The Church in the Sudan has appealed to its counterparts elsewhere in the world to support it on the country's Darfur crisis issue.

Addressing a two day Darfur Regional Initiative for a lasting peace in Sudan, Chad and Central African Republic (CAR) today-November 24 here-Nairobi, Deputy Secretary General of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC), Rev. Mark Alek Cien observed that "As we congregate here today, the Darfur crisis is on the rise".

The insecurity is still biting hard, food availability is quite an issue and peace negotiation on the issue is not making much progress, stressed Rev. Cien.

He added that the humanitarian situation in Darfur has been worsened by an expulsion of 13 foreign-aided non-governmental organizations by Khartoum Government.

"With the rain failure in some parts of the country, the food availability for the Darfur people is likely to be quite an issue", stressed Rev. Cien.

The two day consultation held between November 23-24, organized by the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), was attended by 13 participants-clergymen and lay people, Catholics and Protestants, drawn from in Sudan, CAR and Chad.

The participants had converged to access the role of the Church and Christian organizations on the Darfur crisis issue.

In response, the AACC General Secretary, Rev. Dr. Andrea Karagama assured the Church in the Sudan of the organization's commitment to the Darfur issue.

"We shall journey together on this issue as we have done on other issues in the past. We shall not abandon you. This you can rest be assured", stressed Rev. Dr. Karamaga.

Earlier the participants expressed the need for the Church in the three countries' -Sudan, CAR and Chad to closely work together on the cross border issue for example, due to its impact on the people from the three countries in terms of refugees, for example.

In an interview with CISA, Rev. Fr. Paolino Tipo, who serves the Catholic Church in Chad, as peace and justice coordinator said the country was currently facing a humanitarian crisis as she was housing thousands of refugees from Sudan, and CAR.

"And apart from this, there are hundreds of internally displaced Chadians", he added.

Peace in Darfur, he observed would mean peace in Chad due to its impact- on the two countries and its people.