The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, yesterday evening completed an official trip to Chad during which he visited the Goz Beida camp for Sudanese refugees and the Djabal camp for displaced persons from Chad on the north-eastern Chad-Sudan border.

During his visit, President Casini met Chadian national and local officials. He expressed his deep concern at the humanitarian crisis in Darfur and its repercussions, in particular in Chad, and called on the international community to deal with all aspects of the problem as a matter of extreme urgency. He believes that every possible action must be taken, in particular by the Government of Chad, to restore the security of the internally displaced persons of Chad. He emphasized that urgent international mobilization was required if the current situation, which would certainly be compounded by the approaching rainy season, was to be stopped from deteriorating further.

President Casini also applauded the remarkable work being done by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP), their staff on the ground and the many NGOs, including InterSos and Coopi, who had made his visit possible and were making a vital contribution on the spot.

The President called on the IPU’s Member Parliaments and parliaments in general to take immediate steps to help the refugees and displaced persons in Chad cope with the problems they face. He plans to raise the matter at the 116th IPU Assembly, which is to take place later this month in Indonesia.

President Casini and his Chadian hosts discussed the IPU’s role, in particular its cooperation with the United Nations and specialized agencies such as UNHCR.

---

Established in 1889 and with its Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPU, the oldest multilateral political organisation, currently brings together 148 affiliated parliaments and seven regional assemblies as associate members. The world organisation of parliaments has an Office in New York, which acts as its Permanent Observer at the United Nations. The IPU also promotes partnership between men and women in politics. The world organization of parliaments runs projects to encourage women to participate in politics and offers training and support to them once elected to parliament. At the same time, it brings pressure to bear on countries where women are still denied political rights.
Other press releases	Version française de ce communiqué de presse	More information

---

Contact for additional information or interviews:

Mrs. Luisa Ballin, IPU Information Officer 5, ch. du Pommier, CH - 1218 Le Grand-Saconnex / Geneva Phone: +41 22 919 41 16 Fax: +41 22 919 41 60 E-mail: lb@mail.ipu.org or cbl@mail.ipu.org