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U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON, DC 20523
PRESS OFFICE
http://www.usaid.gov
(202) 712-43202002-066
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2002Contact: USAID Press Office
The United States calls on the Government of Sudan (GOS) to allow immediately free and unimpeded access to civilian populations in need of international humanitarian assistance who are currently cut off from relief agencies. The Government's denial of flight access to the UN's Operation Lifeline Sudan (UN/OLS) for numerous areas in opposition-held southern Sudan is precipitating an alarming humanitarian situation about which the United States is deeply concerned. The United States calls on the Government of Sudan to approve without delay all flight clearance requests made by the UN/OLS for the month of July.
According to the UN, some 1.7 million people in need of international assistance cannot be reached by relief agencies. The region most at risk is Western Upper Nile, where intense fighting since January has caused frequent and massive displacement of civilians. Despite numerous agreements by the GOS to provide free and unimpeded access to war-affected populations in need of humanitarian assistance, the GOS has severely restricted access to Western Upper Nile in recent months, where more than 300,000 people are estimated to be in need of immediate assistance. The GOS agreement in June for six organizations to access five locations in Western Upper Nile over a period of five days, reaching perhaps some 60,000 people with one month's ration of food aid, falls far short of the Government's obligation to ensure civilians in need may be reached with life-saving assistance through Operation Lifeline Sudan.
The United States also remains concerned about the situation in Eastern Equatoria, to which UN/OLS flights have been denied by the GOS for more than three years, severely hindering humanitarian operations in that area.
Access to war-affected populations in need of assistance in all areas of Western Upper Nile, Eastern Equatoria, and the rest of southern Sudan is critical in the coming months to prevent the humanitarian situation from spiraling out of control.
Finally, both parties to the conflict in Sudan are urged to abide by the Agreement on the Implementation of Principles Governing the Protection and Provision of Humanitarian Assistance to War-Affected Civilian Populations signed by the Government of Sudan, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, and the United Nations in 1999, by ending unnecessarily cumbersome administrative processes for flight clearances.
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