Darfur: Humanitarian Groups Race Oncoming Rains

WASHINGTON, DC, May 20, 2004 (ENS) - In the Darfur region of western Sudan, more than a million people have been forced from their homes, and at least two million have been affected in other ways by a conflict distinct from the North-South war. The violent campaign of ethnic cleansing in Darfur has forced about 110,000 refugees into eastern Chad. These refugees are extremely food insecure and vulnerable to malnutrition and disease.

The escalating violence has ethnic-racial overtones, pitting the Arab militia against non-Arab African groups. The Janjaweed militia are terrorizing Darfur communities, killing men and raping women and girls. With over one half of Darfur's total population of six million affected, the United Nations has called Darfur "one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world."

Darfur refugee women in a Chad border camp (Photo courtesy WFP )

Speaking to the InterAction 2004 Annual Forum on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States is increasing efforts to get humanitarian relief to people in the Darfur region, which is experiencing what he called the "most serious crisis on the face of the Earth now."

InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S. based international development and humanitarian nongovernmental organizations with more than 160 members operating in every developing country.

Powell told the organization that USAID has now sent seven planes to South Darfur’s capital, Nyala, with non-food items and the United States plans to get more planes in if possible.

"We are pressing the Government of Sudan for unrestricted access to Darfur. We are urging other governments to do the same," said Powell.

Powell said he has been speaking to his colleagues in the Group of Eight countries, in the European Union, and elsewhere, to tell them "that the whole international community must come together to put pressure on the government of Sudan, in order to get the access we need, and to get the supplies in, to call off the militias who are doing such a terrible thing to the poor people in this troubled region."

Powell said that since the parties came together for last month's signing of a ceasefire, access has improved somewhat but "clearly remains inadequate."

"We have called on all parties to observe the ceasefire and for the Government of Sudan to rein in these lawless militias immediately," Powell said.

An African Union reconnaissance team is meeting today with the rebels and the government of Sudan.

Map of Central Africa showing Darfur (Map courtesy WFP)

Meanwhile, the government of Sudan and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement are working on a framework agreement at Lake Naivasha in Kenya. If that takes place, Powell held out the hope that conditions might be eased in Darfur.

As the June rainy season approaches in Darfur, United Nations humanitarian agencies and their NGO partners are racing to bring aid to people in need, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Wednesday.

By mid-May, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) had distributed 2,200 metric tons of food to some 126,000 people in Darfur. The WFP plans to reach between 450,000 to 500,000 people with food this month.

The UN's food agency seeks to serve a total of 1.2 million beneficiaries at present, but says it may have to increase that number, depending on ongoing assessments and access conditions.

The International Committee for the Red Cross will expand its distribution of shelter items to include approximately 100,000 beneficiaries before the rainy season.

The NGO GOAL is distributing some 24,000 blankets. The NGO CARE will help organize trucking of the blankets to distribution points in Kutum.

When CARE workers entered the tiny Sudanese village of Nyertiti, in Western Darfur they found a desperate situation, Lurma Rackley and Alina Labrada wrote on May 12.

"The people of Nyertiti had been trying to help as many as 12,000 of their fellow countrymen who had fled empty handed from their homes in the war-torn Darfur region. Still more poured in, and food and water had run out."

Two teams of CARE workers in groups of 20 began distributing food. Within a week, 11,000 more internally displaced people had fled to the area.

First distributions of shelter and cooking supplies from a centralized stockpile are scheduled to begin on May 27 when a week-long distribution by Save the Children will target an estimated 37,000 internally displaced families. Beneficiaries are targeted through the on-going food distributions.

Additional Shelter/NFI distribution plans from Concern and Medair is awaited. Similarly, MSF-France distributed 14,358 blankets alongside their blanket food distribution in Mornei.

Children from Darfur at the Farchana refugee camp (Photo by Nancy Palus courtesy WFP)

Also, planning for the measles immunization plan in all three Darfur states has now been finalized. The campaign is scheduled to begin in the first week of June in South Darfur, followed by North and West Darfur beginning the second week of June.

CARE is working with partner organizations in the area to urge the Sudanese government to promote access to communities in need and to ensure the protection of civilians, humanitarian workers and supplies.

The presence of Darfur refugees is straining relations with local Chadians as refugees' camels and cattle compete with local livestock for water and pasture. Chadian pastoralists, currently in dry season grazing grounds in southern Chad, will migrate north with the onset of the rainy season - June to September - adding to the livestock population. The terrain is already strewn with livestock carcasses, posing a health hazard, USAID officials warn.

Once seasonal rains start in the region, much of eastern Chad will be cut off, according to the Famine Early Warning System Network, a USAID funded activity. While large towns in Darfur may be accessible, surrounding areas will be difficult to access. All efforts are being made to provide refugees and internally displaced persons with shelter and to preposition or distribute relief supplies to last through the rainy season.

Already rains have begun in the southernmost parts of Darfur. Normally within the next two weeks, the rains will start in all of South Darfur. By the end of July the rains will cover the entire region.