- Following the expulsion of more than 13 humanitarian agencies in Sudan about a week ago, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has been working with government and other remaining non-government partners to address the worsening humanitarian situation in Darfur.
According to UNICEF statement, the agency is working hard to fill the vacuum left by the agencies, saying women and children are most affected by the suspension of aid activities.
The statement said the biggest impact will be in the troubled Darfur region where more than 2,7 million people are displaced by the conflict.
“Due to the suspension of activities of these NGOs, life-saving activities for an estimated up to 1.5 million people are feared to be interrupted. More than half of those affected are children,” the statement said.
UNICEF said although it has the opportunity and access to funding, it however lacks the capacity and resources to implement all of the programmes that would have been provided by the suspended organisations.
UNICEF estimates that US $23 million will be required to sustain the most critical humanitarian needs through June 2009. To date, UNICEF Sudan has received only 6 percent of the funding it requires to sustain its operations.
“Disrupted health services and food distribution are feared to exacerbate malnutrition levels among children, particularly with the approaching hunger gap season, which starts in April,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the three employees working for medical charity organisation, Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) have been released on Saturday. The aid workers were taken hostage by a group of armed men in the Sudan’s war torn Darfur region on Wednesday night.
A French, Canadian and an Italian were taken hostage at gunpoint from the MSF Belgium office at Saraf Umra, about 230 kilometers west of the North Darfur capital El Fasher.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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