WESTPORT, Conn. (March 20, 2009) — Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children, has released the following statement on recent developments in Sudan.

"Save the Children USA and Save the Children UK have received letters from the Sudanese authorities asking them to suspend operations in Sudan. We believe this unwarranted action poses a serious threat to the wellbeing of more than 1 million children and family members whom the two agencies have been supporting in West Darfur, North Kordofan, South Kordofan and Red Sea States and communities in Abyei and near Khartoum," said MacCormack.

"Save the Children USA and Save the Children UK have been providing essential support to children and their families including food, clean water, nutritional interventions, basic and reproductive health care, protection and education programs for children and women in camps and communities throughout Sudan," MacCormack noted. "We don't know what the final outcome of these developments will be; however, we do know that if our work cannot continue, the lives of hundreds of thousands of vulnerable children could be at risk."

Save the Children is a member of the International Save the Children Alliance, a global network of 27 independent Save the Children agencies working to ensure the well-being and protection of children in more than 120 countries.

Read a Q and A on the agency situation in Sudan.

Learn more about Save the Children's ongoing emergency work in Sudan.

Save the Children is the leading, independent organization creating lasting change for children in need in the United States and around the world. For more than 75 years, Save the Children has been helping children survive and thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities and, in times of acute crisis, mobilizing lifesaving assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters. For more information, visit: www.savethechildren.org