A donation of £20,000 to Catholic aid agency is being put to work in Darfur to help ease the desperate plight of those made homeless by ongoing conflict in the region.

A Kent-based Order of Capuchin Franciscan friars made the donation to CAFOD's recently launched Darfur/Chad appeal.

The region of Darfur in Western Sudan has been suffering over four years of conflict leading to the displacement of over two million people. The latest research published in September 2006 in the journal Science puts the numbers of deaths at "no fewer than 200,000".

Provincial Minister Brother James Boner said: "We can't sit back and do nothing, we have to help the people in Darfur and Chad who are suffering unimaginable horrors.

"They have been forced to leave their homes and live in sprawling camps where conditions are atrocious, where food and water is scarce and access to medical help and schooling is limited.

"It fits with the ethos of our order to give to the poor and abandoned."

As many as one million people in surrounding towns and villages have to share scarce water, healthcare, firewood and food with the new arrivals. Around 225,000 refugees have crossed the border into eastern Chad.

CAFOD director Chris Bain, who has recently returned from Darfur, said: "I've seen for myself the desperate situation and need of the people. I also saw how CAFOD partners are carrying out life-saving work and reaching the most vulnerable. It's this work that needs funds as the crisis in Darfur continues to deteriorate.

"CAFOD is thankful for this generous gift of £20,000 from the Capuchin Franciscans to ensure this vital work goes on."

The aid agency has been working in Darfur since the outset of the crisis in 2004, through ACT/Caritas. They reach 325,000 people through the joint programme providing shelter, safe water and sanitation for the vulnerable women, children and men that crowd into make-shift camps.

CAFOD has also given £100,000 for refugees and host communities in eastern Chad, where CAFOD partner SECADEV is managing three refugee camps in the east, Farchana, Kounoungo and Mile, a makeshift home to around 38,000 people.