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(Dr. Eric Hoskins, President, War Child Canada, is currently on the ground in Sudan. Accompanied by MuchMusic’s George Stromboloupolous and Sony Music recording artist Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Dr. Hoskins is assessing and gathering information on the situation that US Secretary of State Colin Powell has branded nothing less than a genocide.
One of the very few Canadian NGOs with a field office in Sudan, War Child Canada is assessing what programming to initiate in the region, scheduled to begin in December.
Stromboloupolous and Maida chose to join with Dr. Hoskins to bring increased awareness to the crisis, and take part in offering an informed, objective view on the humanitarian consequences of the situation.
·"Four months after the Darfur crisis in Sudan was described by the UN as the 'world's worst humanitarian disaster,' tens of thousands of people in Darfur still live without shelter or sanitation, receive no food aid and have to drink contaminated water." (UN Integrated Regional Information Networks, July 2004);
·As of October WHO estimates that up to 70,000 of the displaced people in Darfur have died as a direct result of the conditions in which they are living, and estimates that another 10,000 will die every month;
Dr. Eric Hoskins:
An expert on Sudan who lived in Sudan for three years while former Senior Policy Advisor to then Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy (from 1997-2000);
Has worked extensively with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations since then, in both Northern and Southern Sudan;
A specialist in: the Health of Children in War Zones, Public Health, Humanitarian Relief, Humanitarian Affairs, Human Rights, Refugee Health and the Civilian Impact of War;
A Rhodes Scholar, Eric was the youngest recipient of the United Nations Lester B. Pearson Peace Medal (Canada's highest humanitarian award) in 1993, and was awarded the Governor General's Meritorious Service Cross in 1999 for his humanitarian work with war-affected children.
WCCanada media contact:
Christine McKenna
416-971-7474 or 416-949-0532
christine@warchild.ca
For MuchMusic:
Mima Agozzino
416.591.7400 X 2794
mima@muchmusic.com
For Sony Music:
Erin Smyth
416.391.7962
erin_smyth@sonymusic.com
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