George Clooney: "Save the Children is saving lives in Darfur"

Not on Our Watch, a new organisation headed by George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Don Cheadle, Jerry Weintraub and David Pressman, has announced a $1 million donation to Save the Children to assist more than 70,000 displaced women and children living in temporary camps in West Darfur, Sudan and in eastern Chad.

In announcing the grant and the organisation’s support for Save the Children, George Clooney said, “Save the Children is saving lives in Darfur.”

US Save the Children President and CEO Charles MacCormack praised the founders of Not on Our Watch for their commitment to raise funds and awareness in support of children and families impacted by war and conflict.

“For more than three years, hundreds of thousands of children and their families have lived in extremely difficult circumstances due to violence that forced them to leave their homes and live in temporary camps,” MacCormack said. “This donation is going help us reach tens of thousands of women and children.”

“These prominent artists understand that women and children make up the largest proportion of war’s casualties, not soldiers or combatants,” MacCormack said. "We hope that their outspoken commitment will inspire others across America to give as generously as they can to help the millions of displaced children and families who struggle to survive violence, hunger and homelessness."

With funding from the new grant, Save the Children's program in West Darfur will provide reproductive health care, protection and emotional support services for women and girls, including essential care for newborns as well as low birth-weight and pre-term babies. Construction of a new women's centre in Krenek camp will provide referrals for health care and support to survivors of sexual violence.

In eastern Chad, Save the Children is focusing on health care and nutrition to reduce deaths among children under age 5 from preventable causes, particularly from infections and malnutrition.

Save the Children is the largest international organisation conducting relief efforts for displaced families in West Darfur, now reaching approximately 500,000 children and women, in camps and surrounding conflict-affected communities each month. In response to the overwhelming need in the region, Save the Children is currently expanding relief operations into Chad to respond to the emergent needs of displace children and their families.

"Our programs are now operating at near capacity, despite violence, heightened risks to our staff and increasing difficulty in reaching children and families in such remote regions”, said MacCormack. "This grant from Not on Our Watch will both strengthen our response to the needs of conflict-affected women and girls, and expand our efforts for emergency health and nutritional needs of children in eastern Chad."

Support Save the Children’s efforts to help those affected by the crisis in Sudan.