Unimpeded humanitarian access to be granted for Darfur

The government of Sudan and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) rebel group operating in Darfur have said they will guarantee humanitarian access to the region as part of their ceasefire agreement, according to the UN. Both sides had agreed "in principle" to include an annex in the ceasefire agreement to guarantee unimpeded access, the UN Area Coordinator for Western Sudan told IRIN. The agreement is supposed to be implemented within the 45-day ceasefire period which began on 6 September. Humanitarian access to all three states of Darfur has improved considerably since the 6 September deal, with only small areas remaining out of bounds due to travel bans imposed by the government. A number of NGO and UN assessments have since taken place to establish the scale of the needs, revealing "desperate conditions", especially among the 300,000 people who have been displaced by Arab militia attacks since August. "Now that we know the scale of the problem, it is important for all agencies to increase their capacity, for donors to increase funding and new agencies to come forward," said the UN Coordinator. Areas around Kebkabiya and Korma towns in north Darfur (hosting over 77,000 displaced people) and the Kass area, northern Nyala area and Nyala town in south Darfur (over 100,000 people) are being targeted by the UN for immediate assistance. So far, no humanitarian aid has been able to reach the 10,000-12,000 displaced people around Nyala, south Darfur, where several villages have been looted and burned. The government has said it will immediately send some 3,600 people camped on the edge of Nyala town back to their homes where it will provide security for them. However some humanitarian workers fear the IDPs will disperse if forced to return, making it even harder to provide relief to them.