BRIDGE ][ FOUNDATION

New Canaan, Connecticut - Bridge Foundation, the New Canaan, Connecticut-based humanitarian relief organization announced it delivered a medical relief flight to assist those affected by ongoing hostilities in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan.

Bridge Foundation's airlift to Nyala, South Darfur is part of The Darfur Project's Clinton Global Initiative commitment for 2007-2008 to help women, children and elderly displaced by the conflict in Darfur and Eastern Chad and follows on Bridge's project in Chad last December. The Darfur Project's Founder Christine Ward accompanied Bridge Foundation during a visit to Abeche, Guerada and Gaga refugee camp just prior to Christmas last year.

The CGI commitment is to provide essential humanitarian aid, via airlift, to Darfur, Sudan and Eastern Chad to assist ethnic African populations of Darfur forced from their homes and villages by the increasingly violent conflict. Although difficult to quantify Bridge Foundation hopes the shipments will benefit tens of thousands of the 3 million people impacted by the Darfur tragedy.  Target populations include refugees and internally displaced persons in both Sudan and Chad.  The  Darfur Project CGI commitment has a budget of $2,000,000.

Darfur is widely recognized as the most challenging complex humanitarian emergency (CHE) in the world today.  Increased international pressure to ensure greater flow of humanitarian aid has done little to improve conditions in Darfur thus far.  Humanitarian endeavors to help the people of Darfur become more difficult by the day due to escalating fighting among the many factions competing for sparse resources in the desert region.  Sadly, as a result all indicators confirm the humanitarian situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate.
 
This is the third of eight Bridge Foundation flights planned to the region. The next flight is planned for Abeche, Chad in June.

Blue Mountain Capital, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and PNC Bank are among the donors underwriting the project.

The airlift arrived on April 21st at 11:00 a.m. at airport in Nyala, the capital city of South Darfur.  The flight delivered more than 30,000 lbs of humanitarian relief materials including antibiotic, anti-malarial, and anti-parasitic drugs, pediatric vitamins, diagnostic equipment and medical supplies. 

International Medical Corps, Bridge Foundation’s partner in Darfur, met the airlift and helped to ensure the rapid deployment of supplies to the areas most in need including camps in and around Nyala (South Darfur) as well as camps in the West Darfur towns of Zalinda  Garsila, El Geneina and Mukjar where more than 500,000 have sought refuge.

Bridge Foundation's Stephen Skakel and Project Manager Joachim Krauskopf were on the ground in Nyala, Sudan to oversee the distribution of the shipment.