Sudan: government and rebel group agree to allow aid access to 500,000 - UN

The Sudanese Government and a rebel group in the country today signed an agreement to allow "free and unimpeded" humanitarian access to the Darfur region, raising hope among United Nations agencies of reaching 500,000 previously cut-off people in dire need of aid.

The agreement between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Government puts an end to access constraints that began last March in the region covering some 20 per cent of that country's territory, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The humanitarian situation in Darfur has deteriorated over the past six months due in part to fighting and banditry that resulted in the displacement of large numbers of civilians. There have been reports of deliberate attacks against civilians by armed groups, OCHA said.

Access constraints caused by both fighting and adverse weather conditions brought on by the rainy season had caused a sharp reduction in the number of people who were able to receive aid. UN humanitarian agencies hope to regain access to all of the 500,000 people who had been receiving aid before the restrictions began.

Historically, the Greater Darfur Region had a vibrant and diversified economy, comprising agricultural production, livestock, forestry, small scale and processing industries, financial, trade, transport and marketing activities. The region is now among the poorest and most neglected in the Sudan.

On Monday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy for Humanitarian Affairs in Sudan, Tom Vraalsen, and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, Mukesh Kapila, announced a plan for future humanitarian operations called the "Greater Darfur Special Initiative."

The Initiative aims to accelerate the provision of humanitarian relief to the most vulnerable groups, help defuse immediate triggers to violence through "quick-start peace impact" measures and to assist Sudanese stakeholders to build confidence and begin addressing the longer-term underlying factors that generate conflict. The UN is seeking $22.8 million for this project.