“Civilians continue to be displaced from their homes and villages and the need for relief and assistance is still rising. Between January and August 2008, around 290,000 people were forced to flee,” explains Mide.
This has brought the total number of internally-displaced people in Sudan’s western province of Darfur to 2.69 million. It is estimated that 4.72 million people are affected by the situation.
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| The crisis deepens: 90,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the last three months alone. NCA leads a response operation in Darfur reaching out to over 350,000 people |
The ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together) and Caritas Internationalis have now sent out a joint appeal to their sister organisations around the world for around NOK 80 million towards the Norwegian Church Aid-led Darfur Emergency Response Operation.
Critical funds
"This is an extremely important appeal for Norwegian Church Aid. The funds raised will support our programme in Darfur that provides emergency relief, healthcare, water and sanitation, as well as psychosocial assistance to at least 350,000 people in Darfur," says Mide.
The Darfur operation began in 2004 and has now entered its fifth year.
"The security situation makes it near impossible for internally displaced families to return to their homes, and for us to reach certain segments of the affected population," says Mide. Several aid workers have been attacked in recent months, and vehicle-hijacking is a persistent problem.
"We are doing our utmost to get our aid to those that need it the most. This appeal will allow us to continue doing this," concludes Mide.
The Darfur Emergency Response Operation is a unique project for which both ecumenical and catholic relief organisations, through ACT International and Caritas Internationalis, have joined forces. 60 different organisations from around the world support the operation, which is led by Norwegian Church Aid, in Darfur.