Sudan: UN Humanitarian Chief arrives in El Geneina, West Darfur

(New York: 16 November 2006): United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Jan Egeland, today travelled to El Geneina, capital of West Darfur, Sudan.

In El Geneina, he met representatives of internally displaced persons from local camps, who informed him that the withdrawal of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from some areas has resulted both in fewer services for the displaced as well as greater exposure to violence for those in the camps. They explained that they had come to meet him in the capital because it would be too dangerous for him to enter the camps and too dangerous for camp residents to be seen with him. Egeland told the representatives that he was in Darfur to speak to a wide array of people.

"This is my fourth visit to Darfur," Egeland said, "and I have never before seen such a bad security situation. There are too many armed elements in and around the camps threatening the inhabitants and preventing us from going in. Aid workers in West Darfur cannot move on the roads because they are being attacked and their vehicles are being stolen. Sixty vehicles have been ambushed or stolen in the last year. The violence that is being committed by various groups has frozen aid work in several areas."

The Under-Secretary-General also met with women who had been internally displaced, the head of the Massalit tribe, and nomadic leaders. In a frank and open dialogue with Egeland, displaced women noted that violence against women, particularly rape and other forms of sexual and gender based violence, is worse than it has ever been. Women said they cannot leave the camps and are even being attacked inside camps.

He then proceeded to the main hospital in El Geneina, where he spoke to a woman who had fled her home in Sirba with her three-year-old daughter when their village was attacked last week. The child was shot twice in the attack and was recovering in the hospital.

Later this evening Egeland is expected to meet with the United Nations country team in El Geneina and with the Wali (Governor) of West Darfur. Tomorrow morning he is expected to meet non-governmental organisations in the area. He is then scheduled to travel from Geneina to Kebkabiya, Tawila, and El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, before returning to Khartoum on Saturday.

West Darfur is home to just under 800,000 of the almost 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Sudan's Darfur region,. An additional 460,000 residents of West Darfur are severely affected by the conflict, but have not been displaced.

Yesterday in Khartoum Egeland met senior Government representatives including Kosti Manibe, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and Lam Akol, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Following his meeting with the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Mr. Egeland was able to confirm that the moratorium on access restrictions pertaining to Darfur would be extended for another year, after it expires at the end of January 2007. The moratorium, which is part of the communiqué signed by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Sudanese President Omar Bashir on the occasion of Mr. Annan's July 2004 visit to the country, provides for a lifting of all access restrictions for humanitarian assistance in Darfur.

Upon his return to New York, Mr. Egeland is scheduled to brief the Security Council on his mission to Uganda and Sudan, his final mission as Emergency Relief Coordinator.

For further information, please call: Stephanie Bunker, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 5126, mobile +1 917 892 1679; Kristen Knutson, OCHA-New York, +1 917 367 9262; Elisabeth Byrs, OCHA-Geneva, +41 22 917 2653, mobile, +41 79 473 4570. OCHA press releases are available at http://ochaonline.un.org or www.reliefweb.int