by Fayez el Zaki Hassan
KHARTOUM, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- A Sudanese official on Wednesday reiterated improvements in security and humanitarian situations in the restive western Sudanese region of Darfur, which has been suffering a civil war since 2003.
"The humanitarian and security conditions in Darfur region have been significantly improved," Sudan's humanitarian aid commissioner, Hassabo Mohamed Abdul-Rahman, said in an interview with Xinhua.
"The rate of voluntary return of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and refugees indicates the social and security stability in Darfur together with the tribal reconciliations achieved in the region," he said.
"There is an expansion in the secured geographical area and we affirm that 95 percent of the Darfur lands are secured and stable," he said, adding that "security incidents registered this year were limited."
The commissioner said there is a significant flow of humanitarian assistance convoys to the needy areas and less complaints from the humanitarian workers on inability to access those affected by the conflict.
"Since the Sudanese government's decision to expel some international organizations operating in Darfur in March 2008, no epidemics, health disasters or deficiency in food or medicines or water were registered," he said.
Abdul-Rahman said, "the service provided for the needy has developed, citing water provision as an example. "The IDPs share in 2008 was nine liters while presently the individual receives about 17 liters."
The official said malnutrition and mortality rates, authored bya joint team of the Sudanese authorities and UN agencies, were lower than the internationally registered ones.
The number of the returnees, including IDPs and refugees, amounted to 1,200 till September 2008 and they were settled in around 620 villages, he said, adding that "our plan for 2010 focuses on rehabilitating the villages and enhancing the voluntary return of the IDPs and refugees."
"Presently we are working with the local governments of Darfur to provide materials for the voluntary return together with production inputs to help the returnees resume normal life and ensure their stability at the return areas," he elaborated.
In the meantime, the Sudanese official appreciated the humanitarian assistance offered by the Chinese government, saying "Chinese assistance in Darfur is a quality assistance and goes directly to the beneficiaries, and it has a great effect."
He said the Sudanese and the Chinese sides are implementing a technical agreement worth 80 million yuan (about 11.7 million U.S. dollars) signed three years ago, adding that, "We have also signed another agreement of additional 60 million yuan to support the projects in Darfur."
He said the Chinese assistance mainly focuses on water, education and health inputs, noting that China has provided equipment to establish about 200 water stations and 55 schools.
"During November 2009, we will receive about 30 mobile clinics in accordance with the technical agreement signed with China," he said.
The Sudanese government reiterates that peace in Darfur has become imminent and the civil war in the region has ended, as said by the United Nations and African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID)officials.
Khartoum says the armed conflict in Darfur has reduced to its lowest levels and the victims of the clashes which happen now and then have also dropped to the lowest rates in six years.
It also says that the number of IDPs in the camps is in persisting reduction as voluntary return is increasing, and that the rates of epidemics and malnutrition are the lowest compared to other areas in Sudan.
Former special representative of UNAMID Rodolphe Adada said in his report to the UN Security Council in April that the conflict in the region was "a low-intensity conflict."
The Sudanese government says the transformations on the ground encourage resumption of the peace talks with the Darfur armed movements to reach a political settlement for the conflict.
The Qatari capital of Doha is expected to host peace talks between Khartoum and the Darfur rebels late October under direct UN-AU patronage, but some major rebel groups in Darfur refused to take part in the forthcoming talks. (1 U.S. dollar = 6.82 Chinese yuan)
