Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi)
24 July 2007
Khartoum/New York — A humanitarian emergency is unfolding in Sudan, where at least a million people have been displaced by floods, according to the government.
The Sudanese government is appealing to aid agencies to rescue people affected by heavy rains that have caused the worst floods in the country in 20 years.
A government alert issued yesterday said 10 states are affected: White Nile, Gezira, Sinnar, River Nile, Kassala, North State, Blue Nile, Gedaref, Red Sea and North Kordofan.
Major rivers have broken their banks. The rains are expected to continue until the end of September or the beginning of October.
The government said accommodation materials for 200, 000 families are urgently needed: 100, 000 tents, 400, 000 plastic water proof covers, 400, 000 blankets, 100, 000 empty jerkins, 200, 000 utensils and 400, 000 mats.
The affected families are also in bad need of 400, 000 manual water pumps, 10, 000 mobile toilets, 10, 000 cartons of soap, 18, 000 litres of insecticides and 664 spraying machines.
Their feeding needs amount to 40, 000 tons of cereals, 45, 000 tons of legumes, 2, 700 tons of food oils, 2, 700 tons of sugar and 900 tons of salt.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Mission in Sudan reports new population displacements in West Darfur, where it says an estimated 12,000 households are on the move in anticipation of a rumoured attack by government forces.
UN spokesperson Marie Okabe also told reporters in New York that over the weekend, a non-governmental organization (NGO) vehicle was carjacked in South Darfur, the latest attack on humanitarian workers in the country's strife-torn region.
In addition, harassment of internally displaced persons was reported during a UN assessment visit to an IDP camp near Nyala, the provincial capital of South Darfur.
Last month, the Sudanese government announced its acceptance of a proposal for a hybrid UN-African Union peacekeeping operation to be deployed in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and at least 2 million others displaced since clashes erupted in 2003 between government forces, allied Janjaweed militias and rebel groups.
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