Relief efforts in Darfur inadequate; Aid agencies unable to reach everybody

15 June 2004 Relief efforts in Darfur are inadequate and aid agencies are unable to reach all of the estimated one million people forced to flee their homes after vicious attacks in the region, global humanitarian organisation CARE International said. Furthermore the rainy season has begun, making it critical to act as swiftly as possible before the landscape turns to mud, making routes become impassable and increasing the risk of disease. “Relief efforts are not enough,” said Geoffrey Dennis, chief executive of CARE International UK. “Warring parties and the international community must address the underlying causes of the conflict. Just as active and unified international efforts helped Northern and Southern Sudanese reach a peace agreement, support is needed to resolve the conflict in Darfur.” People lack food, water, shelter, blankets, basic supplies like cooking materials and medicine but there is not enough to go around. Aid agencies are trying to deliver supplies to people scattered across a desert the size of France but movement is extremely difficult due to bureaucratic hurdles and insecurity. “The scope of the disaster is almost beyond imagination,” said Lise Tonelli, CARE team leader in Darfur. “Time is critical - the rainy season has started and lasts up to four months.” The United Nations estimates that 49 percent of displaced people lack food; 88 percent lack shelter; 67 percent lack water; and 93 percent lack sanitation. CARE International, along with other aid agencies, is distributing food (sorghum, wheat, lentils, oil and salt) and non-food items, such as plastic sheeting, blankets and water canisters, to hundreds of thousands of people. An estimated 1.2 million people will need food aid until December. In Chad, CARE is managing three refugee camps and providing food and essential items for some 20,000 Darfur refugees.

About CARE in Sudan: CARE has been active in Sudan since 1979 and works in North, South and West Kordofan, Greater Khartoum, Unity and Bahr El Gazal states. Activities include water supply, reproductive health and family planning, agriculture and emergency food relief. In southern Sudan, CARE has worked with local communities, internally displaced people and refugees from neighbouring countries. Activities include agriculture, health and education. To coordinate our response to the Darfur crisis, CARE set up a sub-office in Nyala at the start of May.

About CARE CARE is one of the world's leading humanitarian organisations fighting global poverty in more than 70 countries. CARE helps communities improve their quality of life through projects in agriculture and natural resources, economic development, education, food, health, water and sanitation and emergency response. Notes to editors: For more information, please contact: Kate Bulbulian, UK press office, ; tel: +44 (0) 207 934 9347 For interviews with staff in Darfur contact: Lena Elsheikh, ; tel: +249 91 225 2001 For photos contact: Chloe Bayram, ; tel: +44 (0) 207 934 9359