Some of you may have seen the Darfur section that we have had on the Travel Notes Sudan page, since 2004.

Unfortunately the situation in Darfur has not improved in all this time and, despite on and off media attention, has actually deteriorated so much that the UN's World Food Program has had to cut back food deliveries by half; due to insufficient funding for Darfur, from major governments.

Despite repeated appeals to donors, WFP has received just US$238 million or 32 percent of the US$746 million required to provide food assistance to 6.1 million people in Sudan this year in Darfur, the South, Central, East and the Three Areas (formerly the Transitional Areas of Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile).

The news of the ration cutbacks has reached America and President George W. Bush has just made a live broadcast referring to the latest situation in Darfur by its rightful name, 'a genocide', and pledging increased US assistance.

He also appealed to American people willing to help, to visit USAID online.

Now when the President of the United States of America speaks, you expect thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of people to follow his lead.

So I visited the website to take a look and (although there's a story on Helping The Sudanese: Humanitarian Situation in Darfu) I couldn't find a prominent 'Give Aid' button on the front page, or on the Darfur article itself.

Even on the Frequently Asked Questions page, I couldn't find a 'How Do I Give Money Like The President Says' link.

So I searched for 'give aid to Sudan' only to receive five links to 'Giving AIDS Patients A Reason To Live' references, before a reference to 'USAID Assistance to Sudan - Update'.

Sadly, this update was dated June, 2001.

Quite frankly, if you want to help the Sudanese in the Darfur region eat this summer, it's a lot easier to do so through the WFP. A link in the sidebar of every page takes you to: How to Help.

You can also donate by SMS

In South Africa:
Text the word DONATE to 31009. You will receive a confirmation message and your mobile will be charged R5.

In United States:
Text the word DONATE to 33133 - You will receive a confirmation message and your mobile will be charged US$1.99.

Every little helps relieve some of the suffering in Darfur.

Technorati: Sudan