New Zealand provides aid to W. Sudan

WELLINGTON, June 4, 2004 (Xinhua) — New Zealand is contributing 2 million NZ dollars (about 1.24 million US dollars) to Sudan to help deal with what the UN officials are calling one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, Aid Minister Marian Hobbs said Friday.

According to UN officials, Darfur, in Western Sudan, is suffering from repeated attacks by militia, including burning of villages, widespread looting and systematic destruction of livelihoods, which have left more than one million displaced people destitute. In addition, 110,000 have fled to neighboring Chad. The crisis is compounded by several years of drought.

Unless immediate support is provided, the United Nations predicts a real possibility of a humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur and Chad with major implications for peace and security in the region and the prospect of tens of thousands of deaths.

Hobbs said New Zealand was contributing 1 million NZ dollars ( about 620,000 US dollars) to the World Food Program for immediate food aid needs in Darfur and 1 million NZ dollars for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees operations in Sudan and neighboring countries.