Far more people have died in Sudan’s ravaged Darfur region than the 70 000 reported since last year, and many of those deaths were from preventable causes like pneumonia and diarrhoea, the United Nations humanitarian chief said on Wednesday.
Getting an accurate count of the dead from Darfur’s two-year conflict has been extremely difficult because of the size and remoteness of much of the region. It is known that thousands have died from the fighting and many thousands more from disease or hunger.
Jan Egeland, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency
relief coordinator said the 70 000 figure was released when there were 1-million internally displaced people in Darfur, but that number has now doubled to about 2-million. As the number of people who have fled increases, the number who die of malnutrition or a host of other reasons also goes up, he said.
”Is it three times that, is it five times that, I don’t know, but it’s several times the number of 70 000 that have died altogether,” Egeland told reporters shortly after returning from a four-day trip to the region.
”The biggest killer has been systematical I think in Darfur — diarrhoea, pneumonia and many other preventable diseases,” Egeland said.
The Darfur conflict began after two non-Arab rebel groups took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in February 2003 to win more political and economic rights for the region’s African tribes.
Sudan’s government is accused of responding by backing the Janjaweed militia in a campaign of wide-scale abuses, including rape and killings, against Sudanese of African origin. The government denies backing the Janjaweed.
Egeland has repeatedly prodded international donors to contribute more money for Darfur and the rest of Sudan, which is only now recovering from a devastating civil war between the north and the south, separate from Darfur.
A peace agreement was signed last year ending the 21-year civil war, but will remain vulnerable unless more money is given, Egeland said.
”We were yearning for a generation for this peace agreement. The peace agreement comes and then some governments sit on the fence scratching their head and say, ‘What should we do now?”’ Egeland said.
Egeland said that instead of the 2-million internally displaced people who now need assistance in Darfur could be between 3-million and 4-million who, while back on their land, would still need help.
The conflict has paralysed farmers and cattle herders, and fields are not being tilled, he said.
Only 61% of the $691-million sought for Darfur has been donated, while of $563,8-million sought for the south, just $51-million has been given, Egeland said.
The situation is even worse for central and northern Sudan. The United Nations has sought $132,3-million for those areas but has only gotten $4,3-million, he said.
Egeland said those shortfall wouldn’t stop the United Nations from doing its work.
”I told all the UN agencies, borrow internally, borrow from other programmes, borrow on your own apartment, start programmes because the money will be coming,” he said.
”Because if we don’t do that we will fail,” Egeland said. – Sapa-AP