UMCOR Update on Sudan Aid
By mid-December, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) expects to have a team of workers on the ground in Sudan, following one of the few independent assessments to be allowed by the government of Sudan.
By mid-December, the nonprofit relief and development agency of the United Methodist Church expects to have a team of workers on the ground in Sudan, following one of the few independent assessments to be allowed by the government of Sudan.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), which is currently serving Sudanese refugees in Chad, announced last week that it would extend its efforts with displaced persons inside South Darfur, one of the three regions in Western Sudan torn by conflict. Though more than 70 humanitarian agencies have registered in Sudan, only a few currently have projects in South Darfur.
The United Nations has estimated that 70,000 people have been killed and 1.6 million pushed from their homes by a months-old rampage supported by the government of Sudan. Last May, the United Methodist General Conference—the legislative unit of the 11 million-member denomination—instructed the board to monitor and report on conditions in Darfur, as well as to provide humanitarian assistance for what has been termed the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
UMCOR is currently partnering with an international ecumenical alliance in Chad refugee camps where 130,000 Sudanese have fled from their burned and looted villages.
The agency also expects to employ 15-20 Sudanese in its initial efforts centering on the need to deliver emergency supplies, ward off famine, and eventually return people to their homes.
