The Greatest Place on Earth

Ok maybe not so much. But I love it anyway. I wanted to post this article not to alarm anyone but rather to continue my struggle to raise awareness of the situation here in Darfur and make people understand that it continues to get worse. It's an article off of Relief Web from OCHA.


(New York: 10 July 2007): Despite repeated appeals from UN agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in Darfur, continuing violence and targeting of civilians have displaced nearly 160,000 people so far this year, pushing the total number of internally displaced people to 2.1 million. Security incidents involving internally displaced people have more than tripled. The total number of civilians requiring relief assistance has reached 4.2 million, or nearly two-thirds of the entire Darfur population.

Particularly worrying is that attacks against the relief community have increased 150% in the past year, threatening the lifeline to this ever-increasing number of displaced and conflictaffected people. In June, one out of every six convoys that left provincial capitals in Darfur was hijacked or ambushed. Since January, some 64 vehicles used by agencies have been hijacked, with 132 staff temporarily detained, often at gunpoint. This kind of lawlessness by armed groups of different political affiliations has forced relief organizations to suspend programming and relocate out of dangerous environments on 15 occasions, temporarily depriving over one million beneficiaries of life-saving assistance

Since the beginning of the year, more than 35 relief convoys have been ambushed and looted, and their precious cargo stolen. Four Darfuris working to help relief agencies undertake projects have been killed. Eleven soldiers from the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) have also been killed.

“While political and peace-keeping initiatives have made some progress, and bureaucratic obstacles to humanitarian work have decreased, these violent attacks against aid workers are jeopardizing the whole operation,” said John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “All parties have to act now to stop these attacks and bring the perpetrators to justice,” he emphasized.

There are some 13,000 relief workers in Darfur trying to reach a total of four million people with life-saving assistance. As a result of insecurity on the ground, aid workers are forced to rely on expensive helicopter transport to keep operations going in many areas.

“Every day, more people need our help, yet humanitarian colleagues are under increasing threat from all sides,” Mr. Holmes said. “Obviously, we will not give up – the needs are too great. We will continue to adapt operations to ensure that the most vulnerable in Darfur receive at least some relief,” he said. “But what we most need is an effective ceasefire. This is possible – the rebel groups and the government could and should choose now to stop the violence.”