UN running out of cash to feed Darfur

The UN is running out of cash to feed more than one million people living in Sudan’s Darfur region, the scene of a two year conflict.

Carlos Veloso, World Food Programme’s Emergency Coordinator for Darfur, said the non-cereal part of the daily ration would be cut by half next month as a last resort to help stretch current food supplies through July and August – the region’s traditional lean months.

“We are very concerned about the negative effect this drastic ration cut will have on the health and psychological well-being of thousands of people, who are already weakened and traumatised by war,” Veloso said.

The reduction, however, will not affect programmes for malnourished children and nursing mothers, but will significantly affect the diet of more than one million poor and vulnerable people, WFP added.

The western Sudanese region of Darfur has been the scene of what the United Nations has called the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Two rebel groups made up of non-Arab tribesman have been fighting against the government for two years, prompting a rampage by pro-government Arab militiamen accused of atrocities against civilians.

An estimated 180,000 people have died in the upheaval and about 2 million others have been displaced since the conflict began in February 2003.