HOTLINE - week of June 20, 2005

June 20 is World Refugee Day. This past year CWS resettled some 4,737 refugees in the U.S. CWS is also helping to meet the needs of refugees and displaced persons in various parts of the world, some of whom have been in camp situations for extended periods of time and have little or no prospect of returning home or being resettled.

More than four million people are internally displaced in Sudan –- some three million in the north-south war and more than 1.5 million in the Darfur region, where genocidal violence has destroyed entire villages.

Since the January signing of a peace agreement that ended the north-south war, the UN estimates that returnees are traveling back to their homes in the south at the rate of 1,500 per day. The situation for these returnees is extremely difficult. Most have no means of support, and will place demands on food supplies that are meager due to erratic 2004 rains. In addition, many areas lack healthcare, schools, and access to clean drinking water.

CWS will be assisting returnees in southern Sudan through Churches Ecumenical Action in Sudan (CEAS) and ERRADA, Ecumenical Relief, Rehabilitation, and Development Agency, a division of the Sudan Council of Churches (SCC).

In partnership, CWS will help to provide reconstruction and other assistance for some 20,000 families (some 100,000 people), including seeds and agricultural tools, household items, mosquito nets, health, education, and water and sanitation assistance.

With CWS support, partners also plan to provide a sleeping mat, plastic sheet, two blankets, mosquito nets and cooking pots, four plates, and washing and toilet soap to each of some 1,500 internally displaced and refugee families (7,500 people), and will help to strengthen livelihood options, with some of the families receiving fishing equipment.

In the Darfur region of western Sudan, CWS is helping partners to meet the needs of people displaced by widespread violence carried out by Sudanese government forces and their proxy militia known as "janjaweed."

With the rainy season having started in Darfur, the situation for people displaced by the conflict is even more precarious. In the coming months, up to 3.5 million people may be dependent on food aid across the region, many living in remote areas.

The international community responding to the crisis in Darfur faces an uphill struggle to make sure enough food is in place in the camps before roads in the area become impassable. The rainy season also brings with it the increased risk of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, which can prove fatal to children weakened by hunger.

CWS is helping to support a newly-opened supplementary feeding station in the El Dhein area, giving food to children under five, as well as pregnant and breastfeeding women. Nearly one in three children is malnourished –- a figure that is likely to increase in the coming months. Here and elsewhere in Darfur, CWS is helping to support feeding programs for some 25,000 malnourished children and adults.

CWS is also helping to provide shelter materials, mosquito nets, hygiene items and education, basic and obstetric health care, clean water, sanitation assistance, seeds and farming tools, counseling, and recreation activities.

Your support for these efforts is urgently needed.

Security is also a critical need for the people of Darfur. While areas patrolled by African Union (AU) peacekeepers are now calmer, there are not enough peacekeeping forces to cover the whole of Darfur –- an area the size of France.

Your prayers and support - and your participation in CROP WALKS and the TOOLS & BLANKETS Program - make possible these and other life sustaining programs. For information on how to get involved, please call your Church World Service/CROP Regional Office toll-free at 1-888-CWS-CROP, that's 1-888-297-2767.

For information about free loan videos, please call 1-800-297-1516, ext. 338, or e-mail us at: videos@churchworldservice.org.

Back to top