Boxer And Murkowski Urge Administration To Seek International Assistance For Humanitarian Aid Program In Darfur
Boxer And Murkowski Urge Administration To Seek International Assistance For Humanitarian Aid Program In Darfur
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Washington, D.C. -- In light of reports that humanitarian aid programs in Darfur are facing severe budget shortfalls, U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) today urged Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick to launch a campaign to encourage the international community to join the United States in financially contributing to these programs.
Following please find the Senators' letter to Secretary Zoellick:
May 10, 2006
The Honorable Robert B. Zoellick
Deputy Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
Dear Secretary Zoellick:
Genocide in Darfur has resulted in an estimated 400,000 deaths and the displacement of 2.5 million people. As the violence continues and the humanitarian crisis escalates, we are distressed to learn of dramatic funding shortfalls for the World Food Program, UNHCR, and UNICEF. We believe an aggressive campaign is needed to engage the international community and ensure that they contribute financially to alleviate the suffering in the Darfur region. It is critical that the United States immediately lead such a campaign.
As you are well aware, the World Food Program recently announced that funding shortfalls are forcing it to reduce its food rations in Darfur to half of the minimum daily requirement - from 2,100 calories to 1,050 calories. Such drastic ration cuts will surely result in more disease and death. In addition, UNHCR and UNICEF are facing large budget cuts and are only able to fund 50 to 70 percent of projected programming needs. This is unacceptable.
While the United States is providing more than 86 percent of the food distributed by the World Food Program, international donors have not done their part to help alleviate this crisis. For example, only three European governments - Ireland, Italy, and Norway - have thus far given more than $1 million toward the food assistance effort. The European Union's humanitarian aid agency has actually cut funding for Darfur by more than 40 percent for fiscal year 2006. The scope of the humanitarian disaster in Darfur requires nothing less than the strongest financial commitment possible from each donor. Accordingly, we urge you to make every effort to secure additional funding from those nations who have expressed concern about the situation in Darfur and we stand ready to champion this effort in Congress if requested. Please do not hesitate to call upon us if we may be of assistance in this matter.
We thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.
Sincerely,
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
Lisa Murkowski
United States Senator
http://boxer.senate.gov/news/releases/record.cfm?id=255389&&month=5&