A donation from the EU to Sudan

The European Union has agreed to offer financial support to Sudan estimated at US $49 million. The EU's Europe Committee was quoted as saying that the aid will help finance the activities of the UN World Food Program and other humanitarian organizations working to providr food to thousands of Sudanese citizens who have been threatened by starvation in southern Sudan.

In a statement released in Brussels, the committee added that drought and intensification of fighting in the area had led to the escalation of the crisis in the region. Thereby the number of citizens who have died as a result of malutrition is in increase.

The committee recalled estimates made by the World Food Program which say that some 700,000 persons are drastically in need of urgent food in areas which fall under the control of Sudanese rebels in Bahr el-Gazelle province in comparison with 250,000 at the beginning of 1998.