Darfur

Australians have continued to support the millions of refugees forced to relocate due to violence in Sudan's Darfur provinces.

UNHCR has long been the lead agency overseeing the delivery and distribution of international relief services across the twelve remote desert camps in eastern Chad. The camps are home to some hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees from Darfur. Your donations, totalling more than $1 million since 2006, have allowed us to provide this support.

The emergency: Since 2003, more than 300,000 people have been killed and approximately 4.7 million have been forced to relocate due to repeated militia attacks on hundreds of villages across Darfur.  Some 252,000 Sudanese are sheltering from the violence in twelve large refugee camps in eastern Chad who are heavily dependent on humanitarian aid.

UNHCR's role: Throughout the twelve refugee camps, UNHCR provides non-food aid and oversees the development of water and sanitation infrastructure to ease some of the various challenges faced not only by Darfuri refugees, but also by hundreds of thousands of displaced Chadians.

UNHCR also operates within Darfur itself, being one of the few international agencies still working in the region.  Darfur is a highly restrictive and volatile environment, yet UNHCR has been successful in providing assistance to over a million Sudanese by supplying and distributing emergency nutrition and installing or rehabilitating infrastructure and services like emergency water systems, schools and protection centres for women and youth.

Since 2005, UNHCR has played a vital role in the repatriation of tens of thousands of Sudanese refugees and the return of over one hundred and fifty thousand internally displaced people to their homes by providing them with travel papers, security, transport and food.

Relief provided: Thanks to your generous donations, the UN Refugee Agency has sent Emergency Response Teams to the region to provide life-saving assistance to the people of Darfur.  These funds were used to supply refugees in Chadian camps and those within Darfur with tonnes of non-food items such as jerry cans, mosquito nets, blankets, tents, kitchen sets, and to rebuild infrastructure and basic services.

Total funds raised to date: AUD $1.076 million

Read other examples as to how your donations have helped in an Emergency