300,000 displaced in Darfur conflict, UN says

[Elisabeth Janaina]

300,000 displaced in Darfur conflict, UN says


May 23, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – Fighting in Sudan’s western Darfur region
has resulted into the displacement of 300,000 people in the last five
months of this year, the United Nations estimates.
Valerie Amos speaks at a press conference during her recent visit to
Sudan (UN photo)
This number "is more than the total number of people displaced in the
last two years put together" said Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary
General for Humanitarian Affairs in a press conference held in
Khartoum on Thursday.

Amos who visited Zamzam camp for the internally Displaced Persons
(IDPs) near the North Darfur capital said she was sorry to realise
that people are still suffer from a lack of adequate basic services
since ten years ago when the conflict started.

"I was particularly shocked when we visited some of the new arrivals
in ZamZam camp. I saw people who had recently fled fighting in South
Darfur sheltering under small pieces of tarpaulin in the hot desert
sun, in desperate conditions", she further stressed.

Amos, who also doubles as the agency’s Emergency Relief Coordinator,
was on a three-day visit to Sudan to assess the humanitarian
operations in the North African country.

The top UN official, during her visit, also met the Sudanese
president, Omer Al-Bashir and other senior government officials in
Khartoum and Darfur, as well as partners from UN member states,
non-governmental organisations and other UN agencies.

“In all my meetings I have stressed the desire of the international
community to assist in meeting the needs of war-affected people in
Sudan,” Valerie said.

Sudan faces lots of humanitarian challenges worsened by the ongoing
fighting in Darfur, unresolved conflicts in South Kordofan and Blue
Nile and recent rebel attacks that have spread recently to North
Kordofan.

The situation, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator said, has resulted into
a “massive” displacement crisis, and high levels of malnutrition in
many parts of the country, including Eastern Sudan, where some of the
highest malnutrition rates have been recorded.

She also expressed concerns about the decreasing funding levels for
humanitarian assistance in Sudan, citing the ongoing conflicts,
competing needs in other countries, and a difficult global economic
environment.

“We have a serious funding crisis in Sudan. We need to attract more
funds from our traditional donors, but we also need to expand our
partnerships and attract funding from other Governments in the region
and elsewhere,” Valerie said.

Amos also accused rebel movements of being responsible for the crimes
committed on civilians in following their recent attacks in North and
South Kordofan states.

“I was shocked to hear detailed reports of the recent attacks on
civilians and civilian infrastructure by the Sudan Revolutionary Front
in Northern Kordofan and parts of South Kordofan. I condemn these
attacks on civilians in the strongest terms,” she said.

Meanwhile, the senior UN official welcomed the Darfur donors’
conference, which she described as a more sustainable ways of
supporting about 1.4 million displaced people who have no other
option, but to remain in the camps.

Up to US$ 3.6 billion in pledges for Darfur, including a commitment of
US$ 2.6 billion from the Government of Sudan, was raised at the
conference held in Qatar last April.

(ST)