The Darfur & Chad Emergency Appeal has been launched at a time of swelling humanitarian crisis and insecurity in the region.
Despite an agreement last week between the presidents of Chad and Sudan to stop conflict spilling across their borders, humanitarian workers in the area are skeptical that it will halt the violence or do much to ease the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the conflict.
"We can't just walk away from the people we have been supporting for the last three years," said CAFOD director Chris Bain.
CAFOD is continuing to support the 250,000 refugees who have crossed the border into neighbouring eastern Chad, which is struggling to cope with its own 140,000 displaced people because of internal conflict. The refugees have been forced to stay in overcrowded camps, unable to return to their homes until the conflict subsides.
Yet the humanitarian conditions in the camps are "dire", warned Bain, and they are relying on humanitarian agencies like CAFOD to provide them with the goods and services they need to survive.
"We need to carry on the vital work in areas such as health clinics, feeding centres, water and sanitation. Our support is crucial for the well-being and survival of the victims of this conflict," he said.
"More money is now urgently needed - in what is being called 'the world's worst humanitarian crisis' - to make sure people in both Darfur and Chad have basic necessities like clean water and shelter."
