UNITED NATIONS SEEKS $109.4 MILLION FOR EMERGENCY HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO SUDAN

Press Release
IHA/649

UNITED NATIONS SEEKS $109.4 MILLION FOR EMERGENCY HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE TO SUDAN

NEW YORK, 19 February (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- A deadly combination of intensified fighting and widespread drought is threatening to displace hundreds of thousands of Sudanese from their homes and put entire communities at risk of severe hunger and life-threatening disease.

It is against this backdrop that the United Nations today launched the 1998 consolidated inter-agency appeal for the Sudan, requesting $109.4 million to meet the urgent humanitarian needs of more than 4 million war- and drought-affected Sudanese. The appeal also covers projects aimed at protecting livelihoods and, in the medium term, re-establishing communities and social networks.

Most emergency assistance to the Sudan is channelled through Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), which brings together United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations in a unique consortium arrangement. The OLS has been operating for nine years, providing humanitarian assistance to war-affected populations living in southern Sudan, the transitional zone, and the camps and settlements for internally displaced persons around Khartoum. It works in close partnership with all the parties to the conflict, including the Government of the Sudan and the southern movements.

As the Sudan enters its fifteenth consecutive year of civil war, more than 4 million people will require assistance to cope with the effects of war and displacement, including malnutrition and widespread disease caused by a severe shortage of adequate health care, lack of clean drinking water, appalling sanitary conditions and inadequate shelter.

Already this year, increased insecurity and crop failure in parts of the regions of Bahr Al Ghazal, Equatoria and Jonglei in southern Sudan are forcing people to flee traditional grazing and fishing grounds and increasing the price of staple foods to levels beyond the reach of vulnerable populations.

The World Food Programme (WFP) is requesting $59.4 million for food aid and transport, which includes costly airlifting and airdropping operations to remote and inaccessible locations. The WFP estimates that 75,350 tons of

emergency food aid will be required in 1998 for 2.4 million war- and drought- affected civilians, mainly women, children and the elderly.

Assessments conducted in late 1997 indicate that hundreds of thousands of Sudanese will be unable to survive without food aid, especially during the primary food deficit period from April to August.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is requesting $33.6 million to provide essential medicines and health care, emergency shelter, basic education, seeds, hand tools and fishing equipment, and special care for children in difficult circumstances. It is also seeking funds to cover the costs of operating as the lead agency in OLS southern sector. These costs include the Lokichokio forward staging base camp located in northern Kenya, security coverage for OLS staff on the ground and air operations.

The UNICEF will collaborate with the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in implementing projects to improve household food security, and the World Health Organization (WHO) in providing emergency health services.

United Nations agencies are also appealing for funds to address some of the underlying causes of civilian suffering through a mine-awareness programme and projects designed to promote awareness of, and adherence to, humanitarian principles, including those contained in the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In addition, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs is seeking $1.7 million for inter-agency coordination and emergency programme support provided by the United Nations Humanitarian Coordination Unit in Khartoum.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is seeking $9.8 million for the provision of multi-sectoral assistance to 135,739 refugees in 25 camps in the Sudan. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is seeking $2.5 million for disaster preparedness and response, an area rehabilitation scheme in West Kordofan State, and the resettlement and reintegration of internally displaced persons. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is also appealing for $1.2 million to provide reproductive health services for displaced women and children.

Last year, the United Nations received only 40 per cent of the $120.8 million required for emergency activities in the Sudan, seriously compromising its ability to respond to the growing humanitarian crisis. The UNICEF received 45.8 per cent of the $46.8 it requested, while the WFP received 50 per cent of its total funding requirements for 1997. The UNHCR received only 29.9 per cent from its 1997 appeal, while the WHO, FAO and the UNDP all received under 1 per cent of their funding requests in 1997.

This under-funding had led to, among others, the United Nations system's inability to adequately respond in hard-hit locations where malnutrition rates

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rose to over 50 per cent. This aggravated the precarious health and nutritional status of hundreds of thousands of women and children, making them vulnerable to a range of life-threatening diseases. Although malnutrition and morbidity among children reached levels of serious concern, UNICEF was forced to reduce its interventions in nutrition, primary health care, water and sanitation as a result of poor funding.

Where funding was provided, the United Nations was able to provide food and other humanitarian relief assistance. In 1997, the WFP delivered over 32,000 tons of food to a monthly average of 386,000 people. Agencies associated with the OLS also supported and coordinated a wide range of programmes on primary health care, household food security, livestock health, water and sanitation, emergency education, children in especially difficult circumstances, gender and development, capacity-building, humanitarian principles and child rights.

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