Media Release

AA034 - 17 May 2004

Humanitarian Assistance for Sudan

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 inquiries: Chris Kenny (Ministerial) 02 6277 7500, Dominic Morice (AusAID) 02 6206 4220