Sudan seeks to aid and develop rebel-hit western region
KHARTOUM, Sept 21 (AFP) — The government plans to develop rebel-hit western Sudan as well as provide thousands of tonnes of domestic and international emergency food aid, a senior official said in remarks published here Sunday.
The remarks attributed to Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ibrahim Mahmud Hamid appeared designed to ease poverty and neglect, fuelling a months-long rebellion against the Sudanese government.
The government intends to deliver 15,000 tonnes of emergency food aid for the relief of 110,000 people over the coming three months, Hamid was quoted as saying in the independent Al Ayam daily.
He said 4,000 tonnes would be provided by the government from domestic stocks, 5,000 tonnes by the European Union and 6,000 by the United Nations and the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The second part of the programme provides for rehabilitation of services in the areas of water, health care, sanitation, shelter and education, Hamid said.
During the same period, any landmines would be removed from the area and weapons would be collected from civilians, in line with a six-week ceasefire signed in Abeche, Chad.
The ceasefire took effect on September 6, but the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) has accused government forces of violating it several times.
Under the programme, the government seeks to convene a general conference to develop the region, taking into consideration the state’s development policy and the UN Special Initiative for Greater Darfur, he added.
The initiative is currently being debated by officials of the three states of Darfur, the central government in Khartoum and civil society organisations, Hamid said.
Earlier this month the secretary general’s envoy for humanitarian affairs, Tom Vraaslen, met Sudanese officials to discuss aid development projects in the three states of Darfur.
The conflict has raged since February in western Sudan’s Darfur states, where the SLM say they are fighting for an end to marginalisation and neglect of the large, impoverished region by central authorities.
An official in western Sudan said the fighting has cost 3,000 lives.
It has also left 400,000 displaced, according to UN estimates.