BEJA..Maternal mortality is also unusually high

IRC in the News: In Sudan, Beja People's Problems Exacerbated by Rebels - IRIN report

The Beja, a semi-nomadic group of people, who live in rebel-held areas of eastern Sudan need a huge amount of humanitarian assistance, a representative from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said on Tuesday.

Although Beja can be found throughout northeast Africa, tens of thousands are currently trapped in an area of eastern Sudan near the Eritrean border, held by Sudanese rebels since the late 1990s.

Only two NGOs, both based in Eritrea, are able to access the 15,000 sq km area at the moment, one of which is the IRC. The organization estimates the Beja population in the area to be between 45,000 and 186,000 people.

"It is the most under-served, most remote area that I have ever worked in, with huge humanitarian needs—even in basic issues of nutrition and safe water, up to more complex health and education needs," said Fergus Thomas, IRC programme coordinator for northeast Sudan.

"The community have been left very much to themselves—for thousands of years, really," he said.

Until recently, illiteracy rates had been more than 95 percent, but Thomas said that the IRC had made good progress in this area. "In the last three years we have built from zero to 17 schools with the support of the communities, trained 40 teachers, developed learning materials in their language—the first ever literature they have ever had in Bedawit, their language," he said.

Maternal mortality is also unusually high, according to the IRC coordinator. Female genital mutilation is universal, and traditional childbirth practices kill many women. The Beja believe that a small baby is easier to deliver, so they starve their women during pregnancy, he said. Many women die during labour, because they simply do not have enough energy for the delivery.