Insecurity limits relief efforts in Darfur

The high level of insecurity in the western Sudanese region of Darfur is seriously hampering the ability of international humanitarian organisations to deliver aid to many internally displaced persons (IDPs), the UN emergency relief coordinator said this week. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland, told the Security Council during a briefing on the humanitarian challenges in Africa that despite an arms embargo imposed by the Council in July, all parties to the conflict in Darfur remained heavily armed, limiting the UN's ability to reach people in need. "In December, WFP [World Food Programme] managed to reach 1.5 million people, a significant achievement, but still 500,000 less than the target for December," Egeland told the Council. "In January, they have reached about 900,000 so far, only about 50 percent of their target," he noted, adding that access problems were resulting in significant shortfalls in other critical sectors as well. George Somerwill, deputy spokesperson for the UN Advance Mission in Sudan, told IRIN on Thursday that more than one hundred civilians had been killed or injured and thousands displaced as a result of a series of attacks on villages across Darfur. Due to the reported attacks, some parts of Darfur have been identified as "no-go" areas for UN agencies. Egeland said that, over the last two months, continuing violence had forced tens of thousands of IDPs to flee their villages. "The situation is considered worse in South Darfur and West Darfur states," he added. While acknowledging the Council's help in galvanising the attention and funding for the crisis in Darfur, Egeland urged the international community not to neglect the political and humanitarian impact on countries and communities that are hosting refugee populations, such as eastern Chad. "We know from bitter experience what the potential consequences are, so we need to provide much greater assistance to those host countries," he said. The war in Darfur pits Sudanese government troops and militias allegedly allied to the government, against rebels fighting to end what they have called the marginalisation of and discrimination against the region's inhabitants by the state. The conflict has displaced an estimated 1.45 million people within Sudan and sent another 200,000 fleeing across the border into Chad. The UN has described Darfur as one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.