United States Provides More Emergency Food for Sudan
18 October 2006
Bush urges international community to help strengthen peacekeeping operations
Washington -- The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that it has provided $91 million in emergency food aid to support World Food Programme (WFP) operations in Sudan and eastern Chad since October 1, the start of fiscal year 2007, and is WFP's largest food donor.
The donation for Sudan, according to an October 17 USAID press release, came in response to appeals by the WFP, which supplies food aid for as many as 3 million people in the Darfur region and 220,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad who rely on WFP for their basic food needs.
Of the total $91 million contribution, $76 million will be used to assist people in Darfur and the rest of Sudan and $15 million will be used to assist Sudanese refugees and affected communities in eastern Chad. The contribution will provide 93,510 metric tons of cereal and noncereal commodities to the conflict-affected region.
In fiscal year 2006, USAID provided 475,910 metric tons of food valued at $458 million to WFP and International Committee of the Red Cross operations in Sudan and eastern Chad.
The United States provided half of WFP's 2006 worldwide appeal and two-thirds of all contributions received by WFP worldwide.
WFP has reported that insecurity in Darfur prevented it from distributing food to nearly a quarter million people in September, but that number is down from the 355,000 to whom it could not deliver aid in August. WFP is likely to face new funding shortfalls as early as January 2007, the USAID press release warns.
"The international community must collectively share the burden of assisting Darfur's most vulnerable. New donations are critically needed," explained Michael E. Hess, assistant administrator of USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance.
Sudan is USAID's largest program in sub-Saharan Africa, totaling $855 million in fiscal year 2005. The complex program provides extensive humanitarian aid to vulnerable people in southern and eastern Sudan and Darfur, as well as extensive reconstruction assistance in the South, Abyei, Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.
PEACEKEEPING EFFORTS IN DARFUR
In a speech at the opening of the 61st U.N. General Assembly, President Bush named Andrew Natsios, former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), as a presidential special envoy to lead U.S. efforts to bring peace to Darfur. (See related article.)
Addressing his remarks directly to the people of the region, Bush said, "You have suffered unspeakable violence, and my nation has called these atrocities what they are -- genocide."
"The world must step forward to provide additional humanitarian aid, and we must strengthen the African Union [AU] force that has done good work but is not strong enough to protect you," he added. In particular, Bush asked NATO to strengthen the AU force (AMIS) while it remains in Darfur.
The peacekeeping mission in Darfur currently is led by the AU, which has stated it is unable to continue the effort in its present configuration. In August, the Security Council authorized the expansion of the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) -- which supports the implementation of Sudan's Peace Agreement of 2005 -- by 20,000 troops and police to take over peacekeeping duties in Darfur from the AU for an additional six months, until April 30, 2007. But Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had been refusing to accept the transition.
Facing strong objections by the United States and other nations, however, Sudan withdrew its warning to countries potentially supplying troops to a U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur that those troops would be considered a hostile threat, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton announced October 6.
Bolton credited the "strong position" taken by members of the Security Council against "the atmosphere of intimidation," but added that there is still a need to "dispel" that atmosphere.
DARFUR PEACE AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT
On October 13, President Bush signed into law the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006 (DPAA) and issued an executive order "blocking property of and prohibiting transactions with the government of Sudan."
The DPAA imposes sanctions against "persons responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity; supports measures for the protection of civilians and humanitarian operations; and supports peace efforts in the Darfur region of Sudan," a White House statement says.
The president's executive order, which takes effect upon the enactment of the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, specifically forbids transactions relating to Sudan's petroleum and petrochemical industries, sectors in which the president noted that "the government of Sudan has a pervasive role" that poses a "threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States." (See related article.)
The DPAA and the executive order do not limit or restrict humanitarian aid to Darfur. The United States has provided more than $1 billion in humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan, including $400 million during the past 12 months, for emergency food aid to the region.
The United Nations estimates that more than 200,000 people have died in Darfur since 2003. Close to 2 million others were displaced into refugee camps in the region and in eastern Chad.
The full text of the press release and more information about USAID programs in Sudan are available be found on the agency's Web site.
For additional information, see Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
