New initiative in Darfur targets expanding humanitarian access - UN

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New initiative in Darfur targets expanding humanitarian access - UN

2011-05-02 21:27:53 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Monday announced a new initiative to help aid agencies access hard-to-reach communities in parts of the strife-torn Sudanese region of Darfur.

The three-week project dubbed "Operation Spring Basket" was announced by the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and will involve visits to several villages which have been inaccessible to humanitarian workers for some time.

UNAMID, which organized the initiative along with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has been working for months with the Sudanese Government and non-signatory movements to open access to areas in the Jebel Marra region and other parts of North and West Darfur, which UN agencies believe may be in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

"I can assure you that this will be an ongoing process," said Ibrahim Gambari, the head of UNAMID. "The humanitarian community will follow up in order to deliver humanitarian relief to those in need."

According to UNAMID, humanitarian agencies working in Darfur continue to face challenges in accessing populations affected by conflict owing to the vastness of the territory, poor road conditions, erratic security and blockages posed by the parties.

"One of the foremost priorities for UNAMID is facilitating safe and free access for humanitarian agencies and NGOs [non-governmental organizations] into areas that are suffering from conflict and difficult to reach because of it," Gambari said in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, after returning from a visit to several villages in the area.

"We have undertaken intense negotiations and outreach to secure access to these areas, which are controlled by various parties. We will provide security and logistical support to the humanitarian community intending to bring assistance to the region, regardless of who controls the territory," he added.

Since 2008, UNAMID has been working to assist the population of the region to quell the fighting and ease the humanitarian suffering.

"We are fully committed to ensuring the protection of civilians where we can implement UNAMID's core mandate of protecting civilians and facilitating humanitarian delivery," Gambari stated.

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