Agencies Provide Relief To Sudanese Refugees as U.S, U.N. Discuss Crisis
Relief agencies are continuing to respond to the needs of displaced families with emergency food and supplies as the crisis facing black refugees in Sudan is being discussed
As the crisis facing black refugees in Sudan is being discussed within the U.S. government and at the United Nations, relief agencies are continuing to respond to the needs of displaced families with emergency food and supplies.
The U.N. estimates that more than 50,000 people have already been killed by violence in this country and an additional 1 million people have been forced from their homes. The U.N. also believes that up to 10,000 displaced people are dying each month in Darfur, an estimate which Sudanese official have denied saying Tuesday that the health situation in the region was "normal."
"The death rate is decreasing," Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Ibrahim Hamid told the Associated Press, declining to offer his own estimate.
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European Union foreign ministers, meanwhile, urged the U.N. to "immediately investigate" whether killings in Darfur constitute genocide, as Washington contends.
Amidst the commotion, relief agencies are continuing their efforts in RC is helping families return to their homes and rebuild their lives.
The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), which received $830,000 (USD) from the Canadian Foodgrains Bank in August, reports that it is using the funds to head up a relief program in Darfur, Sudan that focuses on the needs of 50,000 displaced people. This program provides clean, safe sources of drinking water and latrines. It is also surveying the nutritional needs of families, providing them with emergency food, chickens to raise, seeds to grow in small gardens, and three health clinics.
CRWRC is the lead agency in the program, working alongside World Relief and World Concern. It is also developing an additional response that will provide seed, tools, and food to 500 families totaling about 3,500 people who have left refugee camps to return home to southern Sudan. These families have lost their houses, livestock, and crops. CRWRC will provide them with food to meet their immediate needs, as well as seed and tools to help them prepare for a future harvest.
While the CFGB grant covers a large portion of CRWRC's response in Sudan, additional funds are also needed, the agency said.
More information about CRWRC's response to the crisis in Sudan, or on how to offer financial support can be found by calling 1-800-55-CRWRC or go online at www.crwrc.org.
CRWRC is a non-profit organization of the Christian Reformed Church that provides a ministry of development, relief, and justice education to people in need around the world. CRWRC is currently active in 30 countries around the globe, and has an international reputation for "living justice, and loving mercy."
