Canada pledges more C$40 mln aid to Sudan’s Darfur
May 23, 2006 (OTTAWA) — Canada announced Tuesday that it would increase aid to Sudan’s violence-plagued western Darfur region by C$40 million.
Peace is still possible in Darfur, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said, but he noted that a recently brokered peace deal must be backed up by actions to stabilize the region.
Half of the new aid money will be spent on food aid, water and sanitation, basic health care, and protecting refugees in Sudan and in neighboring African countries.
“Canada will act,” Harper told reporters in the federal capital. “Our government will pursue a two-pronged approach; splitting our efforts between the provision of humanitarian aid and peace support assistance.”
The other half of the contribution will go toward supporting the African Union peacekeeping mission and helping implement the Darfur peace agreement brokered between the Sudanese government and at least one rebel group in Darfur. Harper said those funds would also be used to negotiate a transition to a U.N.-led peace mission.
A high-level U.N. delegation was in Khartoum on Tuesday to press the reluctant Sudanese government to accept a large force of U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur.
Fighting in Darfur has not abated since a May 5 deal to end the conflict. The fighting, which has left more than 180,000 dead and 2.5 million displaced in the arid western region, began when Darfur’s African ethnic groups rose in revolt in early 2003, provoking a counterinsurgency in which pro-government Arab militia conducted widespread killings and destruction.
Harper made no mention of whether Canada would provide peacekeeping troops for the region, taking no questions from reporters after making the announcement. Earlier this month, the prime minister suggested that any help for Darfur would not include any major troop contribution.
Canada has been providing military and technical assistance to the African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur, including sending Royal Canadian Mounted Police to train civilian police forces.
Other Canadian military and civilian experts have assisted with strategic planning, logistics and air operations, training, information support and communications.
Prior to Tuesday’s announcement, Canada had allocated C$170 million since 2004 to support the African Union mission in Darfur, making it one of the top three international donors.
The money has been used to lease commercial helicopters and transport aircraft, pay for fuel and buy basic equipment, including helmets and protective vests.
(ST/AP)