Senior UN officials deplore humanitarian situation in Darfur

The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, western Sudan, is one of the worst in the world, and has been devastating to women and girls, according to senior UN officials. "This is one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, with so many people in the most belligerent way being chased from their homes. Everything has been taken away from these people. This is tragic," UN World Food Programme Executive Director James Morris was quoted by UN News as saying in London on Tuesday. Morris last week led a high-level UN team to assess the situation in Darfur. The team also comprised Ambassador Tom Eric Vraalsen, the UN secretary-general's special envoy for humanitarian affairs in Sudan, and other senior officials from UN headquarters and agencies. It toured the three states of Darfur regions, from 28 to 30 April, to "gather first-hand information on the humanitarian situation, and assess the scope of the crisis". The Darfur conflict, which erupted early last year between the Sudanese government and militias allied to it on the one hand and two rebel groups on the other hand, has displaced over one million people, while some 110,000 others have fled to Chad. It has also been described by the UN as "one of the world's most neglected humanitarian crises". Despite a ceasefire agreement signed on 8 April between the government and the rebels, which led to a reduction of hostilities, the humanitarian crisis persists. "There's an urgency about our work, because people are suffering and the rainy season is just ahead of us and we need to get our work done as much in anticipation of the rainy season as is possible," Morris said. The continuing conflict was having a devastating effect on women and girls, according to Pamela Delargy, the chief of the humanitarian response unit of the UN Population Fund, who was part of the team led by Morris. Women and girls were vulnerable both during attacks and when they left camps for internally displaced persons to do chores to gather water, fuel or fodder, she said. "As in many other recent conflicts, rape has become a weapon of war in western Sudan, with disastrous consequences for women and girls," she added. Meanwhile Sudan was on Tuesday reelected to the UN Human Rights Commission, despite objections mainly by the United States. Sudan was among 14 countries elected to the UN's highest forum for examining human rights around the world. The nomination, by the African Group, prompted the US delegation to walk out. The other African countries named onto the commission were Guinea, Kenya and Togo.