NAIROBI, 18 June 2010 (IRIN) – The European Union has urged Sudanese authorities to ensure humanitarian workers reach thousands of people affected by ongoing fighting in Darfur and to improve security across the volatile western region.
“As fighting between government forces and [armed groups], and between [communities] continues, humanitarian workers are prevented from reaching some of the most needy communities,” the European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, Kristalina Georgieva said.
“Big parts of eastern Jebel Mara… where fighting is ongoing, have been inaccessible since February,” she added. “I can only imagine the dire conditions for the women and children who are in great need of humanitarian assistance which we are simply unable to bring.”
Access and security would also open up economic development in Darfur, and break “the vicious circle of crisis breeding insecurity and insecurity deepening the crisis”, Georgieva, who recently visited the region, said in an interview published by ECHO, the EU’s Humanitarian Organization, on 18 June.
Clashes between armed groups, lack of access for aid workers and inadequate rainfall have aggravated the humanitarian situation in Darfur, say aid workers. Fighting between Sudanese government forces and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) intensified in May in South Darfur, with casualties reported on both sides, according to the UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID).
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