Conflict in Sudan - New York Times

Re “In Sudan, Give War a Chance,” by Gérard Prunier (Op-Ed, May 5):

Mr. Prunier writes: “The return to violence is not necessarily a bad thing. Soldiers killing one another in war would be far less devastating than thousands of women and children starving to death while waiting for a negotiated peace that will never come.”

Conflict is why hundreds of thousands of people have been internally displaced, and 151,000 refugees now face extreme hardship in camps in South Sudan and Ethiopia. In the worst-hit conflict areas, women and children and men face fear, food shortages and almost no access to services just because of war.

Oxfam has been doing development and humanitarian work in Sudan for 30 years. Conflict has led only to displacement, death and poverty. Only in peace have communities been able to work to correct the underdevelopment and marginalization that Mr. Prunier correctly identifies as at the heart of Sudan’s many wars.

Peace has been won in Sudan through negotiations and can be again. To get the safer, better lives they deserve, the people of Sudan urgently need the conflicts to end. Not more warmongering!

RAYMOND OFFENHEISER
President, Oxfam America
Carlisle, Mass., May 6, 2012