R e l i e f W e b http://www.reliefweb.int Source: World Food Programme (WFP) Date: 10 Jul 1998 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WFP Executive Director Catherine Bertini calls on international community to help end fighting in Southern Sudan NEW YORK -- World Food Programme Executive Director Catherine Bertini called on the international community today to help end the fighting in southern Sudan, the United Nations food relief agency reports. "The fighting in Sudan is perpetuating untold anguish among the millions of innocent people we are trying to save," said Bertini. "We ask the international community to take urgent measures and do everything it can to persuade all the combatants to put down their weapons and end this senseless suffering." Bertini cited a number of instances where fighting in various parts of the country is preventing WFP from delivering badly-needed food to thousands of people. In one of the most recent incidents, aid agencies were forced to evacuate Leer in the Western Upper Nile Province last week, after a militia attacked the area, forcing some of the population to flee. Security officers who visited the main aid facility in Leer after the attack, confirmed that it had been looted and destroyed. The center was vital for the supply of life-saving assistance for approximately 25,000 sick and malnourished Sudanese, many of them women and children. Some of those who fled walked two days to an aid distribution site near Nyal. WFP immediately diverted its food aid deliveries from Leer for the new arrivals. WFP hopes to begin sending food airdrops to Leer early next week should an assessment mission this Saturday confirm that the area is still stable. "The attack on Leer is just the most recent example of how insecurity seriously disrupts the lives of these already terribly needy people and how it complicates our ability to feed them," said Bertini. She added that fighting in many areas of Western Upper Nile is so constant that WFP is unable to gain access to assess how many people may be in need of food. "What is clear is that the numbers of hungry are almost certainly going to rise," she said. "If we are granted access to the areas of ongoing conflict, we may need even more assistance from the international donor community." WFP is currently targeting 2.6 million people throughout Sudan. Of these, 1.2 are in rebel-held areas of southern Sudan, 1.2 million are in Government-held areas of southern Sudan and the transitional zone of Southern Kordofan and Southern Darfur, and 200,000 are in northern Sudan. WFP needs 99,579 metric tons of food or US$137.6 million to feed these Sudanese from July 1998 to April 1999. So far, donors have confirmed pledges totalling 37,376 metric tons valued at US$59 million, leaving a shortfall of 62,203 metric tons valued at US$78.6 million. In another incident, aid convoys traveling by road to southern Sudan from Lokichoggio, Kenya are being blocked due to insecurity exacerbated by a conflict between the Turkana and the Toposa tribes. WFP needs to use the road to transport food through the area in order to reach nearly 50,000 people. Last month, a WFP team distributing food in the town of Maper, Bahr El Ghazal, had to run for their lives in the middle of distributing food when they got word that a raiding force was fast approaching. After a night of trekking through the bush, the WFP team made its way to safety in the town of Wunrok. WFP later learned that the attackers looted the food stocks and set fire to what they could not carry away, throwing the bodies of those they had killed onto the burning pile of food. WFP teams also evacuated other towns in recent weeks under the threat of marauding militias. In Nyaildul, Western Upper Nile, the WFP team was evacuated twice. No sooner had they returned to assist the needy population after the first raid, security problems forced them to flee again. In all, WFP was forced at least five times last month to either evacuate its food distribution teams from insecure areas or to quickly divert food drops to other locations due to sudden fighting. The frequency of unpredictable and violent attacks means that WFP teams use every hour of light available to quickly and effectively organize large-scale distributions in case they have to suddenly leave. At night, they often sleep fully dressed with an emergency "grab-and-run" bag by their sides in perpetual readiness for any sudden evacuation. "Millions of people are caught in the crossfire," said Bertini. "It is important that the international community do all that it can to help stop the fighting. Until there is peace, our job in feeding the needy will continue to remain extremely difficult and many people will continue to suffer severe malnutrition in southern Sudan." The World Food Programme is the United Nations' front-line agency in the fight against global hunger. Last year, its relief workers fed 53 million people, including most of the world's refugees. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, WFP has operations in 76 countries around the world. For further information please contact: Trevor Rowe Spokesman, WFP/Rome Tel. +39-6 6513-2602 Abby Spring Information Officer, WFP/New York Tel. +1-212 963-5196 Christiane Berthiaume Information Officer, WFP/Geneva Tel. +41-22 979-9564 Brenda Barton Information Officer, WFP/Nairobi Tel. +254-2 622-336 ------------------------------------------------------------------------