New accord in Sudan paves way for expanded UN assistance to conflict-torn areas

An accord signed recently by the Government of the Sudan and the main rebel movement is paving the way for expanded United Nations relief operations in the country, a UN spokesman announced today.

A new polio campaign aimed at reaching children who have never been immunized is part of the expanded humanitarian push in the war-ravaged nation under the agreement on access signed over the weekend, spokesman Fred Eckhard told the press in New York.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) calculates that unhindered humanitarian access will enable it to provide aid to an additional 585,000 people in the Sudan. This comes on top of the almost 3 million already targeted for relief assistance.

The landmark agreement that established the procedures for unimpeded humanitarian aid access to hundreds of thousands of war-affected people in Sudan was signed on Saturday by representatives of the Government, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) and the UN.