Staff in grave danger in northern Darfur: Welthungerhilfe suspends aid distribution

Bonn/Khartoum, 27.08.2008. Following two major incidents during the last five weeks, Welthungerhilfe is having to halt its distribution of supplies to the 450,000 people affected by civil war in northern Darfur. Armed gangs held up Welthungerhilfe staff and threatened to kill them, while seven trucks bringing supplies to people in the rebel zone have been stolen. "In the light of the increasingly precarious security situation, the risk to our staff is simply too high," explains Johan van der Kamp, Welthungerhilfe's Regional Director in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. "Until five weeks ago Welthungerhilfe as a relief organisation was not a target of attacks in this area. Now things have changed." In suspending the distribution of supplies, 450,000 people will now suffer shortages. The timing of this is critical as the area is currently caught in the so-called hunger gap: the meagre harvest has almost been used up while new crops haven't yet been reaped. "This is largely going to affect those in rural areas", elaborates van der Kamp. "Our aim is to avert a flood of people into the refugee camps. Once they get there, it's difficult to get them back to their villages and working their fields again." Welthungerhilfe is currently trying to secure safety guarantees from the various fighting fractions. "As long as local leaders can't provide a guarantee of safety, we can't continue distribution", explains van der Kamp. Welthungerhilfe is troubled by the increasing number of attacks on relief staff in Darfur. Hold ups sometimes even result in death. Criminals taking advantage of the chaotic security situation are increasingly brutal.

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

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, food security and drinking water supplies.

For further information see www.welthungerhilfe.de