ME and Ophelia

DONORS FAIL TO DELIVER
For people of Darfur, Sudan

Today, Oxfam today attacked donor governments for failing to deliver enough funding to help an estimated two million people affected by the crisis in Darfur - with this warning: “Humanitarian aid, while not the only solution to this crisis, is the key to preventing tens of thousands of deaths in the coming months. Donors must deliver immediately if lives are to be saved. "

Considering the size and population of the USA (you can fit Great Britain into the State of Texas) it is interesting to note the UK gave $52.1 million, the US gave $89.5 million, and that the governments of France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and rich Arab countries have been some of the least generous:

France has given just $3.45 million, Spain $600,000, Germany $7.14 million, Japan $3.29m, Italy $2.4million, Saudi Arabia $204,000, and United Arab Emirates $82,000.

Report notes for Editors:
·For Darfur and Chad, the UN has appealed for US$349,542,643 since March 2004. So far, the UN has received just 33% of its appeal, $114,085,877.
· In the first three months of the 2003 Iraq appeal, donors mobilized nearly $2 billion.
·Six months after the United Nations announced its $2.95 billion Consolidated Appeal for the world’s emergencies in 2004, only $696.8 million had been received by 16 June 2004, according to OCHA. At just 23.6 % of the amount requested, this level of funding is much lower than at the same time in previous two years, when 33% had been received.
·Oxfam is rapidly scaling up its work in Darfur and Chad and has launched a GB£1 million public appeal to raise funds. It is providing clean drinking water, toilets and bathing facilities as well as hygiene kits in North and South Darfur and refugee camps in neighboring Chad. By the beginning of July 2004, Oxfam will be providing water and sanitation to a total of 200,000 people.
·Oxfam’s emergency work in Darfur is supported by the British Government’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO).
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