UN chief to donors for Sudan: “hungry people cannot eat pledges”

WASHINGTON, April 13 (AFP) — UN Secretary General Kofi Annan Wednesday urged donors who pledged 4.5 million dollars for war-torn Sudan to provide the cash quickly, and the African Union to send peacekeepers to prevent more death and suffering.

A Sudanese boy carries water in a plastic container Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 in Rumbek in southern Sudan.

“The billions pledged this week can help. But hungry people cannot eat pledges,” Annan wrote in The New York Times, recalling that in the past “we’ve learned that donor pledges often remain unfulfilled.”

To help three million displaced civilians now returning to southern Sudan, two million of whom urgently need food, “I urge donors to convert their generous pledges into cash without delay. And I urge the public to hold them accountable for their promises,” Annan said.

“But more than food aid is needed — we also need to hold the perpetrators of violence in Sudan accountable,” Annan added, praising last month’s UN Security Council decision to punish violators of international law in Sudan and refer the situation in the western Darfur region to the International Criminal Court.

Annan also urged the African Union to send more peacekeepers to Sudan.

“After all, giving aid without protection is like putting a Band-Aid on an open wound. Unarmed aid workers, while vitally necessary, cannot defend civilians from murder, rape or violent attack,” he said.

Annan called for a concerted effort to get Sudan’s still-warring parties to negotiate and agree on a political settlement.

“In this watershed year for Sudan … We know what we need: money to help win the peace in the south, more African Union boots on the ground to help end the atrocities in Darfur, and political pressure to settle the conflict. It’s that simple, and that essential,” the UN chief said.

On Tuesday in Norway, foreign donors pledged 4.5 billion dollars (3.5 billion euros) for reconstruction projects, notably in southern Sudan, where government and rebels signed a peace treaty in January to end 21 years of conflict.

The pledge nearly doubled the amount requested in a post-war needs assessment, but the United States tied its aid to improvements in Darfur, where a two-year conflict has left some 300,000 dead and some 2.4 million displaced.