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STORY: WHO / DARFUR HEALTH CENTRE REBUILT
TRT: 5:51
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 20-23 APRIL 2022, KHARTOUM, SUDAN / 25-28 APRIL 2022ABU GAW, EL FASHER, NORTH DARFUR, SUDAN
25 APRIL 2022, ABU GAW, NORTH DARFUR, SUDAN
1. Various shots, North Darfur officials, Jacqueline Parlevliet, Head of UNHCR North Darfur Sub-Office, cutting ribbon, Health Centre
2. Various shots, North Darfur officials, local leaders celebrating in a ceremony with the community
3. Med shot, Abdelrahman Sharief, Head of WHO North Darfur Sub-Office, children
4. Various shots, North Darfur officials, local leaders, UNHCR and WHO staff, health centre
5. Wide shot, old village health centre
6. Wide shot, new health centre
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bahja Ahmed, midwife, returnee, and survivor of the war in Darfur:
“We are very happy, our health is better, the health centre is beautiful, and people are standing with us.”
8. Wide shot, doctor checking on a baby suffering from diarrhea
9. Close up, Doctor checking on a baby suffering from diarrhea
10. Various shots, Bahja Ahmed working, health centre
11. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bahja Ahmed, midwife, returnee, and survivor of the war in Darfur:
“The people feel cared for. They receive adequate service, medicine is available in the centre, and the place is comfortable. They take enough medicine from the centre and leave.”
12. Various shots, local participants in a community health dialogue, with Ezzedin Adam Mohamad Adam
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Omda Adam, local community leader:
“When we came back and solved the water problem, the people arrived, and we started to fix the issue of health, despite the resistance we faced from others who didn’t want us to settle here. But we insisted and came and settled. After that, WHO came to us for community health dialogues. That was at the beginning of our return. The dialogue took place under this tree, and from that day, we benefited a lot from the health dialogue.”
14. Various shots, Ezzedin Adam Mohamad Adam facilitating a community health dialogue in Abu Gaw
28 APRIL 2022, ABU GAW, NORTH DARFUR, SUDAN
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Ezzedin Adam Mohamad Adam, Community Systems Strengthening Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I’m guiding the community with some questions, like a coach directing the communication. And also, my role is to tell the community and to share with them their health rights and where to follow and from what point to trace their rights.”
25 APRIL 2022, ABU GAW, NORTH DARFUR, SUDAN
16. Various shots, Mohammed Abdalla Hamad participating in a community health dialogue
27 APRIL 2022, EL FASHER, NORTH DARFUR, SUDAN
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Abdalla Hamad, Health project manager for the state of North Darfur:
“Abu Gaw area in El Kuma locality was selected as a top priority area to construct a basic health care centre because the area met the criteria in the health assessment map. In terms of population, it is well populated, the distance from the nearest health centre meets the criteria, and another priority is it is a voluntary return area, and this is one of the important criteria that made us select this area.”
25 APRIL 2022, ABU GAW, NORTH DARFUR, SUDAN
18. Various shots, people walking
23 APRIL 2022, KHARTOUM, SUDAN
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Ni’ma Saeed Abid, Representative in Sudan, World Health Organization (WHO):
“You cannot build resilient systems without resilient communities. That is why community dialogues that we started earlier actually, it was almost 2 years back in Darfur state, was a very good initiative and successful initiative. When the community is being informed and taking an informed decision about the kind of health services that they are asking for or they need, they are not only just recipients of the services, but they are part of the planning and the design and later on even in the protection of these health services.”
20 APRIL 2022, KHARTOUM, SUDAN
20. Various shots, Ni’ma Saeed Abid attending a meeting
A newly opened health center provides essential health services in Abu Gaw, North Darfur, for the first time since the village’s previous health facility was destroyed and the community fled during the war in 2004.
A series of dialogues facilitated by WHO helped empower the recently returned community to take an active role in rebuilding their health services.
The community of Abu Gaw in North Darfur, Sudan, celebrated the opening of a health facility in their village last week.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bahja Ahmed, midwife, returnee, and survivor of the war in Darfur:
“We are very happy, our health is better, the health centre is beautiful, and people are standing with us.”
Before the clinic’s construction, people from Abu Gaw had to travel long distances to reach health services, but many couldn’t afford the cost of transport.
Pregnant women used to go to midwife Bahja Ahmed’s house for consultations and sometimes gave birth in her home. The new mothers could only stay for a few hours before leaving.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bahja Ahmed, midwife, returnee, and survivor of the war in Darfur:
“The people feel cared for. They receive adequate service, medicine is available in the centre, and the place is comfortable. They take enough medicine from the centre and leave.”
Residents of Abu Gaw fled from their village during the war in Darfur in 2004. Since 2018, about 8000 people have returned to the village from displacement camps. The community identified rebuilding a health centre as a priority through community health dialogues facilitated by the World Health Organization (WHO) with North Darfur health authorities. Their previous health care centre was destroyed during the war.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Omda Adam, local community leader:
“When we came back and solved the water problem, the people arrived, and we started to fix the issue of health, despite the resistance we faced from others who didn’t want us to settle here. But we insisted and came and settled. After that, WHO came to us for community health dialogues. That was at the beginning of our return. The dialogue took place under this tree, and from that day, we benefited a lot from the health dialogues.”
Community dialogues empower disadvantaged populations to take an active role in deciding on their health priorities, proposing solutions for their health needs, and holding local health authorities accountable. The dialogues in Abu Gaw provided guidance for the community about how and where to advocate for the health services they needed most.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ezzedin Adam Mohamad Adam, Community Systems Strengthening Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“I’m guiding the community with some questions, like a coach directing the communication. And also, my role is to tell the community and to share with them their health rights and where to follow and from what point to trace their rights.”
State health authorities were supportive of the proposal to build a health centre because they had identified Abu Gaw as a priority area based on a health needs assessment.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Abdalla Hamad, Health Projects Manager for the state of North Darfur:
“Abu Gaw area in El Kuma locality was selected as a top priority area to construct a basic health care centre because the area met the criteria in the health [assessment] map. In terms of population, it is well populated, the distance from the nearest health centre meets the criteria, and another priority is it is a voluntary return area, and this is one of the important criteria that made us select this area.”
To build the facility, community leaders identified a local nongovernmental organization, African Humanitarian Action (AHA). The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) supported the project with funding from the government of Denmark. The Ministry of Health oversees the operation and staffing of Abu Gaw health centre, and WHO provides equipment, medicines, and staff training. An official opening ceremony was held on the morning of 25 April 2022. Patients were already visiting the centre’s doctor and midwives that afternoon.
With 2.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan, there is an urgent need to strengthen essential services and build community resilience so that people can return home and live in peace.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ni’ma Saeed Abid, Representative in Sudan, World Health Organization (WHO):
“You cannot build resilient systems without resilient communities. That is why community dialogues that we started earlier, actually, it was almost two years back in [North] Darfur state, was a very good initiative and successful initiative. When the community is being informed and taking an informed decision about the kind of health services that they are asking for or they need, they are not only just recipients of the services, but they are part of the planning and the design and later on even in the protection of these health services.”
Primary healthcare-oriented health systems maximize the health system’s quality while enhancing equity and solidarity, thus improving social cohesion. Sudan is one of the 115 countries and areas supported by the Universal Health Coverage Partnership, WHO’s largest platform for international cooperation on delivering universal health coverage through a primary health care approach.
