Straw must increase pressure on Sudan
-25/8/04
Jack Straw must increase pressure on Sudan according to a catholic aid agency which also says the humanitarian crisis is deepening in Darfur.
Increasing numbers of people are arriving at the camps says CAFOD and heavy rains are delaying aid deliveries.
CAFOD partners are racing against time to reach thousands of people at
risk says the agency.
CAFOD says the visit by the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw
to Darfur comes at a critical time.
The UK is the biggest
cash donor to Sudan.
CAFOD says Straw must use British influence on the Sudanese Government and all warring parties to secure humanitarian access, increase protection
of civilians, and encourage progress in the peace talks.
The international community must sustain political
engagement throughout the following months to ensure that both the humanitarian response and the political process continue to move forward.
CAFOD Director Chris Bain said: ìHunger and sickness do
not wait for political solutions. People are living in desperate conditions.
"Without improved security and increased access, the situation will get even worse. Jack Straw can play a vital role in highlighting the crisis and in encouraging all sides in the conflict to commit to peace negotiations.
ìCAFOD is doing all it can to help. The situation is
grave. It is likely to get even worse before it gets
better. The response of the Catholic community in England
and Wales has been fantastic, but the need is still great.î
The first of two more planes full of vital supplies sent
by CAFOD partners has now arrived in Nyala, southern
Darfur. The joint ACT/Caritas airlift contains plastic sheeting, water containers and other relief items.
The recently arrived sheeting will provide 30,000 people with adequate shelter. Heavy rains are making life difficult for people in Darfur who have been forced from their homes. They are vulnerable, cold and threatened by
disease. Children and the elderly are at the greatest
risk.
The ACT/Caritas team says the job of getting aid through is increasingly difficult.
ìWe are seeing more and more people arrive in camps. We
must constantly scale up our activities. Some of the areas
we are working in are hardly accessible by road now. One
recent journey to a camp that should take half a day
instead took four,î said Mayen Wol Jong, ACT/Caritas head of Nyala office.
The team is currently distributing plastic sheeting and household items in El Muhajeria, an area where few organisations work. CAFOD partner Sudan Council of Churches (SCC) is organising the distribution together with ACT/Caritas.
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