Reply #4: USAID does not dispute that wfp is feeding people [View All]

[gottaB]

http://www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/sudan/darfur.html

And see the most recent reports on the right hand side, where their estimates of how many people wfp has reached is largely in agreement with wfp.

http://www.wfp.org/newsroom/briefing/index.html

So it just seems to me that the article is more about grinding axes than reporting current information. And I don't buy the argument that the agency has been totally hijacked by BushCo. The State Department finding of genocide is one that Democrats in Congress agree with. The Democratic Nominee John Kerry has taken a strong position on this issue. Prominent Democrats who have travelled to Darfur agree that it is a genocide and a crisis: Jesse Jackson, Jesse Jackson Jr., John Corzine, Richard Holbrooke.

It is a crisis. You can cite some camps where the cmr is below crisis level, but in other camps the cmr is significantly above crisis level, which is evident in the msf briefing you linked to, as well as the links I've provided. Here is a statement from msf in July:

Darfur Sudan disaster - "Aid effort nowhere near enough," says MSF president

....
"Hardly anyone is getting the care civilians should get in a conflict," said Dr Gillies. "And there are pockets of real disaster, where people are at grave risk of dying in large numbers.

"I am particularly concerned about the food situation", continued Dr Gillies. "For example, in one big camp around El Geneina, only 35% of the displaced people even have a card entitling them to food from the UN. And the last time they received any was at the end of May - over seven weeks ago".

Food deliveries are inadequate and uneven across Darfur. A nutritional survey of four refugee camps in May and June found severe malnutrition rates of between 4.1 and 5.5%. MSF believes that even with the recently improved deliveries from the World Food Programme, only half of the basic needs for food will be met in July. Young children, under the age of five, are particularly vulnerable. MSF is currently treating around 8,000 children for malnutrition across Darfur.

Death rates are already significantly above the 'emergency threshold'. This is not surprising as there are extreme shortages of water, food, shelter and latrines, which contribute to high levels of diarrhoea among children, a major cause of death.

http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=01A8F870-2E10-453D-A34846E588A24B73

And this is what was said just this last week:

In Kalma camp near Nyala, where an estimated 66,000 people fleeing violence have sought shelter and MSF is treating 3,900 malnourished children, the survey found malnutrition and mortality rates well above emergency levels. MSF warns that without increased mobilization of aid to South Darfur, the health and nutritional situation in the region could deteriorate further.

"It is a disgrace that just minutes from Nyala international airport, up to 66,000 displaced people continue to live without adequate food or sanitation," says Vince Hoedt, coordinator of MSF's programs in South Darfur.

"The people in Kalma camp are completely dependent on food distributions that are irregular and insufficient. More people fleeing ongoing violence in the region continue to arrive.

"Despite the presence of aid organizations in the camp, the international community and the government of Sudan have not been able to meet the basic needs".

http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=0079B9ED-7B3C-4290-99E50138C5668A3F

One implication of the "pockets of real disaster" is that some aid workers will have firsthand knowledge of real disaster, whereas other aid workers will not, and they may believe or report that based on their experience the situation as a whole is below the crisis threshold. It is not. That fact is made clear by the WHO study as well.

Now, you may comment that recent report from Epicentre is a retrospective mortality survey. Surely things have improved since June. Not enough, according to the WHO's Dr. Nabarro. It is not good enough for Vince Hoedt, and at the time the deaths were occuring it wasn't good enough for the msf's Dr. Gillies.