Crisis In Darfur "On Brink Of Deepening"

The humanitarian crisis in Darfur is "on the brink of deepening," US envoy Scott Gration said on Saturday of the war-ravaged Sudanese region, calling for renewed cooperation with the government & an end to hostilities. "I came away very concerned about what I saw & believe that we are on the brink of a deepening crisis in Darfur," he told journalists after a morning visit to the Zam Zam displaced persons camp in region's north. "We have to come up with a solution on the ground within the next few weeks." Gration was speaking a month to the day after the government expelled 13 international aid agencies in protest at an arrest warrant against President Omar al-Beshir for alleged war crimes in Dafur. He said it was imperative to get assistance into the country "so that these people don't die & they don't incur any more suffering," but also expressed confidence that "this crisis can be avoided." "What I see as immediate problems are water & health care," he said, arguing that the "crisis can be prevented & mitigated by coming up with a flexible, creative & workable plan to ensure these folks can have access to critical medical sanitation & nutrition assistance too." The expelled agencies had distributed food, offered medical care & provided access to water to some 2.7 million people displaced by civil war in Darfur. Gration reached out to local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) as an initial step with the hope of widening the scope for others eventually.
"We want to work with Sudanese NGOs. I believe they have the capability to fill some of the gaps in terms of food." "We need an environment where we can use all sources, NGO help, maybe NGOs that come in from Arab nations, additional NGOs from traditional donor countries & maybe a workable solution for some of the people that have been working in the area historically." The retired air force general said there also needed to be a political solution to the Darfur conflict. "We all have to embark on a very aggressive short-term process to bring peace to this region,"