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AfriAfya is a nine-year-old charity registered and tax exempt in the United States . Our vision, to provide universal and equitable access to quality health and development information, creating informed, empowered and healthy communities that contribute to social transformation. We facilitate interaction of change agents and communities, drawing upon the network to improve community health and development.
Our geographic reach covers the nine countries of eastern Africa; however, our priority project is to serve the marginalized, conflict-ridden communities in Western Equatoria in the new South Sudan. AfriAfya has several partners and affiliates in South Sudan and enjoys respect from the currently developing Government of South Sudan (GOSS). Our sister charity Action Africa Health-International (AAH-I) has invited our assistance and has begun by sharing seven building that can be developed as Learning Resource Centers and hubs of knowledge on Health and Development. AAH-I has the mission to improve or develop clinics, hospitals and implement many of the health and development techniques side by side the people in the villages. It is our intention to start with the seven sights and then expand throughout South Sudan. This requires health and development strategies, technologies, infrastructure, logistics, transportation, people training, and hard materials along with a pro-active media program. Our expectation is not to move in small steps but, rather to leapfrog into new processes, technologies and infrastructures. Why South Sudan?
Sudan, Africa’s largest country, has spent more than 30 years at war since its independence from Great Britain in 1956. With political power centralized in the north around its capital Khartoum and natural resources concentrated in the south, Sudan is further divided by religion, ethnicity, tribal differences, and economic disparities. Torn apart by two civil wars between the north and south, Sudan has also seen separate conflicts rage in its eastern and western regions. Since 2003, the heaviest fighting has occurred in Sudan’s western region of Darfur, where the violence against civilians amounted to genocide.
From 1983-2005, civil war in the south killed at least 2 million people and displaced more than 4 million others. In 2003, spurred by decades of political and economic marginalization and a history of ethnic discrimination, rebel groups in Darfur took up arms against government forces. In response, the Sudanese government and its proxy militias targeted civilian populations in Darfur, killing at least 200,000 civilians, displacing more than 2.5 million people, destroying thousands of villages, and raping thousands of women.
Although rebel groups in both Southern Sudan and Darfur have enflamed the conflicts at various times, the Sudanese government bears primary responsibility for atrocities against civilians. A pattern of government sponsored actions include:
• Targeting civilians;
• Committing massive human rights abuses, such as: murder, rape, and persecution based on race, ethnicity, and religion;
• Pitting ethnic groups against each other;
• Impeding international humanitarian access and aid.
In the south, the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) sustains a fragile peace. In Darfur, fighting continues. As a whole, Sudan remains at risk for genocide and related crimes against humanity. Click here to read more about Sudan From Sudan to the United States - National Geographic Video Sudan: The Witness - National Geographic Video
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