beni-en-bolavie

I first spoke to the U.N. Security Council on Darfur two years ago, calling it ethnic cleansing of the worst kind. Today, I could simply hit the rewind button on much of that earlier briefing. The world's largest aid effort now hangs in the balance, unsustainable under present conditions. If we are to avoid an imminent, massive loss of life, we need immediate actionfrom the government of Sudan, the rebels, U.N. Security Council members and donor governments.

The carnage in Darfur is escalating, spilling over into Chad. Another 200,000 people have fled for their lives in the last four months alone. More than two million people are displaced. Marauding, government-backed militias prowl the countryside on a scorched-earth campaign of terror, systematically destroying lives and livelihoods with impunity. Rebel attacks continue against civilians as well as humanitarian operations.

We now have 14,000 unarmed aid workers, mostly Sudanese, in Darfur, but only half as many African Union troops on the ground to enforce a failed cease-fire in an area the size of Texas. Indeed, as in Bosnia a decade ago, humanitarian relief has been one of the only effective responses the world has mounted to the savagery in Darfur. Instead of healing the wound, the world has preferred to apply bandages to an open hemorrhage.

Of course, humanitarian bandages are essential to saving lives. Over the last two years, we have made huge progress on the humanitarian front. In 2004, we had only 230 relief workers on the ground to assist 350,000 people. Today we help ten times that numberhalf of Darfur's population. Working together, U.N. agencies and NGOs have reduced deaths among those displaced in Darfur by two-thirds from their 2004 levels while halving malnutrition rates in 2005.

Today, however, these lifesaving achievements are being swept away by increased violence by all sides, and increased obstructionism by the government of Sudan. Both conditions severely restrict our ability to reach those in need. Indeed, they could force an end to the world's massive relief effort in Darfur, putting millions of lives at risk.

Meanwhile, funding for aid has all but dropped off. Donor support in Europe and the Gulf States is seriously flagging. Our U.N. appeal for lifesaving support has less than 20% of funds needed. Last week, we announced we will soon be forced to cut daily food rations in half. More cutsand hence more lives lostwill follow without further, immediate resources. We urgently need progress on all frontssecurity, humanitarian access and political engagementto prevent the death toll in Darfur from rising exponentially.

First, we need strengthened security for the people of Darfur. The African Union's dedicated but overstretched forces must be immediately strengthened during this transition period to better protect the population.

Protection for the population is as fundamental as it is urgent. Aid workers must also be able to help all those in need without fear of kidnapping, armed attacks, carjackings or official harassment. Current conditions are intolerable. If they continue, humanitarians will be forced to withdraw, severing a lifeline that sustains hundreds of thousands of defenseless civilians. All sidesthe government, militias and rebelsare responsible for the appalling security conditions that threaten the lives of the people of Darfur and make humanitarian efforts increasingly impossible.

Second, we need to reach all those in need. Unfortunately, here again we have backtracked on progress made last year. Humanitarian access is now the worst it's been since spring 2004. In western and northern Darfur, aid workers can directly reach only 40% of the population due to increased insecurity.

Access also hinges on better cooperation from the government of Sudan and the armed groups. Unfortunately, we have encountered only the opposite. Aid workers in Darfur are forced to cope with threats, intimidation and an Orwellian nightmare of unending bureaucratic restrictions that effectivelyand intentionallyimpede our ability to help those in need. Last month, for example, a leading relief NGO responsible for running a camp of 90,000 displaced people was forced to pack its bags. The government will now oversee the camp directly. Needless to say, there are grave reasons to be concerned about the safety of camp residents, given the government's track record in protecting its own citizens.

Humanitarian aid is vital for saving lives, but aid alone is a fatally insufficient response to the world's killing fields. Unarmed relief workers can keep people alive today, but they cannot prevent them from being murdered, raped or forced from their homes tomorrow. Let us not repeat the tragic error of Bosnia's "safe areas" before Srebrenica. Humanitarianism should never be used as a fig leaf for political inaction.

And yet, this is precisely what is happening today in Darfur.

The people of Darfur urgently need aid, but they need much more. They need protection on the ground and they need peace, not just on paper in Abuja but implemented and enforced throughout each and every village across Darfur. Finally, the people of Darfur need U.N. member states in Africa, Asia and the Arab worldas well as in the Westto demonstrate moral leadership. We need deeds, not just words. Nothing less will help save lives today or bring peace tomorrow to the people of Darfur. Nothing less will end a repetition of "never again."

Mr. Egeland is the United Nations undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator