MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
The Australian Government is providing $5 million to help meet the immediate
needs of internally displaced people in Darfur, southwest Sudan.
Australian assistance will help protect vulnerable populations in the face of
widespread violence and human rights abuse and deliver emergency food supplies
and shelter prior to Sudan's wet season.
Australia's contribution follows a revised United Nations Consolidated Appeal
and is being channelled through the International Committee of the Red Cross,
the World Food Programme and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs who are best placed to deliver this assistance.
Without help from the international community, already vulnerable populations
in Darfur are likely to face famine in the wet season, when rains make it
extremely difficult to deliver food aid to the remote areas of Sudan.
Australia stands ready to consider further requests for humanitarian
assistance.
Twenty years of internal conflict in Sudan has driven over 4.1 million
people, including 1 million in Darfur, from their homes, fleeing years of
indiscriminate violence, disease and the deliberate destruction of
livelihoods.
This is the world's largest internally displaced population and a situation
described as the worst humanitarian crisis today.
Australia is committed to assisting the most world's most vulnerable,
including those affected by disaster and conflict.
This is reflected in the 2004-05 budget, where Australia is providing
increased funding for international humanitarian, emergency and refugee
programs.
Media contacts:
Chris Kenny (Minister's Office) 02 6277 7500 or 0419 206 890
Dominic Morice (AusAID) 02 6206 4220 or 0417 683 126