Aid agencies in Sudan race against time

A PLANE carrying emergency food and equipment took off for Sudan today where thousands remain in the grip of a humanitarian crisis.

Six tonnes of food, tents and plastic sheeting were on the flight bound for Nyala in southern Darfur.

An estimated 1.2 million people in the region have been made homeless by fighting and a wider campaign of looting, killing and rape by militia gangs.

Four Toyota vehicles and temporary warehouses were also on the flight which left Oslo this morning.

The aid plane was jointly organised and funded by the British-based Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (Cafod) and Norwegian Church Aid.

Cafod staff in Sudan will race to deliver aid to villages in Darfur before the rainy season starts early next month.

A second Cafod-funded aid plane is due to set off for Sudan on Friday.

A spokeswoman for Cafod, Martha Clarke said: “We need to move quickly to get the aid programmes running before the rainy season comes. We need to move as quickly as possible.”

UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland has called Darfur the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.

Mr Egeland said last week the international community had been very late in responding to the conflict in Darfur, where thousands have been killed in fighting between Arab militias and the black African population since February 2003.

British International Development Secretary Hilary Benn said the world must act now to avoid a repeat of the genocide in Rwanda happening in Darfur.

“We simply can’t allow that to happen,” he said. “I think we are all haunted by the prospect that this crisis might turn into a catastrophe and that’s why we are doing all that we can to make a difference.

He said Sudan must “rein in” the militias and called on more countries to contribute aid for Darfur.

“There’s no doubt that there has been a systematic campaign against the villages which has driven people out,” he said.