U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that 1 billion dollars are needed urgently to assist 6 million Sudanese for the remainder of the year in order to avoid "grave humanitarian consequences" throughout the country. He said generous contributions had been received since January, but large shortfalls remain. Revised numbers in coming weeks are expected to show a gap of 1 billion dollars for humanitarian assistance in Sudan, according to DPA. Donor countries meeting in Oslo earlier this year pledged a total of 4.5 billion dollars to support the peace process in the South after the Sudanese government and the armed opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement signed a peace agreement on January 9, ending decades of a destructive civil war. The pledges have yet to be converted into cash, Annan said. He sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council, urging it pay attention to the "countrywide hunger period" which will be aggravated by the rainy season. He said the lack of funding for programmes on humanitarian assistance, health, housing, education, agricultural supplies and water would hurt the peace process in southern Sudan.
