OneWorld.net (U.S.)

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 6 (One World) - Extreme hunger and malnutrition could take the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in southern Sudan if the world fails to take immediate action, humanitarian aid activists are warning.

Nearly 300,000 children under the age of five are malnourished, according to a recent nutritional survey that shows that more than 20 percent of southern Sudan's seven million people are already facing extreme hunger.

Alarmed by the report's findings that predicts a possible famine in the region, aid and relief groups are calling for urgent coordination among the various United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations.

"There is still no concentrated effort to stop extreme hunger, despite unacceptably high rates of malnutrition," says Onesmus Muinde, a nutritionist for Action Against Hunger, an international relief network, also known by its French name Action Contre la Faim, or ACF.

ACF's report on southern Sudan shows a speedy increase in the level of malnutrition. Last year it stood at 19 percent, which is already four points above the emergency level. But this year's figures show 20.7 percent of the population suffering from malnutrition.

This is a kind of malnutrition that "can kill if not treated," say ACF researchers.

The report identifies "erratic and unevenly" distributed rainfall and inter-clan conflicts as major factors responsible for the worsening food security situation.

Last month, a severe shortage of jet fuel forced the UN's food agency to reduce its deliveries of food aid to southern Sudan by half. UN officials said insufficient contributions and the late arrival of donor funds prevented them from pre-positioning food early this year.

In addition to southern Sudan, tens of thousands of internally displaced people in the Darfur region are also becoming increasingly vulnerable to the deadly threat of hunger and starvation caused by disruptions in food supply by militia groups.

"Life in Western Sudan has become more and more desperate," says a statement from Christian Aid, a U.K.-based aid group, which is actively taking part in relief efforts in the region.

Last week, three Christian Aid workers were kidnapped at gunpoint while visiting an internally displaced people's camp. The group says such incidents are taking place frequently as security situation in the region continues to worsen.

"The situation is deteriorating and this is making it hazardous for non-governmental organizations to operate in the region," says Stephanie Brigden, Christian Aid's senior policy officer. "As a result, many people in Darfur are not getting the assistance they need."

UN officials monitoring the situation in Darfur are equally concerned about relief efforts. During the past two weeks, more than 30 civilians have died and thousands have fled makeshift camps in the Darfur region as a result of attacks by armed Arab men on horses and camels.

Last week, Jan Egeland, the UN's top relief coordinator, told reporters that if the violence continued to escalate and if it continued to be "so dangerous to the 11,000 unarmed humanitarian workers, the UN might not be able to sustain their operations.

"As we speak, we have had to suspend action in many areas, tens of thousands of people will not get any assistance because it is too dangerous," he said.

"My question is, is this a repeat of the so-called safe areas of Bosnia again?" Egeland asked. "We keep people alive, we give them food, we give them medicine, but we do not protect them, or protect our own unarmed staff."

Since such security obstacles are not prevalent in southern Sudan, where an agreement signed by the government and rebels in January provides some hope for relative peace, activists like Muinde say they see no reason for delay in taking action against hunger.

The peace agreement, according to ACF, gives non-governmental organizations the momentous opportunity to end malnutrition in Sudan, as well as to start long-term programs to build up food availability, increase access to clean water, and improve childcare practices.

Immediate steps are needed to address the problem of hunger because now it is threatening to turn an already "horrible cyclical problem" into a "severe malnutrition emergency," the group says.

"Why must we wait for the future?" asks Muinde. "We have the means to stop this crisis; but not the resources."