HUMANITARIAN SITUATION WORSENS IN GREATER DARFUR REGION OF WESTERN SUDAN

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION WORSENS IN GREATER DARFUR REGION OF WESTERN SUDAN

(Reissued as received.)

NEW YORK, 7 October (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- The humanitarian situation in the Greater Darfur Region of western Sudan continues to deteriorate in spite of the ceasefire agreement.  Militias continue to destroy livelihoods and cause displacement into Nyala town in South Darfur, global malnutrition rates have reportedly increased, and humanitarian partners on the ground do not have the human and financial resources to cope with the evolving situation.  Over 30 per cent of the villages in North Darfur have been looted and burnt by the militias.  Around the city of Nyala in South Darfur, attacks intensified last week, during which 23 villages were looted and burnt, and crops destroyed.  In West Darfur, occasional fighting and looting has been reported.

The number of people in the Darfur Region displaced because of recent conflict is estimated at 300,000.  In addition, there are up to 200,000 internally displaced persons, who arrived in 1988, 1992, and 2001.  In South Darfur, a new internally displaced persons camp has been established in Nyala to house over 2,000 internally displaced persons from areas around the city because of recent militia attacks.  In the new Intifada camp, the number of internally displaced persons continues to increase and is currently estimated at 3,000.  Since 11 September 2003, an average of two children have died per day, of malnutrition and other diseases.

In North Darfur, a new internally displaced persons camp has been established in El Fasher with over 1,000 people originating from Jebel Si.  Food aid and water services have been provided.  A joint assessment on 19 September 2003 showed that in Kebkabya (38,000 internally displaced persons): 299 people died during the week from 13-19 September, mainly due to diarrhea, malnutrition, and malaria.  A nutrition survey identified 211 children out of 360 screened, or over half, as moderately malnourished.  In Kurma, an additional 532 MT of food aid is required for 39,408 internally displaced persons; in Mailo: 6,000 new internally displaced persons are still to be assessed and assisted; and in Tawila:  7,033 internally displaced persons are in need of assistance.

In West Darfur, 15,000 of the total estimated 75,000 internally displaced persons have been confirmed by the non-governmental organization Medair.  The internally displaced persons are located mainly in Mukjar, Gazela and Jebel Marra areas.

Urgent funding is required to provide to new internally displaced persons in North and South Darfur shelter materials, food aid, water supplies, sanitation, healthcare, education, and agricultural inputs.  On 15 September, the United Nations announced a $22.8 million plan for future humanitarian operations called the Greater Darfur Special Initiative.  The initiative aims to accelerate humanitarian relief for the most vulnerable.  In addition, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, last week, appealed for $16.6 million in urgent funds to avert a humanitarian disaster on the Chad-Sudan border, where more than 70,000 Sudanese refugees have been living in desperate conditions for months.  The refugees, who started fleeing fighting in the Darfur region of northern Sudan in April, have been encamped in the remote desert of eastern Chad with little food or water, sleeping under makeshift shelters with no sanitation or medical facilities.

Sudan is home to the world's largest internally displaced population.  An estimated 4 million people are currently internally displaced.

For further information, please call:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA NY, tel: 917 367 5126, mobile:  917 892 1679;  Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel:  41 22 917 26 53, mobile:  41 (0) 79 473 45 70.

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