KHARTOUM: United Nations officials in Sudan say they urgently need new funds to help avert a humanitarian catastrophe after crop failures caused by a severe drought.
They say nearly one million people could be at risk of starvation if food aid doesn't reach them over the next three months.
In some areas of Sudan, UN officials say wells have now begun to run dry, and people have started to move in search of food.
The UN has been warning of the effects of the drought for several weeks, but now officials say their latest crop assessments indicate the situation is even worse than they had predicted.
The UN says it will now need an extra $40m in food aid and $7m for water, healthcare, and education for children who will be displaced because of the drought, in addition to the $194m to pay for relief aid it asked for in November.
The worst-hit areas are the provinces of northern Kordofan and northern Darfur, where a senior UN official said tribal conflicts over access to pasture, food and water had already broken out.
The UN is concerned that those conflicts could now cause a flare up in Sudan's long-running civil war, which might endanger its massive humanitarian operation in the south.
Source: http://www.geo.tv/World.htm
0 comments:
Post a Comment