Leading artists from the music world are to perform at a United Nations refugee agency fundraising concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London for the victims of Sudan's Darfur conflict.

International artists sing to raise money for Darfur crisis
at the Royal Albert Hall, London
on December 8

disco-diva Jocelyn Brown, Grammy Award nominee Alison Moyet and singers Andrew Coleman and Robbie Craig.
The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra will accompany most of the artists as they perform the music of Cole Porter in their own varied styles. Mercury Music Prize winners Franz Ferdinand, one of Britain's biggest bands, is recording a song for the night and has donated their Mercury Music prize money and will perform via a video.

November 30 update:  The Brand New Heavies, Roisin Murphy from Moloko, Antony Costa from Blue supported by guitarist John Themis and bass-baritone Sir Willard White are the latest artists who have signed up.  Mario Frangoulis, the Greek opera star who sang at the opening of this year's Olympic Games in Athens and Ruthie Henshall, the internationally renowned West End and Broadway stage actress are also performing.

More artists are pledging to take part in, or support, the event on a daily basis.

The concert is designed to raise awareness and funding for the more than 1.8 million people affected by the continuing crisis in Darfur, Sudan. The situation in the strife-torn region remains extremely volatile. More than 200,000 Sudanese have fled to neighbouring Chad and 1.6 million people, who have been displaced internally, are living in desperate conditions inside Darfur where there has been a complete breakdown in security.

background to the crisis

Chad-Darfur Emergency The UN refugee agency is battling the elements, massive logistics obstacles and daunting security challenges to help hundreds of thousands of people uprooted by the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region. The refugees and displaced people fled fighting that erupted in Sudan's western region of Darfur in early 2003. By late 2004, some 200,000 Sudanese had fled across the border to neighboring Chad and an estimated 1.6 million were displaced within Darfur, where militias reportedly killed, raped and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.

Refugees who fled across the border into neighboring Chad arrived in a remote, desert region where resources, particularly water, are scarce. Constructing makeshift shelters often just meters from the frontier, they faced cross-border raids by marauding militia and dangerous isolation during the rainy season, when aid deliveries were nearly impossible. In response, UNHCR in early 2004 mounted a major logistics operation to move the vast majority of the refugees to camps at a safer distance from the volatile border. In some of the most desloate terrain on earth, UNHCR and its partners virtually built small villages for thousands of people from the ground up -- everything from family shelters to latrines, clinics, schools, wells and other infrastructure. The first camp opened in January 2004. By September, a total of 10 had been established. Emergency airlifts flew thousands of metric tons of tents, blankets, plastic sheeting, soap and other relief items. Today, the search for new campsites continues. But the lack of water remains a daunting challenge, particularly following a poor rainy season that left wells and groundwater sources unreplenished.

Across the border in strife-torn Darfur itself, despite ongoing security problems, UNHCR's mobile monitoring teams visit internally displaced people in settlements, particularly in West Darfur and near the Chad border. The teams investigate the security situation for the displaced people, many of whom say they will flee to neighbouring Chad if they don't get the help and protection they need in Sudan. UNHCR's teams also monitor movements of people, including new outflows of potential refugees towards the border, as well as small numbers of refugees returning from Chad, who for security reasons are often unable to get back to their home villages and so find themselves still displaced within Darfur.

A truck rented by UNHCR to transport aid supplies and relocate refugees
from the border to the refugee camps attempts to rescue an NGO car
stuck in the flooded river bed between Bahai and Tine. (July 18, 2004)  ©UNHCR/H.Caux

UNHCR became operational in Darfur in June 2004, opening offices in Nyala and El Geneina, following a request from the UN country team for the refugee agency to share its expertise in protection. In October 2004, UNHCR announced it would step up its operational activities in West Darfur as part of the collaborative United Nations effort. Acting on authorisation from Secretary-General Kofi Annan, High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers said UNHCR would work closely with the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in providing a more protective international presence in West Darfur and in preparing for the eventual voluntary return of internally displaced people and refugees.

Music producer Robin Millar, owner of Whitfield Studios in London, has collaborated closely with UNHCR. "The response from the music and entertainment industry has been nothing short of amazing,"      Artists and their managers are calling me every day now asking how they can help. I expect 8th December to be a truly moving and unforgettable experience." Funds will be raised by ticket sales from the event and online donations. The event will also be released on CD and DVD.

where where where where where where

London's Royal Albert Hall

when when when when when when

December 8, 2004 at  7:30pm

on sale now! on sale now! on sale now!  on sale now!

tickets for the 'Refugee Voices for Darfur' concert are on sale at the Royal Albert Hall

Box Office: +4420.7589.8212.
Website: www.royalalberthall.com

for more information * for more information

on the Darfur crisis and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

go to: www.unhcr.ch/darfur

want to make a donation? want to make a donation? want to make a donation?

go to: www.unhcr.org.uk/donate end