Emergencies - Darfur and Chad Crisis - Singing to a different tune

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Five years on: Reflections on the conflict

Mahmoud Ali Mahmoud, Assistant Oxfam Funding Co-ordinator for Darfur. Photo: Jane Beesley

As the world marks the fifth anniversary of the ongoing Darfur humanitarian crisis, Oxfam's Mahmoud Ali Mahmoud shares his experience of working as part of the world's largest humanitarian response and recalls how Oxfam's response has evolved.

Mahmoud Ali Mahmoud joined Oxfam in North Darfur in early 2004 as a Public Health worker in Abu Shouk camp, before becoming Assistant Programme Manager of Oxfam's work in Kebkabiya. He now works as an Assistant Funding Co-ordinator, in close liaison with our field offices throughout the region.

"When we started work in Abu Shouk camp, it was like a desert. There were no water sources, no food, nothing. We dug wells and latrines and set up sanitation systems, but most of the people arriving from the villages didn’t know how to use the latrines. We had to teach them. After just a few months they quickly learnt and there was a big improvement in the camp.

"It has been great to see the community learning and taking responsibility. At first there were lots of Oxfam staff – the community just didn’t know what to do and they needed us to show them. Now we have fewer staff in the camp, as communities participate much more and are now able to manage their own facilities.

"Abu Shouk today is totally different from then. It is much more organised, and people have much more water and assistance. As the conflict goes on, people’s security is still a huge issue, but many of their other concerns have changed over the five years. Earlier, people were focused on how to get food and water. Their aim was just to survive another day. Now people are thinking longer term – how to give their kids and education, how to build houses, and how to earn an income. We are constantly developing our programmes to meet these needs and make sure that our work really benefits people.

"There have been so many achievements to be proud of over the past five years. Most of all, I am proud of how Oxfam is perceived by local communities throughout Darfur. They know there is no political agenda to our work, and that we try and work with whichever communities need assistance – no matter what their tribe. My biggest regret is that the great work we have done in remote villages around Kebkabiya has been so limited because of the security situation, which makes it too dangerous for us to leave the town. I hope things improve so we can work in more villages again as well as in the camps."