Mia Farrow: To start fast over Darfur

Mia Farrow: To start fast over Darfur

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, American actress Mia Farrow, has announced on Tuesday that she will begin a hunger strike next week to show solidarity with the people of Sudan's conflict-torn Darfur region.

In a statement, Farrow said, "On April 27 I will begin a fast of water only in solidarity with the people of Darfur and as a personal expression of outrage at a world that is somehow able to stand by and watch innocent men, women and children needlessly die of starvation, thirst and disease".

A representative for Farrow said that she would stick with the hunger strike as long as possible.

After being appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. children's foundation UNICEF in 2000, Mia Farrow has been actively campaigning for years to raise funds and awareness for children in conflict zones like Darfur, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Chad and Nigeria.

Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) charged Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the President of Sudan, with masterminding mass killings and deportations in Darfur in western Sudan and issued a warrant to arrest him.

Since then, Sudan has expelled 13 foreign and three domestic humanitarian aid agencies, accusing them of collaborating with The Hague-based ICC.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his last report on the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur that the expulsions had put "over 1 million people at life-threatening risk" in Darfur.

Farrow said, "I undertake this fast in the heartfelt hope that world leaders who know what is just and right will call upon the government of Sudan to urgently readmit all of the expelled agencies or otherwise insure that the (aid distribution) gap is filled".

Mia Farrow even hopes that other "human rights advocates and citizens of conscience around the world will join her in some form of fasting, even if for one day".

Sudanese Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, U.N. Ambassador, said that Farrow should use her fame instead to help persuade rebel groups to stop boycotting peace talks with Khartoum.