SRRA Blue Nile

8th of March

March 8th: Women under siege making live going-on

The long running war in Blue Nile accompanied with humanitarian access
denial, indiscriminative aerial bombardments, the spread of unexploded organs and
ground battles have created an atmosphere of fears and unfavorable conditions for
normal life in the area. Women in Blue Nile and particularly the women who are
living in the SPLM N controlled areas are shouldering the burden of the ongoing
war, their villages and farms are turned into battlegrounds, they struggle for their
family survival with scarce resources in extremely hostile environment.

As consequence of the war women are not able to play their central role as a
family member.In addition to collecting water, firewood and cooking meals, while the
Shayala (young sister, brother or relative taking care of the familys babies) the
women in Blue Nile are actively participants in the cultivation process to secure
enough food fortheir families. They are involved in planting, weeding, harvesting, as
well as carrying the products from the main farms to the houses. Before the war
women usually spend most of theirdaytime in the farms, if the husband emigrates
looking for work in the semi-mechanized agricultural schemes that invaded the Blue
Niles indigenous people traditional land, women would devote all their energy to the
cultivation. The emigration of the males is mainly to look for extra income that would
support their families and enable them to survive the food gap. The emigration of men
for work places a heavy burden on the womens shoulders and affects the farm
production, which in turn contributes to the food shortage that occurs in the area
annually. The eruption of war in the area has led to a total transformation of mens
roles, most of the husbands and the young villagers has joined the armed struggles
which places the responsibility of their families on the women.

The awful living condition that created by war is furthermore exacerbated by

the humanitarian denial policy that imposed by the government of Sudan. Though
such denial is obvious violation to the international humanitarian law, the silence of
the international community continues. The American proposal to facilitate the
humanitarian aid flows is welcomed but need further discussion to be improved in
order to meet the humanitarian aid delivery standards, which prevents manipulation.
The government in Khartoum must not be allowed to control the proposed
humanitarians process. What has happened and is happening in Darfurs humanitarian
work is a lesson learned.

March 8th, marks the sixth women day for the women living in the SPLM-N
controlled areas in Blue Nile, Nuba M/ SK and Darfur, while women in the rest of the
world celebrates achievements, the forgotten war women in the area praying for new
year where in which they can feel secure and their children could play and go to
school as others without fearing of death machines or starvation.