Welthungerhilfe welcomes UN Resolution for a peace force in Sudan

Bonn, 1.8.2007. Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) welcomes the new UN Security Council resolution to send peacekeeping troops into the war-ravaged Darfur region. Last night members of the Security Council agreed to back a force consisting of up to 26,000 African Union and UN troops. "At last a clear decision has been made," said Welthungerhilfe's Regional Director in Sudan, Johan van der Kamp, who welcomed the move. "The last few months have been dogged by negotiations and talks. Now we have facts on the table."

However, there is no guarantee that the peacekeeping force will improve people's living situation in Darfur on a long term basis. "The acid test will be whether refugees return to their villages and start a new life there of their own accord," stresses Kamp. At the same time peace negotiations between the Sudanese government and the various rebel groups need to be drawn to a constructive conclusion. Welthungerhilfe hopes that the talks taking place between rebel groups, the UN and the African Union in Tanzania at the weekend will give crucial impetus to the peace process.

More than 200,000 people have been killed in fighting in Darfur since 2003 and over 2.4 million are now refugees. The violence and volatile security situation in the province has also been affecting relief agencies like Welthungerhilfe. Distribution of supplies to the civil population has repeatedly been disrupted over the last few months due to raids and skirmishes.

Our Regional Director in Sudan, Johan van der Kamp, is available for interviews upon request.

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe has been active in Sudan since 1998, mainly in the provinces of northern Darfur, West Kordofan and Unity State. In northern Darfur we supply more than half a million people with food. Other focal points of our project work are agriculture, securing food and drinking water supplies.

For further information see www.welthungerhilfe.de