Bonn/Khartum, 4.9.2007. On the occasion of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's visit to Sudan, Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (German Agro Action) stresses the urgent need to promote peace talks as well as deploy UN troops in the country. Without a political solution, it says, even the "largest UN peacekeeping mission in the world" will be ineffectual.

"There are up to 19 different militias and rebel troops, most of them uncontrollable, and there's a risk of more and more marauding criminals," warns Deutsche Welthungerhilfe's Regional Director in Sudan Johan van der Kamp. "The situation for relief organisations in many parts of the country has never before been so volatile."

Food distribution is being disrupted not only by the precarious security situation but also by the severest rainy season in years. Roads are waterlogged and the wadies have become impassable. Nevertheless, 7,000 tons of food supplies were distributed the month before last and a further 3,500 tons last month to over 400,000 people.

According to Welthungerhilfe, however, this cannot be a long-term solution. "The people have to be able to return to their villages as soon as possible so that they can farm their fields and support themselves," stresses van der Kamp. "But as long as villages continue to be attacked, people are too scared to return." According to the organisation, the situation is compounded by the failure of the UN resolution to insist on the disarmament of militia and rebel forces.

Johan van der Kamp (in Khartum) and Jörg Heinrich, Desk Officer for the Sudan (in Bonn) are available for interviews on request.

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe has been active in Sudan in the provinces of North Darfur, West Kordofan and Unity State since 1998. In North Darfur, it provides 500,000 people with food. Other projects focus on agriculture, food security and drinking water supply.

For further information see www.welthungerhilfe.de