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Insecurity, underfunding still dog aid in Darfur: UN

26th June 2004

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A top UN agency warned yesterday that a combination of insecurity in Sudan's crisis-torn Darfur region and a lack of funding from the international community were still hampering aid for hundreds of thousands of people.

"We were hoping to feed 800 000 people this month and it looks like we will only reach 500 000 because of insecurity and what we call a weak pipeline," said World Food Programme (WFP) spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume.

The UN says Darfur is in the grip of the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated 1,2-million people in need of emergency aid.

The number is likely to double after the rainy season takes hold in the largely desert area in the coming months, Berthiaume told journalists.

WFP has only received 30% of the funding it had appealed for to provide emergency food rations in Darfur, she added.

The US has contributed $46-million of the $60-million the agency has received and most of the rest had come from Euroepan countries.

UN aid officials in the region reiterated late Thursday that insecurity around the city of Nyala and the Chad border had effectively cut roads there.

"There are still people out of reach, we have access to about 70% of areas," Berthiaume told AFP.

Berthiaume could not say if attacks on displaced people and villages by Sudanese government-backed Janjawid militia were continuing.

Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency started operations in Darfur for the first time this week to register displaced people in an attempt to find out how many there are and where they come from.

The seven staff from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will eventually expand to 30, but the operation was "limited" and more funding would be needed, UNHCR spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis said.

The UNHCR has so far helped about 110 000 refugees from Darfur who fled to neighbouring Chad.

The warning came a few days before US Secretary of State Colin Powell is due to travel to Sudan to urge Khartoum to disarm pro-government militia, stop fighting with local rebels, and let aid flow freely into Darfur. – Sapa-AFP.

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