Mar
12
Food Crisis in Darfur
March 12, 2008 | | Leave a Comment
by Rachael
The World Food Program said that bandits in Darfur have hijacked 45 U.N. contracted trucks this year, with 37 trucks trucks remain missing and 23 drivers are unaccounted for. Truckers are unwilling to take the risk and transportation of food would be therefore be halved and slowed down on dangerous roads.
The food aid is not only affected by the worsening road deliveries, but also by limited funding of the WFP’s Humanitarian Air Service. The Service claimed that they had not received any donation in support of the USD 6.2 million monthly budget. “Our humanitarian air operation for aid workers could be forced to stop flying because we have no money, at a time when our helicopters and aircraft are needed more than ever because of high insecurity on the roads”, said Kenro Oshidari, WFP representative in Sudan. WFP said around 8,000 humanitarian staff a month use WFP flights in Darfur, 3,000 among in helicopters to reach parts of the country which are otherwise inaccessible. If the remaining channel of access cannot be maintained, millions of civilians at Darfur would be exposed to greater suffer from water and food shortage under the 5-year war.
Even though the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force is in place, it has just 9,000 troops out of the 26,000 planned. The UN just lacks funding and military support from wealthy countries, and left the African Union to deploy a token force AMIS without a mandate to protect civilians in Darfur. The African Union, too, lacks money and equipment to fund the troops, and has to rely on the international community. Let’s not forget that Africa is always looped in the endless cycle of food and monetary aid, so it comes to my wonder how much effect the African Union could bring about. Back in 2006, Minority Rights Group published a report criticizing the UN and the great powers could have prevented the crisis in Darfur. Its executive director, Mark Lattimer, stated that “…Darfur would just not be in this situation had the UN systems got its act together after Rwanda”. Down to earth, humanitarian assistance is also overwhelmed by greater powers’ political will and interests.
