DARFUR UPDATE:

13 SEPTEMBER 2004 | GENEVA — A mortality survey has just been conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Sudan’s Ministry of Health in two of the States in Sudan’s Darfur region. It concludes that death rates amongst internally displaced people still surpass the threshold for a humanitarian emergency, underscoring the need for urgent increases in, and focus on, assistance to displaced people in the region.

1.2 million people in Darfur region have fled their villages and are camped in 129 settlements across an area the size of France. The “crude mortality rate” that is usually used to define a humanitarian crisis is one death per 10 000 people per day. The WHO survey found the crude mortality rate to be 1.5 deaths per 10 000 people per day in North Darfur, and 2.9 in West Darfur. The survey looked at overall deaths and their causes between 15 June and 15 August 2004. Results show that displaced people, in North and West Darfur are dying at between three and six times the expected rate.

Meanwhile, Sunday’s UN protest doesn’t seem to have gotten much attention outside the blogosphere.