DARFUR:  HIGH-LEVEL HUMANITARIAN MISSION TO VISIT SUDAN NEXT WEEK

NEW YORK, 23 April (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) -- The Secretary-General has asked James Morris, the Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), to lead a high-level humanitarian mission to the Darfur region of the Sudan.  The inter-agency mission, scheduled to be in the Sudan from 27 April until 2 May, will get a first-hand look at the humanitarian situation, assess the scope of the crisis, and identify any gaps in humanitarian assistance.

As the ability of humanitarian agencies to assess the needs of people in Darfur increases, the United Nations expects it will have to revise its Humanitarian Appeal for Darfur upwards, beyond the $115 million it requested earlier this month.  All funds contributed so far for relief efforts to assist some 1 million internally displaced persons in Darfur have already been exhausted.

One of the mission’s most urgent tasks will be to identify ways to pre-position humanitarian supplies before the rainy season.  It will also assess the possibility for conducting cross-border operations, airlifts and airdrops.  The mission will discuss with Sudanese authorities, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations and donors, ways to improve access and protection of civilians in Darfur.

The United Nations Country Team in the Sudan reports that its supplies of shelter materials for Darfur’s internally displaced persons are now completely exhausted.  It also notes that water shortages in Darfur are likely to lead to outbreaks of cholera, meningitis, measles and acute diarrhoeal diseases.  Finally, existing stocks of food aid will also soon be depleted and will need urgent replenishment.

President Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir of the Sudan extended the invitation to the United Nations so that agencies could view the situation on the ground with their own eyes.  The United Nations estimates that more than 1 million people have been displaced in Darfur.

For further information, please contact:  Stephanie Bunker, OCHA New York, tel: 917 367 5126, mobile: 917 892 1679; Elizabeth Byrs, OCHA Geneva, tel: 41 22 917 2653, mobile: 41 (0) 79 473 4570; Ben Parker, Spokesperson for the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Sudan, mobile: +254 733 609869; Laura Melo, Public Affairs Officer, WFP/Nairobi, tel. +254-2-622594; Brenda Barton, Deputy Director Communications, WFP/Rome, tel: +39-06-65132602, mobile +39-3472582217.

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