UNITED NATIONS, March 13 (Xinhua) -- The UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, Ali Al-Za'tari, on Wednesday launched an appeal for nearly 1 billion U.S. dollars to help some 4.3 million people in the western part of the African country, the deputy UN spokesman, Eduardo del Buey, told reporters here.
The appealed donations, if put in place, are expected to be used to finance the efforts to meet the humanitarian needs of the people in Darfur, including helping school-age children back into classroom, del Buey said at a daily news briefing here.
"Some 1.4 million people are receiving assistance in camps in Darfur," he said.
"Three million children between four and 15 are not in full- time education," he said. "Child malnutrition rates for the whole country are above global emergency levels."
"Nearly 60 percent of the plan will be devoted to meeting needs in Darfur, where more than 3.5 million people will be targeted with aid," del Buey said.
Since 2003, the Darfur region of western Sudan has been reportedly the site of terrible violence, death and displacement.
More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced or severely affected by the fighting between the Northern Reizegat and the Beni Hussein tribes that began in early January, following a dispute in the Jebel Amir gold mining area, Al-Za'tari said in a statement earlier this week.
UN agencies have delivered over 700 metric tons of assistance to people displaced to El Sireaf, Garrat Az Zawia, Saraf Omra, Kebkabiya and other locations in North Darfur, the statement added.
