KHARTOUM, 17 August (IRIN): Almost 500.000 Darfurians have been cut off from emergency food aid due to insecurity in the region, which has rendered them inaccessible to humanitarian workers, according to the United Nations.
– This is a major concern for us, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) spokesman Kenro Oshidari said in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Wednesday.
– It is happening during the period of the hunger season, before the harvest. This is the season typically when malnutrition rates rise and disease increases because of the rains, added he.
The number of Darfurians who have been cut off from food aid has nearly doubled since June, Oshidari said.
– We are looking at the lowest level of access since the beginning of the conflict – we are very concerned, Imogen Wall, public information officer for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Khartoum, said, adding: – Nearly half a million people can not get food during the height of the hunger season. That is half a million too many.
The flare-up of violence in the region was ignited by the May signing of the Darfur Peace Accord between the government of Sudan and the commander of one wing of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), Minni Minnawi.
The agreement was unpopular with rebel leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement and a faction of the SLA, who claimed it did not meet their basic demands of power-sharing and compensation for about three million victims of the war.
Rebels have since fought among themselves for control over territory, launching attacks on rival strongholds. Thousands of civilians have been displaced.
Adding to the danger are militias known as Janjawid, who raid villages, raping and killing, and armed bandits who roam the region attacking aid convoys.
– WFP has over 700 staff in Darfur and I am very concerned about their security. Our convoys of trucks that carry food are under attack in some places, Oshidari said.
July was the deadliest month for aid workers in the embattled region, with eight Sudanese nationals killed. The UN and other humanitarian organisations have expressed growing concern that the spiralling violence will severely curtail the world’s largest aid operation.
In addition, the Darfur conflict has taken a back seat to the fighting in the Middle East. “While the news cameras are focused on the conflict in Lebanon, the situation in Sudan has quietly grown more dangerous and desperate than ever,” Oshidari said in a news release.
Oshidari warned that the WFP was facing a funding crisis and may have to begin cutting rations for six million people in October.
As it takes up to six months for donations to be converted into food and transported to people in need, WFP requires an estimated 350 million US dollar now to avoid ration cuts, cover Sudans food aid requirements for the first three months of 2007, and pre-position another four months worth of food for next years rainy season when remote areas will be inaccessible by road.
Sudan has come under intense international pressure to allow a UN force to take over from an underfunded African Union Mission, which is monitoring the implementation of the peace agreement.
However, Sudan has refused UN intervention, comparing it to an invasion. On Monday, the Sudanese President, Umar al-Bashir, reportedly threatened to “defeat any forces entering the country”.
The three-year Darfur conflict began when rebels rose against the central government, complaining that the vast region remained underdeveloped due to neglect. The government is charged with arming the Janjawid to embark on a campaign to crush the rebellion.
According to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s latest report on Darfur, more than 200.000 people are believed to have died, with millions more displaced by the fighting.
Kilde: FN-bureauet IRINnews
