WFP boss leads humanitarian mission to Sudan

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, April 26, 2004 (PANA) — A high-level humanitarian mission,led by UN World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director James Morris, is due in Sudan’s western Darfur region for a six-day visit beginning 27 April, the WFP has announced.

The inter-agency mission will get a first-hand look at the humanitarian situation, assess the scope of the current crisis in the region, and identify any gaps in humanitarian assistance.

As the ability of humanitarian agencies to assess the needs of people in Darfur increases, the UN expects it will have to revise its Humanitarian Appeal for Darfur upwards, beyond the $115 million it requested earlier this month.

According to WFP, all funds contributed so far for relief efforts to assist some 1 million internally displaced persons in Darfur have already been exhausted.

One of the mission’s most urgent tasks will be to identify ways to pre-position humanitarian supplies before the rainy season starts. It will also assess the possibility for conducting cross-border operations, airlifts and airdrops.

WFP said the mission would discuss with Sudanese authorities, UN agencies, NGOs and donors, ways to improve access and protection of civilians in Darfur.

Meanwhile, the UN’s Country Team in Sudan has reported that its supplies of shelter materials for Darfur’s internally displaced persons were completely exhausted.

It also noted that water shortages in Darfur were likely to lead to outbreaks of cholera, meningitis, measles and acute diarrhoeal diseases.

Sudanese President Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir has invited the UN so that its agencies could assess the situation on the ground. The UN estimates more than one million people have been displaced as a result of the fighting in Darfur between government troops and two rebel groups.