UN to discuss crisis in Sudan

2 June 2004.

By Salamander Davoudi

WASHINGTON, June 02, 2004 (Financial Times) -- The United Nations has called a meeting of large donor countries in Geneva tomorrow to discuss the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan, a spokesman for the US Agency for International Development said yesterday.

"This is the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world today in terms of the number of people at risk," said Andrew Natsios, an administrator for USAID.

The agency warned that more than 350,000 people might die if the international community did not get better access to the Darfur region before the rainy season began this month.

The UN has estimated that 1m people have been internally displaced in Sudan and more than 120,000 people have fled across the border into neighbouring Chad.