Measures of the Japanese Government to Address the Humanitarian Crisis in Darfur in Western Sudan

September 22, 2004

In the light of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Darfur region in Sudan, Japan has decided, in response to the UN emergency appeal, to provide additional humanitarian emergency assistance in the amount of $15 million. This additional assistance will be on top of the $6 million emergency assistance Japan so far provided based on the report by Japanese government officials dispatched to eastern Chad in this May, thus making the total assistance amounting to $21 million. Furthermore, Japan intends to provide in-kind assistance to the Sudanese refugees in Chad. In New York, while he is attending the United Nations General Assembly's Annual meeting, Prime Minister Koizumi explained these Japanese additional assistance to Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the UN. Prime Minister Koizumi also announced these additional assistance in his address to the General Assembly.
Japan shares the grave concern of the international community toward the worsening situations in the Darfur region. From this standpoint, both Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Koizumi and Foreign Minister Ms. Kawaguchi took the opportunity of meeting the Sudanese Foreign Minister Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail respectively while he was in Japan this September to urge him to take concrete steps regarding the crisis in Darfur. They also urged the Sudanese foreign minister to promote the peace talks between the North and South. Japan also arranged meetings for the Sudanese foreign minister while he was in Tokyo to exchange views with Mr. Lubbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees and Ambassador Said Djinnit, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security respectively. In addition, Japan will dispatch Mr. Keitaro Sato, Ambassador in charge of Conflict and Refugee-Related Issues in Africa, to the region from September 23 as a member of the UNHCR donor mission to Chad/Sudan led by Mr. Lubbers. The purpose of his visit will be to examine what kind of additional roles Japan can play as regards the crisis in the region.

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