Not On Our Watch

Founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Jerry Weintraub, Not On Our Watch aims to use the powerful voices of prominent artists to focus attention and resources on global humanitarian crises. The organization is working through established aid groups like the International Rescue Committee by supporting vital relief efforts on the ground.

The first initiative aims to help uprooted people in the Darfur region of Sudan. Not On Our Watch will support programs that treat the sick, prevent the spread of disease, shelter the displaced, enable children to heal and learn, teach new skills, promote human rights and offer protection to the most vulnerable.

To kick off the fundraising effort, Warner Brothers Studios, together with Vanity Fair and CineVegas, are hosting benefit screenings of the new film Ocean's Thirteen, which is produced by Weintraub and features Clooney, Pitt, Damon and Cheadle.

The International Rescue Committee has been a lifeline to people impacted by violent conflict in Sudan for 26 years and currently provides vital aid to more than 700,000 people in dire need of help in the Darfur region.

The new organization Not On Our Watch, founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle and Jerry Weintraub, announced a donation today of $2.75 million to the International Rescue Committee to support the group's humanitarian aid programs in the Darfur region.

"The International Rescue Committee is at the forefront of providing lifesaving humanitarian assistance in Darfur," says Clooney, who visited IRC programs in Sudan and Chad last year.

Clooney was speaking in Chicago today, where Not On Our Watch announced the gift ahead of a benefit premiere of Ocean's Thirteen. The fundraiser caps a series of benefits, hosted by Warner Brothers Studios, Vanity Fair and CineVegas, aimed at raising funds for Darfur relief efforts.

"The Darfur crisis is not going away and hundreds of thousands of people continue to rely on our aid programs for survival," says George Rupp, president of the IRC. "These funds will help the IRC to treat the sick, provide clean water, prevent outbreaks of disease, deliver emergency shelter supplies, expand healing and learning programs for children and increase protection for the most vulnerable."

Not On Our Watch was launched last month and aims to use the influence and reach of prominent artists to spotlight underreported violent conflicts and atrocities around the world and raise funding for needed humanitarian assistance.

"Celebrities such as these have a unique ability to turn the world's attention to forsaken emergencies, access those who can effect change and generate significant resources to address critical humanitarian needs," says Rupp. "We are grateful for their dedication and goodwill and are committed to using the funding to aid some of the world's most desperate people."

For more information visit http://www.theIRC.org and
http://www.notonourwatchproject.org