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WFP granted crucial access to rebel-held areas of Darfur

NAIROBI, Aug 12, 2004 (IRIN) — Rebels in the troubled western Sudanese region
of Darfur have allowed the World Food Programme (WFP) unimpeded access to
areas under their control in order to carry out an assessment of the food
needs of civilians living there, the United Nations food agency said.

The agreement allowing free access, was reached between WFP and the two
rebels groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice
and Equality Movement (JEM), following a meeting on 6 August in Eritrea,
between rebel representatives and a joint UN mission.

WFP Sudan spokesman, Richard Lee, told IRIN that the agreement was a
“crucial first step” towards reaching conflict-affected people who had so
far not received help because their areas could not be reached due to
insecurity.

Rain had also impeded access to some of the areas because roads had become
impassable, he added.

The agency said it currently had access to 119 of the 153 locations for
internally displaced people known to exist in Darfur, and that it had so
far provided assistance to 72 of the camps. Beneficiaries were being
registered and verified in another 34.

“WFP will now be able to assess the food aid needs of tens of thousands
more vulnerable people in previously inaccessible areas,” it said in a
statement. “Assessments are an essential component of the food aid process
since they must be conducted before WFP can begin registering
beneficiaries and providing food aid.”

Despite heavy rains and continuing insecurity, WFP said it intended to
provide food aid to 1.2 million of the most vulnerable people in Darfur
during the month of August, a 30 percent increase on the 950,000 people
reached in July. It planned to reach two million people by the end of
October.

The first joint assessments had already been conducted in six SLM/A areas
in rural Kutum and 13,000 people had been registered to receive food aid,
WFP said, adding that the new deal had paved the way for similar
assessments in many more locations across Darfur.

The two rebel groups assured WFP that food aid convoys would not be
subjected to any unwarranted delays or interference while passing through
rebel-controlled areas. “This is a positive development since a few WFP
trucks have been looted by armed men identifying themselves as members of
the SLA. Recently, armed men in the Ed Daien region diverted a truck and
looted 50 mt of food aid commodities,” the agency added.

“This important agreement will allow WFP to reach tens of thousands of
extremely vulnerable people, many of whom are in urgent need of food
assistance,” said Bradley Guerrant, WFP’s Deputy Country Director in
Sudan, who was part of the joint UN mission to Eritrea. “It will also help
to
ensure that our convoys can travel across Darfur without undue hindrance
so that life-saving food aid gets to those who really need it as quickly
as possible,” he added.

“With the heavy rain leaving some areas completely cut off, WFP launched
an airdrop operation on 1 August. 500 mt was dropped into Fur Buranga in
West Darfur in the first week of the operations, while an additional 414
mt is being dropped into Habila in West Darfur,” said WFP.

The first 21 of 120 all-terrain trucks destined for Darfur are on the road
to the region loaded with Corn Soya Blend (CSB) and were expected to
arrive in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, by the end of August,
according to WFP. An additional 35 trucks were due at Port Sudan by
mid-August, it said.

According to WFP, two recent large donations from the United States (US
$28 million) and the European Union (15 million euros) had eased the
pressure on its food pipeline. WFP had so far received $123 million of the
$195 million required to fund its operations in Darfur until the end of
2004.

The agency’s emergency operation now faces a shortfall of $72 million, or
37 percent of the total requirements. It said it had sufficient resources
for the next few months, but extra donations were needed to ensure that
there were no pipeline breaks for pulses and CSB in October or cereals in
November.

Thousands of people have died in the Darfur conflict which erupted early
last year when the two rebel groups took up arms against the government
accusing it of marginalising the region. The government is believed to
have armed the Janjawid militias to help its forces fight the rebels but
the pro-government militias stand accused of committing atrocities against
unarmed civilians.

An estimated 1.2 million people have been displaced by the conflict and
more than 180,000 others fled to neighbouring Chad. The UN Security
Council has demanded that Sudan immediately disarm the militias.

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