1. The Government of Japan, on June 26 (Tue), decided to extend emergency assistance totaling about $4 million dollars (about 464 million yen) to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), with a view to improving the humanitarian situation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the eastern part of Chad and the northeastern part of Central African Republic who have been displaced by the Darfur conflict in Sudan.

 

 

2. This emergency assistance is intended to protect these IDPs (by registering them, etc.), improve their hygienic situation by providing wells, water-supply facilities and public lavatories, and provide them with non-food items such as blankets, plastic sheets and sets of kitchen utensils.  It is expected that this assistance will contribute to immediately improving the current humanitarian situation of IDPs in both countries.

 

 

3. There are increasing numbers of IDPs in the eastern part of Chad and the northeastern part of Central African Republic, which share the borders with the war-torn Darfur region, partly due to the cross-border attacks and lootings by the Arab militiamen called “Janjaweed” allegedly sponsored by the Government of Sudan, and partly the fighting between some Sudan-based rebel groups and the government forces since the second half of 2006.

 

 

(1) More than 170,000 people have been internally displaced in the eastern part of Chad so far (out of which, 120,000 people were forced to leave home in the past six months) and the security and humanitarian situation in the area has been rapidly deteriorating.

 

 

(2) At the same time, over 200,000 people have been internally displaced in the northern part of Central African Republic since 2006. Among which, some 50,000 IDPs have been produced, directly by the Darfur conflict in the past six months.

 

 

[UNHCR]

   Country: Chad and Central African Republic

   Amount: $1.65 million

   ( Chad : $1.15 million, Central African Republic : $0.5 million)

   Objective: protection for IDPs, distribution of non-food items

 

 

[UNICEF]

  Country: Chad

   Amount: $1.18 million

   Objective: water and sanitation project for IDPs

 

 

[ICRC]

   Country: Chad

   Amount: $1.17 million

   Objective: distribution of non-food items （ different areas from UNHCR ）

 

 

 

[Related links]

* Japan-Chad relations

http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/africa/chad/index.html

 

* Japan-Central African Republic relations

http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/africa/central_a/index.html

 

* Japan-Sudan relations

http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/africa/sudan/index.html

 

* Japan ’s development policy

http://www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/policies/economic/development.htm