US Agency for International Development
Darfur: Humanitarian Emergency Fact Sheet #21 (FY 2004)
3 September 2004


Note: This report updates the last fact sheet dated August 27, 2004

       DARFUR EMERGENCY -- NUMBERS AT A GLANCE    SOURCE

Conflict Affected Persons in Darfur
and Eastern Chad  2.2 million people      U.S. Government, European 
Union, and  United Nations

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Darfur   1.2 million people 
U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA)

Sudanese Refugees in Eastern Chad   200,000 people    U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Conflict-Affected Persons in
Darfur Receiving Food Assistance    940,000 people   during July (1) 
U.N. World Food Program (WFP)

Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM)
Rates for children <5 in Darfur     13 to 39 percent2 USAID Disaster
Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART)

GAM Rates for Refugee Children
<5 in Eastern Chad      36 to 39 percent  Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC)

Total USG Humanitarian Assistance to Darfur     $169,432,020
Total USG Humanitarian Assistance to Eastern Chad     $36,575,632
Total USG Humanitarian Assistance for the Darfur Emergency  $206,007,652


CURRENT HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

Humanitarian Access

USAID's Disaster Assistance Response Team (USAID/DART) reports that relief 
efforts are increasingly meeting critical needs in many areas of Darfur, 
but a significant gap remains in humanitarian assistance for residents and 
internally displaced persons (IDPs) under opposition control. Areas under 
the control of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) are remote and 
to date humanitarian access has been limited. Recent USAID/DART field 
travel in North Darfur has confirmed that humanitarian agencies are 
willing to provide cross-line assistance. However, there is a need to 
strengthen knowledge of the area and communication with opposition 
movements to safeguard the security and efficacy of interventions.

Security

According to the U.N., 22 Ministry of Health workers were released from 
abduction on August 31. The health workers were abducted by the Justice 
and Equality Movement (JEM) on August 28 while working on a vaccination 
program for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). The SLM/A released six 
humanitarian workers from the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) and the 
Sudanese Red Crescent Society on September 1, after initially denying 
involvement in the abductions.

African Union (AU) cease-fire monitors have confirmed accounts of 
Government of Sudan (GOS) support for armed attacks on the village of 
Yassin, southeast of Nyala, on August 26. According to international media 
reports, 64 civilians were killed in the Yassin attack, which reportedly 
occurred in conjunction with attacks on other villages around El Fasher. 
In North Darfur, the U.N. reports that Nortik, 75 km south of El Fasher, 
was attacked on August 27 by armed men in three vehicles, resulting in 18 
people injured and 48 huts burned. In the Jebel Si area, GOS and SLM/A 
clashes caused the U.N. to close the road from Tawilah to Kabkabiya to 
U.N. traffic. The U.N. also reported clashes in Thabit and Galeb areas 
south of Zam Zam.

In West Darfur, the U.N. reports that IDPs in Riyad and Mornei have 
reportedly reacted violently to GOS pressure to relocate or participate in 
pro-government activities. The U.N. and AU monitors continue to 
investigate other reports of insecurity.


Protection of Civilians

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has recently reported that, despite promises to 
disarm Jingaweit forces, the GOS is permitting them to maintain 16 
military camps in all Darfur states. HRW noted that the Jingaweit share 5 
camps with the GOS army, and many Jingaweit members have been incorporated 
into either the GOS army or police. Several Jingaweit camps are located 
near IDP camps, exposing IDPs to rape, extortion, and murder. HRW argues 
that safe areas do not offer protection to civilians and may actually 
increase opportunities for ethnic cleansing and violence by allowing the 
GOS to force civilian populations to relocate from their homes.


Water and Sanitation

On August 25, at the water and sanitation coordination meeting in West 
Darfur, UNICEF and the GOS Water and Environmental Sanitation Program 
(WES) reported that WES would soon complete 2,800 latrines for Mornei. 
Once complete, Mornei will have a total of 3,950 latrines, which would 
meet 100 percent of Sphere standards for latrine coverage.*


Health

Cases of Hepatitis E in the Darfur states have increased since the 
outbreak began in late May 2004. As of August 20, the U.N. World Health 
Program (WHO) reports that health clinics in Darfur have reported 41 
deaths out of a total of 2,431 cases. This is an increase over the 22 
deaths out of 625 cases reported as of July 30. WHO will be unable to 
determine the effectiveness of emergency campaigns until Hepatitis E's 
seven-week incubation period ends in mid-September.


Food Assistance

According to the WFP, from March to July, the number of beneficiaries rose 
from 500,000 to 950,000. Since the beginning of the Darfur food program, a 
total of 82 out of 154 locations have received food, leaving 72 locations 
that have not received food. A total of 21 locations received food once; 
20 locations received food twice; 23 locations received food three times; 
and only 17 locations received food each month since April of this year. 
The USAID/DART reports that WFP's August distribution plan called for the 
distribution of 7,497 metric tons (MT) of food commodities in the areas of 
West Darfur serviced through the WFP Geneina sub-office, and approximately 
2,900 MT to be delivered by air. WFP expects to reach 50 percent of their 
goal, as food arriving in late August will not be distributed until 
September.


Sudanese Refugees in Eastern Chad

On August 31, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) signed an 
agreement with the Government of Chad (GOC) on maintaining security in and 
around refugee camps. Under the agreement, the GOC will deploy 180 
specially trained gendarmes to the nine existing camps to prevent armed 
persons from entering and to ensure refugees are not involved in armed 
activity. The gendarmes will also protect camp infrastructure, food, and 
other stocks.

Cases of Hepatitis E in eastern Chad have increased since the outbreak 
began three months ago. As of August 20, WHO reports that health clinics 
in eastern Chad have reported 30 deaths out of a total of 959 cases, 
compared to 21 deaths out of 672 cases reported as of August 13. Notes:

(1) USAID notes that many of the beneficiaries reached by WFP in July 
received food that was originally planned for delivery in June. This was 
especially true for West Darfur, where rains, poor roads, and insecurity 
have significantly reduced road access.

(2) According to the U.N. World Health Organization (WHO), 15 percent with 
aggravating factors (e.g. food availability, disease, etc.) Global Acute 
Malnutrition (GAM) is the emergency threshold.

* The Sphere Project was launched in 1997 by the International Committee 
of the Red Cross (ICRC), the U.N., NGOs, and donors to develop a set of 
universal minimum standards for humanitarian assistance and thereby 
improve the quality of assistance provided to disaster-affected persons 
and to enhance the accountability of humanitarian agencies.

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