Sudan says South Kordofan survey proves stable humanitarian situation
March 24, 2012 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan announced Saturday that the humanitarian situation in the troubled region of South Kordofan is stable according to the outcome of a joint survey conducted with the United Nations agencies in the war-affected state.
In a press conference held in Khartoum Sudan’s minister of social welfare, Amira al-Fadil told reporters that the humanitarian survey in 11 districts and 53 villages revealed the stability of the humanitarian situation there
The minister thanked all the international and local partners who participated in the operation and pointed out that the joint field survey refutes all the allegations about the existence of a food crisis in South Kordofan and paves the way to develop a road map on the required humanitarian operations.
The survey which involved the UNHCR and UNICEF covered the government controlled areas of South Kordofan where some of the war affected civilians are displaced but it did not include the areas held by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North (SPLM-N), who have been fighting the government since June 2011.
Sudan’s humanitarian affairs commissioner stated that the volume of humanitarian aid provided by the government, since the outbreak of the conflict in South Kordofan, amounted to 7,818 metric tons. He also said that of 151,000 people who were displaced by the war 101,000 have already returned to their villages now.
The international community is pressing on the Sudanese government to give international aid groups unrestricted access to rebel-held areas in the Nuba Mountains where thousands of civilians face starvation particularly as the approaching rainy season will complicate the transportation of food.
Sudan, which invokes security reasons to justify its refusal to allow international aid groups to work in the rebel zones, is studying a tripartite plan proposed by the UN, African Union and Arab League aiming to assure Khartoum that the affected civilians will be the only beneficiary of the humanitarian assistance.
Minister al-Fadil renewed the government’s demand for a ceasefire, adding that the concerned services are still considering the tripartite proposal.
She also reiterated the government’s refusal to open camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in the state where some 49,000 are affected by the conflict, according to government statistics, saying they do not want to repeat the current situation in Darfur.
Last Friday, a bipartisan group of US senators introduced a resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities in the South Kordofan and urged the warring parties from the Sudanese army and the rebel SPLM-N to observe it. The bill comes as the United States and United Kingdom called on the Sudanese parties to cease war and to recommit themselves to the political process for a negotiated settlement.
Besides the humanitarian aspects of the conflict, the international community fears that this conflict impacts negatively on relations between newly independent South Sudan and Sudan and lead to another north-south war.
(ST)