More than 3.2 million Darfuris in need: UN

Close to 1.9 million people are displaced in Darfur, according to Ali El Za’tari, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan. “We estimate that the displaced people in Darfur are close to 1.9 million,” El Za’tari stated in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state. “There are 1.3 million non-displaced in the region who are severely affected and/or food insecure. This makes the total number of Sudanese in need in Darfur more than 3.2 million.” El Za’tari was speaking at a meeting of the Implementation Follow-up Commission, an international body monitoring implementation of the 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur, signed by Khartoum in Qatar with an alliance of rebel splinter groups. The UN, however, has received only about 55 percent of the $985 million it asked the international community to provide this year for humanitarian aid in Sudan. Almost 60 percent of the funds received, $538 million, went to Darfur, El Za’tari explained. The UN is appealing to the international community for $996 million in 2014 “to meet the mounting humanitarian needs in Sudan” where a total of 6.1 million are estimated to need assistance, in particular in Darfur and the “more than one million” displaced in the war-torn South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. Meanwhile, the displaced in the Darfur camps complained about the severe winter cold of this year. Many people, most of them children and elderly are suffering from “winter diseases”, in particular chest infections, catarrhs, and conjunctivitis. “There is a severe shortage of covers and food. The displaced are living in the semi-open, with this strong cold winds, in worn-out houses that are mostly made ​​of straw, pieces of fabric, plastic and cardboard,” multiple sources told Radio Dabanga. They called on the humanitarian organisations operating in Darfur to help them out and provide them with food, cover, tents, medicines, mattresses and clothing. (Source: AFP/Radio Dabanga) File photo: UN Country Team and Unamid representatives in a meeting on Darfur, February 2013. (Sojoud Elgarrai/Unamid)  Related: Food rations reduced for North Darfur displaced (15 December 2013)Hunger in Central Darfur camps (15 December 2013)‘More than six million Sudanese in need; aid down by 25%’: report (9 December 2013)