Funds boost WFP in Darfur
2006-05-29 23:40
Rome - The United Nations food agency, the World Food Programme (WFP) says it can increase rations for about three million refugees in Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region - after it was forced to slash daily handouts by half because of a lack of funds.
Donations of money and cereal from the United States, Canada, the European Union and Sudan's government will allow the WFP to increase daily rations to 1 770 calories a person in Darfur.
The amount, however, is still short of the 2 100 calories considered the daily minimum requirement, said the Rome-based agency.
Earlier this month, WFP reduced the ration to 1 050 calories a person, trying to stretch its food stocks through the region's rainy season of July to September, when needs are greatest before the harvest.
Full rations could be restored by October, depending on the contributions, said the WFP.
Militia rape civilians
Until May, donor countries had provided less then half of the $600m needed by the agency to feed the destitute in Sudan.
About 180 000 people have been killed and three million driven from their homes by fighting in Darfur since 2003.
Sudanese government leaders allegedly encouraged militiamen from nomadic Arab tribes to wage a devastating counter-insurgency, committing widespread rape, arson and murder against civilians in the villages.
Getting the food to Darfur safely has proven to be a challenge for the WFP, with armed militias regularly hijacking NGO cars and robbing or kidnapping staff.
Khartoum has pledged to crack down on militias suspected in most of these attacks.
Earlier this month, the UN mission to Sudan said humanitarian agencies should update their evacuation plans.
'Violence is always a threat'
The African Union, which runs a 7 300-strong peacekeeping mission in the vast arid region, said one of its patrols had been ambushed near the Masteri refugee camp in west Darfur on Saturday.
About 50 unidentified militia attacked the peacekeepers, killing a Nigerian soldier and seriously wounding another soldier, said the AU's Moussa Hamani.
"Ambushes aren't constant, but there are so many warring factions that violence is always a threat to operations," said Hamani.
A May 5 peace deal has been broken repeatedly.
The UN said the agreement's Sudanese negotiator, Majzoub Khalifa, met with Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi to discuss the creation of a commission to supervise the treaty's implementation on Monday.
Libya helped broker the peace deal, and would sit on the commission with Khartoum and chief Darfur rebel Minni Minnawi, said the UN.
- AP