Save the Children's emergency relief efforts in the far north of Darfur, Sudan were tragically affected on Sunday 10 October when a Save the Children vehicle was hit by an anti-tank landmine.

Two members of staff travelling in the vehicle were killed: a British Programme Manager and a Sudanese Water Engineer. New Zealander Alister Shields, a logistician who worked with the pair, was not travelling in the same vehicle and is safe.

The team were carrying out programme work in the Um Barro area, which until three weeks ago had been virtually inaccessible to the outside world. Save the Children’s intention was to deliver emergency relief to scattered displaced populations who do not benefit from the nutritional and medical services available in camps further south.

Save the Children New Zealand’s Executive Director John Bowis said the work of colleagues like those whose lives were lost is highly valued and vital to the organisation’s humanitarian efforts.

“This tragic incident highlights the inescapable fact that aid workers are under greater risk than they used to be, fuelled by conflicts such as Iraq. As New Zealand citizens, we rely heavily on our colleagues to take risks and deliver a humanitarian response on our behalf.”

“While staff have been evacuated from the Zagawa region and returned to El Fasher (the main town in North Darfur), Save the Children’s operations in other regions of Darfur continue. We remain committed to helping the people of Darfur.”

The conflict in Darfur has now been underway for 20 months. The UN estimates that up to 1.2 million people are displaced, of which over half a million are children. Save the Children New Zealand is contributing to an International Save the Children Alliance-led emergency programme, which focuses on:

the distribution of food and relief items
running mobile health clinics
working with children who have become separated from their families
supporting children’s educational needs
providing safe play areas for children
and training volunteers in child protection.