Two stories:
The U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, Margareta Wahlstrom, says [that] the humanitarian situation in Sudan's western Darfur region is worsening. From VOA's United [Nations] bureau, Suzanne Presto reports.
Wahlstrom says [that] 4 million people in the Darfur region rely on humanitarian assistance. She says [that] the region has been the scene of the world's largest humanitarian operation for the past three years, and she says [that] the problems have grown even more critical in the past few months.
The U.N. emergency-relief coordinator says [that] violence and insecurity displaced another 55,000 people between June and late August, bringing the total to 250,000 this year, and 2.2 million people in total.
Wahlstrom says [that] aid workers are concerned that malnutrition is on the rise in Darfur. She says [that] several surveys indicate that, in certain areas, about one-in-five people (17 percent) are malnourished.
Wahlstrom says [that] there is a lean season every year in Darfur, but she says [that] aid workers have never seen this pattern of decline.
"With a huge effort of the international and humanitarian community, from [i.e., starting in] 2004, the situation stabilized from a health and nutritional perspective," she said. "So this is the first time [that] we see the potential of a deterioration, for which we are very worried, and we put this in the context of the very unstable situation."
An estimated 200,000 people in Darfur have been killed during more than four years of fighting between rebels, the government, and militia groups.
In late July, the U.N. approved a joint United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force for Darfur. When fully deployed, it will be the world's largest peacekeeping mission, comprised of more than 19,000 military personnel and about 6,400 police officers.
Wahlstrom says [that] humanitarian workers have high hopes for this force.
"The expectation that the result of the deployment of the mission on the situation of people will yield almost immediate impact will be very high," she added.
On the subject of broader relief efforts, Wahlstrom says [that] Sudanese authorities have been more cooperative in recent months, particularly in terms of administrative tasks, such as issuing visas to relief workers. But she notes that humanitarian groups are concerned that authorities ordered the top official in Sudan for the international aid agency CARE to leave the country.
A United Nations official today [Friday] warned that the humanitarian situation is worsening in Sudan’s war-ravaged Darfur region, with more people being displaced, increased security risks to aid workers, and potentially rising malnutrition rates.
“We believe [that] it’s important to keep reminding ourselves that a credible ceasefire and controlling the lawlessness in Darfur are really the two bottom-lines that need to be sustained, and this is, of course, the intent of the international community,” UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Margareta Wahlström told reporters at the world body’s Headquarters in New York.
In the period from June until 21 August, 55,000 people have been newly displaced, which bring the total of those fleeing their homes since January to a quarter million. Out of a total population in Darfur of 6.4 million, 2.2 million are displaced, while four million are dependent on humanitarian assistance, she noted.
“Also, the trend for aid workers is not positive,” she said, with a 150 per cent surge in incidents – including car hijackings, attacks on convoys, and other acts of violence – against humanitarian staff. She also reminded reporters that attacks on relief providers are having an impact on Darfurians as well.
Ms. Wahlström expressed concern regarding the recent expulsion by Sudanese officials of the country director of the non-governmental organization (NGO) CARE International. “We obviously think that this sends a very wrong signal to the international community, and we would like to hope that the Sudanese authorities will reverse this decision,” she said.
Recent spot surveys indicate that malnutrition is on the rise in the region, where at least 200,000 people have died since 2003 because of fighting between rebel groups, Sudanese Government forces and allied Janjaweed militias.
The results show [that] current malnutrition rates are “well over 17 per cent” in some areas, Ms. Wahlström said.
“With the huge effort of the international humanitarian community from [i.e., starting in] 2004, the situation stabilized from a health and nutritional perspective, so this is the first time [that] we see the potential of a deterioration, for which we are very worried, and we put this in the context of the very unstable situation in the area,” she said.
Ms. Wahlström voiced hope that the deployment of the hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur (UNAMID) from the start of next year will have a positive impact and [will] contribute to improving the humanitarian situation.
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