EL FASHIR, DARFUR REGION — There is a saying in Darfur: "The solution to the crisis requires three things: security, security and more security."

Having been in El Fashir for the last four months, I wholeheartedly agree. One hundred percent of the time, when I ask displaced persons if they would like to return home, they say "yes." One hundred percent of the time, when I ask displaced persons what they need in order to return home, they say "security and protection."

All in all, I have to say the most profound conversations I have had are with the children of Darfur. In Fata Borno camp, I asked the children, "If you had a million dinars, what would you do with it?" They all answer, "Buy food" — an uncomplicated, unselfish and very basic need.

I ask, "What do you think are the solutions to the problems in Darfur?" They say, "Collect and take away all of the guns." Finally, I ask, "If I could deliver to the world a message from you, what would it be?" They say, "There is a camp in Fata Borno — we are here, please do not forget us."- Kristen Geary, UNICEF Child Protection Officer. Full article

There are many NGO'S in Sudan and elsewhere who are doing their best to provide food and shelter and some form of aid for the Sudanese refugees.The AU is supposed to be helping bring the war to an end and is supposed to be having talks that will bring an end to the blood shed but Africa has been plagued by wars of this kind for centuries and the AU which formed out of the defunct OAU has a tough job ahead of it.

Why has the solution to Darfur been left to the NGO's? What are the neighboring African countries doing to help ?

It is most unfortunate that the Sudanese crisis should arise at a time when half the Worlds fighters are employed in other Regions .However,some how the world has got to find a way of providing security in Sudan.

I believe the root cause of this problem lies in identifying and eliminating the REAL cause of the fighting.What exactly are the rebels and government forces fighting for? Is it because of vested interest in Oil that the government finds little problem with helping wipe out so many people? http://www.watchlist.org/reports/sudan.report.php

what happens to the children who are growing up malnourished and who are being orientated to violence so early in their lives?Some organizations are trying to help disarm the child soldiers and are providing them with the opportunity to lay down their arms in exchange for the education. CDC Survey Documents Serious Crisis In Sudanese Refugee Children

" International efforts to stop violence in Sudan's Darfur region have failed, U.S. Ambassador John Danforth said on Tuesday, and he called for the African Union to field more forces to halt atrocities there.Danforth was speaking after the U.N. Security Council reviewed a report by Secretary-General Kofi Annan saying that Darfur was in chaos, plagued by banditry, rape, and village burnings, with 2.3 million people in desperate need of aid". UNITED NATIONS (Reuters),Published: December 7, 2004

We are appealing to all sides to stop the war in our country and achieve peace here, in the continent and in the whole world," said Omar Awad el-Basha, a 12-year-old on the march. peace march