Australia is providing an additional $12 million in humanitarian assistance to Sudan

Australia is providing an additional $12 million in humanitarian assistance to help relieve the terrible human crisis in Sudan.

This takes Australia's humanitarian funding to $20 million, demonstrating the Australian Government's deep concern about the situation in the Darfur region of Western Sudan.

The Government is actively engaged in humanitarian and political efforts to solve this crisis and prevent further suffering caused by needless conflict.

Australia has already provided $8 million to UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Australian NGOs, to deliver urgently needed assistance to Sudanese refugees. The additional funding reflects the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region.

More than 1 million internally displaced people need help in Darfur and more than 180,000 refugees have crossed the border into Chad as a result of conflict.

Many of these refugees are women and children, including over 20,000 who are less than five years of age, and therefore are at extreme risk from hunger and disease, as well as shortages of clean water and adequate shelter.

Early contributions totalling $6 million will be made to the World Food Programme and the United Nations Children's Fund to provide urgent assistance to those most in need.

The remaining funds will be allocated through UN and other humanitarian relief agencies to cover other needs including the protection of populations at risk. Australia will consult closely with relief agencies working in the area to ensure funding is directed to the highest priorities.

Australia is actively encouraging and supporting action by the United Nations and will continue to support international efforts to end the conflict and alleviate the human suffering and gross human rights abuses in Sudan.

If the humanitarian efforts of the international community are to be effective, it is essential that the Sudanese Government fulfils immediately the commitments it has made to disarm the Janjaweed militia, remove restrictions on humanitarian access, permit the deployment of human rights monitors and bring human rights abuses to an end.