Human Rights

Ford Foundation Commits $2 Million to Address Crisis in Darfur

November 8, 2004, New York, NY -- The Ford Foundation has committed $2 million to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the devastating conflict in Darfur, Sudan, where tens of thousands have died and some 1.8 million people have been displaced from their homes.

Ford's grants will support efforts by a range of nongovernmental organizations to resolve the conflict, which the United Nations now terms the world's worst humanitarian disaster, and to ensure the safety of displaced people, respect for their human rights and their safe return home.

"Our funding has two goals—to address the immediate concerns for the health and safety of the people displaced by this conflict and to support longer term efforts to achieve and sustain a peaceful resolution," said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation.

Ford grants will be going to:

• International Rescue Committee to strengthen the ability of Sudanese NGOs to respond to problems resulting from displacement;
• Refugees International to conduct research for human rights advocacy;
• Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children at the International Rescue committee to train health staff workers to treat and prevent sexual violence against displaced women and adolescent girls;
• HelpAge International to monitor and advocate for the needs of older people and their dependents in Darfur's conflict zone; and
• International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights for a special session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to involve African civil society groups in an examination of human rights concerns in Darfur.

Future grants will continue to support the protection of displaced people as well as more extensive research on the roots of the conflict in order to better inform resolution efforts.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.

The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.