Numerous visits to JMM/JMC

Tillo, Nuba Mountains
24-02-2005

JMM/JMC has received many visitors in the past ten days, among them specialists who are known for their research in the Nuba Mountains, such as Norwegian anthropologist Leif Manger and Swiss journalist Oswald Iten.

Although the JMM/JMC mission will cease to exist in a few months time, the interest of foreign visitors is still increasing. While some visitors have specific topics of interest, most of them come to examine and discuss how the JMM/JMC is working on the ground.

The Swiss author Oswald Iten wrote his thesis about the economic system of Fungor village in the 1970's. Almost thirty years later he came back, now as a reporter of Neue Zuercher Zeitung. He accompanied JMM/JMC patrols and shared his valuable background knowledge with JMM/JMC staff and representatives of the humanitarian agencies.

The Norwegian anthropologist Leif Manger, head of the Department of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, visited the JMC Headquarters together with Omer Ishag Omer (UNDP). The team conducted an evaluation of the UNDP peace and trust building programme. Manger’s last monograph about the Nuba Mountains was published in 1994: "From the Mountains to the Plains. The integration of the Lafofa Nuba into the Sudanese Society"

Eric Berman, managing director of “Small Arms Survey”, a Geneva based research organization specialized in DD&R issues, paid a two-day-visit to JMC to establish the Small Arms situation on the ground, while Baboucarr Keita, Chief CIMIC, AU CFC Darfur, and Nadia el Maaroufi, Civil-Military Coordination Officer with OCHA, studied JMC's Civil-Military Cooperation model during two days.

JMM/JMC also received a visit from Sonia Warner (Programme Co-ordinator (Governance) DFID/FCO Sudan Unit), Sjoerd Smit (Second Secretary Peace Building, Dutch Embassy, Khartoum) and Robbert van Lanschot (Netherlands Liaison Office, Rumbek).