Ms. Samantha Power returns to Dafur, finds different picture

United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Administrator Ms. Samantha Power, currently on a visit to Sudan, has hinted that she had received pictures of hope and confidence in the future in the country, despite the difficulties and obstacles that the Sudanese had experienced in the past thirty years, during her meetings with the Governor of North Darfur State, IDPs and female journalists from the region.

The USAID official who is currently visiting the country met with various groups of organizations of the community in Darfur, including politicians, executives, IDPs and journalists, on the first day of her visit to Sudan, which began on Saturday.

Ms. Power said that she reassured the Darfurian community to work towards achieving more progress in various areas of concern to them.

The USAID Administrator pointed out in tweets over her official Twitter account that she had met Wali (Governor) of North Darfur State Nimir Abdel-Rahman who cited humanitarian needs but also insisted “we are going to democracy,” asking donors & NGOs to support civil society & good governance at this critical time.

Ms. Power indicated that Darfur’s displaced stressed the importance of implementation of the Juba Agreement’s security arrangements—and the need to expand economic opportunity & establish justice so there can be a durable peace.

She added “I committed to pushing for more progress on all”.

The USAID’s Administrator affirmed that they would keep providing “vital support to the families at Zam Zam camp, many of whom traveled 9 hours by bus in 2019 to participate in the protests that resulted in the ouster of Sudan dictator Omar al-Bashir”.

Samantha Power was famous for being a journalist and writer who dealt with issues of genocide and put pressure on the various American administrations until the war on genocide became one of the fixed agenda in the foreign policy of the United States, and she was known for preparing one of the most documented books “A Problem from Hell” for which she visited Sudan in about 2003-2004, and conducted an investigative research on the genocide in Darfur, so her first stop in Sudan was the Darfur region.

Ms. Power indicated that she is “grateful for the chance to hear from residents of Zam Zam, the second-largest camp in Darfur for internally displaced people, commenting that “after 17 years, many children have grown up knowing no other home. Yet they still dream of feeling safe enough in their family villages to return home”.

Ms. Power added that she also “met Sudanese women journalists, who described climate of fear they faced reporting under Bashir, & before 2020 transition to civilian governors. Government officials retaliated when they wrote on issues like COVID deaths or unemployment. As one said, ‘Now we can say what we want’”.

It is noticeable that in every tweet she posted, she concluded with an expression of optimism that the situation now is better than it was and it is better in the future.