ICRC started the construction of a reference orthopaedic centre;
• 12 expatriate staff continued to support the Juba Teaching Hospital, performing over 2,500 operations on nearly 1,900 patients;
• three orthopaedic centres supported by the ICRC (Khartoum, Nyala and Juba) treated 2,087 patients (including 64 mine victims), producing 773 prostheses, 663 orthoses and 1,075 crutches;
• 14 ortho technicians from Northern and Southern Sudan will complete a three-year course at the end of August 2007 in Khartoum.

ICRC continued to promote IHL and respect for civilians as well as to help ensure and enhance acceptance of the ICRC mandate and operations. Through a confidential dialogue, the ICRC reminded authorities and armed groups of their responsibilities to protect civilians and prevent IHL abuses.

• ICRC provided legal expertise to National Authorities on implementation of IHL treaties into national legislation and cooperated with the National Commission on Implementation of IHL;
• a round table discussion on IHL was organized by the ICRC and members of the legislative assembly of the Government of Southern Sudan;
• ICRC assisted the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to produce new IHL training manuals;
• it conducted 26 IHL and human rights dissemination sessions and train-the-trainer courses addressing a total of 2,032 officers and members of the SAF, Central Reserve Force and Sudanese Police Force;
• over 650 fighters from militias and opposition groups were informed about the ICRC and sensitized on the need to protect civilians and vulnerable groups;
• nearly 800 AMIS (African Union Mission in Sudan) and UNMIS (UN Mission in Sudan) officers were given introductory briefings on the ICRC and applicability of IHL to peacekeeping forces;
• in Darfur, about 350 sheikhs, imams, teachers, union leaders and students were informed on ICRC and sensitized on the need to protect civilians and vulnerable groups;
• the IHL academic network, which regroups lecturers and deans of law from eight universities, were supported in the teaching of IHL in their law faculties;
• two professors of mass communication attended the Fourth IHL Academic Circles Meeting held in Cairo;
• ICRC facilitated the handover of 102 detainees that were released by armed groups;
• ICRC visited 12 detainees held by Darfur Opposition Groups;
• ICRC visited 4 detainees in Southern Sudan, who were later released and handed over to the SAF. With the release of the last SAF detainees in Southern Sudan, the ICRC detention activity related to the internal conflict in Southern Sudan ended.

In cooperation with the Sudanese Red Crescent, the ICRC continued to help separated families to restore and maintain family links.

• over 20,300 Red Cross messages (RCM) were transmitted between family members separated by the conflict: nearly 8,200 RCM were collected and almost 7,000 distributed in Darfur; about 500 RCM were collected and over 1,000 distributed in Southern Sudan;
• 436 people were located in Sudan at their families' request;
• 104 new tracing requests were registered by relatives trying to locate their family members in Sudan;
• 10 family reunions were carried out in Sudan during this period.

The ICRC continued providing important financial and material resources to assist the activities of the Sudanese Red Crescent (SRCS). The support aimed at improving the capacity of the SRCS to carry out either its own programmes, or activities in partnership with the ICRC.

With ICRC support, the SRCS:

• covered the salaries and social insurance of seven headquarters staff and 72 branch personnel, volunteers' incentives, office running costs and fuel in ten branch offices;
• organized tracing seminars for SRCS volunteers in Kabkabiya and Tawila;
• SRCS delivered 1,246 Red Cross messages (RCM), and followed up 22 cases of unaccompanied minors; one child was reunited with his family in Tawila;
• conducted first aid training workshops mainly targeting volunteers of SRCS branches in Darfur, South Kordofan, Wau and Malakal; 783 volunteers participated;
• held an IHL Dissemination Workshop in January in Medani, Gezira State, attended by 30 participants coming from Kurmuk, Kauda and Gezira;
• implemented a hygiene and sanitation programme in Gereida IDP camp.