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UN relief effort in Sudan swings into action

"This is exactly what it would take to avoid massive death and starvation."

Jan Egeland, UN Under-secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs

A huge operation to tackle the world's worst unfolding humanitarian crisis was to swing into action yesterday following a warning that up to 300,000 people in Sudan could die within months even if essential aid gets through.

The UN will launch a 90-day emergency program after securing promises of funds from the US and other countries at a conference in Geneva.

The UN on Friday described a developing catastrophe in the region of Darfur and said the relief effort was crucial "to avoid massive death and starvation."

International aid agencies blame the scale of the crisis on the neglect of the international community and the obstruction by the Sudanese government of aid efforts.

About 1.2 million people, who fled their villages after being terrorized by government-armed Arab militia, are living in makeshift camps in Darfur and 100,000 in neighboring Chad. The flow of refugees to the border with Chad was continuing on Friday.

Andrew Natsios, head of USaid, a government agency, told the conference, which was held in private: "If we get relief in, we could lose a third of a million. If we do not, it could be a million."

The urgency is because of the start of the rainy season. The first rains fell this week on Mugjir in the south of the country, bringing with it the threat of polluted water supplies, disease and malnutrition.

Natsios said his predictions were based on mortality and malnutrition rates compiled recently in Sudan.

The UN asked the US and other nations for US$235 million in Geneva. The US promised US$147 million over 18 months and other countries made pledges.

UN Under-secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland admitted the response to the crisis had been too slow and additional funding was needed for the remainder of this year.

"This is no wish list. This is exactly what it would take to avoid massive death and starvation," he said Friday.

"If we don't get it all, so many people will perish. It is as dramatic as that," he said.

The UN plans to spend the money raised at Geneva over the next three months on: feeding 1 million people; drilling boreholes and providing water pumps and tanks for the camps; providing basic health care for 90 percent of the displaced; helping the displaced build temporary shelters; distributing seeds and tools to 78,000 families; and deploying ceasefire monitors and human rights observers.

The rainy season will hamper the humanitarian effort as travel will become increasingly difficult and airdrops will have to be used in many places.

Britain is taking a lead in trying to get the Sudanese government to lift bureaucratic obstacles preventing humanitarian agencies moving freely into Darfur.

Hilary Benn, the UK's international development secretary, is to visit Khartoum today to press the Sudanese to end a system of permits required for internal travel for humanitarian agencies. He will also ask for blocks on aid to be lifted. The Sudanese government denies responsibility for the crisis in Darfur, but western governments claim it initially armed the Arab militia, apparently to suppress a rebellion.

An estimated 30,000 have been killed in the present bout of fighting. The US, Britain and others are calling on the Sudanese government to disarm the militia.

In an effort to tackle the militia and try to restore some security, the pan-continental African Union sent 10 monitors to Khartoum on Tuesday to oversee a shaky ceasefire agreed to in April.
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