UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called on the Security Council to issue "the strongest warning" to forces fighting in Sudan, as Canadians confirm the humanitarian conditions in the country are dire.

"I regret to report that the security situation in (the western region of) Darfur continued to deteriorate despite the cease-fire agreement signed earlier," Annan said.

"Both the government and its militias as well as the rebel groups have breached these agreements."

The meeting was called by John Danforth, the American ambassador to the United Nations. He wanted to give UN members a chance to meet with the experts trying to end the fighting there.

"The strongest warning to all the parties that are causing this suffering is essential," Annan said.

"When crimes on such a scale are being committed, and a sovereign state appears unable or unwilling to protect its own citizens, a grave responsibility falls on the international community, and specifically on this Council," he said.

Annan isn't the only warning that the world needs to act quickly.

"It's horrific," Canadian rock star Raine Maida, lead singer for the band Our Lady Peace told Canada AM.

"It's incredible that the world community hasn't come together and actually really put the kind of pressure that needs to be put on the Sudanese government."

Maida's joined forces with War Child Canada, an organization that raises awareness about children affected by war.

Dr. Eric Hoskins, the organization's president told Canada AM: "There's about one-and-a-half million displaced people in these camps and the conditions are quite serious."

Hoskins referred to an incident in Sudan days ago when 13 women, including a 14-year-old girl, where abducted when they went to fetch firewood.

He said the population in the Sudanese camps seems to be comprised mostly of women and children since a large part of the men are fighting.

Hoskins added that Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin has a chance to make a difference in the international effort when he visits the troubled country next week.

"He did this in September in front of the UN when he talked about the responsibility to protect," he said.

Noting that the U.S. has declared the situation in Darfur as genocide, Hoskins added, "I don't know what more the international community needs to actually act."

A 21-year civil war is being waged in Sudan. More than 2 million people have been killed since 1983, most of them from war-induced famine.

Pro-government Arab militias have been accused of launching a brutal campaign against African villagers. They've allegedly raped and murdered thousands of people while burning down their homes.

The conflict broke out after rebels from the south took up arms against the mostly Arab and Muslim north. The rebels maintain it's their right to fight for better treatment and to choose whether their region should remain part of Sudan.