UN warns that aid for Sudan is "grossly underfunded"
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A funding shortfall is jeopardising aid operations in Sudan, despite the continuing diplomatic and media attention the crisis in the Darfur region is getting, warned the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs as it launched a new funding appeal last week.
Operations "remain grossly underfunded," says the office in a statement. "Even as the recent conflict in Darfur dominates the headlines, only about 40% of the requested $722m has been received, with $434m still outstanding, to meet Sudan's overall needs till year's end."
Manuel Aranda da Silva, humanitarian coordinator for the UN, said: "While the number of people in critical need of humanitarian assistance has skyrocketed in Darfur, I implore the international community to also remember the plight of millions of vulnerable people struggling to survive all over the country."
"Aid agencies averted an apocalyptic catastrophe by gaining access to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by war over the past couple of months, but the humanitarian crisis is far from over," said Mr da Silva. But he warned: "Hundreds of thousands of families displaced by terrorising militias are completely dependent on relief for survival. Many are still empty handed; and with interagency assessments under way we could see the amount of people needing help rise exponentially."
Infectious diseases are spreading in Darfur's insanitary, rain sodden camps. An outbreak of hepatitis E has now emerged among refugees in Chad. The UN reported on 30 August that, in the Darfur region, from 30 May to 20 August, 41 people there had died and 2431 were suspected to have the disease. This represents a fourfold increase in incidence of the disease in the last month. In addition to a high incidence of malaria and diarrhoea, five cases of the Nigerian strain of polio have been confirmed. The World Health Organization now warns of the "threat of a major epidemic" of polio.
Locusts—already in Chad—pose another threat to Sudan
Credit: AP PHOTO/G DIANA
Locusts "could further exacerbate" the crisis, says the Food and Agricultural Organization (21 August, p 473). Already in Chad, the swarms are "dangerously close to the Sudan border."
Abdulla Tahir bin Yehia, the organisation's Sudan representative, said, "The swarms move like a bulldozer, destroying everything in their path, including crops and grazing vegetation for livestock... Due to conflict and financial constraints, it is very difficult to monitor the situation in Darfur."
Meanwhile, problems continue in the south of the country. Greg Barrow of the World Food Programme said: "There is no doubt that the sharp focus of attention on the crisis in the Darfur region has shifted attention away from the problems facing southern Sudan at a very critical moment in the troubled history of that region. The people of the south stand on the brink of peace, but they remain extremely vulnerable, and it would be unfortunate if their particular challenges are overlooked at this important stage."(Peter Moszynski)
Operations "remain grossly underfunded," says the office in a statement. "Even as the recent conflict in Darfur dominates the headlines, only about 40% of the requested $722m has been received, with $434m still outstanding, to meet Sudan's overall needs till year's end."
Manuel Aranda da Silva, humanitarian coordinator for the UN, said: "While the number of people in critical need of humanitarian assistance has skyrocketed in Darfur, I implore the international community to also remember the plight of millions of vulnerable people struggling to survive all over the country."
"Aid agencies averted an apocalyptic catastrophe by gaining access to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by war over the past couple of months, but the humanitarian crisis is far from over," said Mr da Silva. But he warned: "Hundreds of thousands of families displaced by terrorising militias are completely dependent on relief for survival. Many are still empty handed; and with interagency assessments under way we could see the amount of people needing help rise exponentially."
Infectious diseases are spreading in Darfur's insanitary, rain sodden camps. An outbreak of hepatitis E has now emerged among refugees in Chad. The UN reported on 30 August that, in the Darfur region, from 30 May to 20 August, 41 people there had died and 2431 were suspected to have the disease. This represents a fourfold increase in incidence of the disease in the last month. In addition to a high incidence of malaria and diarrhoea, five cases of the Nigerian strain of polio have been confirmed. The World Health Organization now warns of the "threat of a major epidemic" of polio.
Locusts—already in Chad—pose another threat to Sudan
Credit: AP PHOTO/G DIANA
Locusts "could further exacerbate" the crisis, says the Food and Agricultural Organization (21 August, p 473). Already in Chad, the swarms are "dangerously close to the Sudan border."
Abdulla Tahir bin Yehia, the organisation's Sudan representative, said, "The swarms move like a bulldozer, destroying everything in their path, including crops and grazing vegetation for livestock... Due to conflict and financial constraints, it is very difficult to monitor the situation in Darfur."
Meanwhile, problems continue in the south of the country. Greg Barrow of the World Food Programme said: "There is no doubt that the sharp focus of attention on the crisis in the Darfur region has shifted attention away from the problems facing southern Sudan at a very critical moment in the troubled history of that region. The people of the south stand on the brink of peace, but they remain extremely vulnerable, and it would be unfortunate if their particular challenges are overlooked at this important stage."(Peter Moszynski)