CJC News Release: CJC works with Skylink to deliver medical supplies to Darfur

May 26, 2006 - CJC works with Skylink to deliver medical supplies to Darfur

TORONTO – Following Canada’s recent $40 million aid commitment to Darfur, Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) has facilitated a private shipment of $430,000 worth of medical supplies to the Darfur region of Sudan which were donated by Walter Arbib, President of Canada’s Skylink Group of Companies and a CJC lay leader, in partnership with Counterpart International and Medicines for Humanity.

The shipment is expected to arrive in Khartoum by May 29. International Medical Corporation (IMC), a non-governmental humanitarian organization providing aid in Darfur, will meet the shipment and distribute the supplies as needed in the region.

“As citizens of the world, Canadians have a moral obligation to help stop the tragedies unfolding around them,” said CJC National President Ed Morgan. “CJC has long worked to bring attention to the needs of the people suffering in Darfur – Walter Arbib has answered that call,” he said.

“I am proud to do what I can to help,” said Arbib. “The legacy of the Holocaust is a constant reminder to me, as a Jew, that we must protect those who cannot protect themselves.”

“We welcome Canada’s latest aid commitment to Darfur, but we recognize more needs to be done. We hope this altruistic gesture by a private Canadian citizen will be replicated by others,” added CJC National Darfur Committee Chair Mark Weintraub. “We are also grateful to the American Jewish World Service for its assistance in connecting CJC with IMC to ensure delivery of the medical supplies to those who need it most,” he said.

Since 2003, millions of Darfurians have been forced from their homes and hundreds of thousands of men, women and children have been tortured, raped or slaughtered by the Janjaweed militia in Sudan.

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Contacter:

Stephen Adler
Director of Public Policy, Ontario Region
Canadian Jewish Congress
416-635-2883 ext. 175 (office)
416-728-6376 (cell)
sadler@on.cjc.ca
www.cjc.ca

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