World Vision announces Food Aid Program for Darfur

World Vision (WV) today announced a five-month food aid program which commenced this week. Food assistance is expected to make up about 80% of WV's programming in Sudan.

Starting early August until December, World Vision will distribute more than 22,000 metric tons of food to 250,000 internally displaced people in Darfur. Work is underway on setting up water and sanitation projects as well as primary health care to address the needs of the refugees.

The program is in collaboration with the United Nations' World Food Program (WFP). The UN's latest estimate is that between 30,000 and 50,000 people have died since the outbreak of violence in March 2003.

However, the growing number of deaths seem to be due to people struggling to survive in the harshest of conditions, and not direct violence. Malnutrition and contagious diseases are now the main threat to life. Children are suffering from a range of illnesses including malaria, diarrhoea and acute respiratory tract infections, which can lead to pneumonia. There are also fears of dysentery and cholera as the rainy season continues.

Aid agencies are working to reach people, however access is made difficult by the security situation as well as the annual seasonal rains.

So far, World Vision has delivered 5,000 plastic sheets along with 8,000 water containers, 2,000 kitchen sets, and 300,000 water purification tablets to refugee camps in Chad.

Upon the latest visit of World Vision Australia's CEO, Mr Tim Costello, he described Darfur as "another world" as he experienced the harsh realities of life in Darfur.

"Nothing prepares you for the sight of tens of thousands of people living in humpies without shelter from the heat. In the Kalma camp that I visited, more than 70,000 people are living in dreadful conditions, with very limited food, water and sanitation. It's hard to believe this is planet earth as it just seems like a whole other world", Tim Costello said.

Today British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw left London for Sudan, where he was to discuss the crisis in war-torn Darfur with President Omar al-Beshir and senior officials.

The UN Security Council has given Sudan until the end of the month to begin restoring order in Darfur or face potential international sanctions.