Making Pledges and Smashing Toys: Global Day for Darfur

ACTRESS Joely Richardson shares the pain of millions of warzone refugee children as she tears apart a teddy bear.

Hollywood tough guy Matt Damon smashes a doll's house with a baseball bat.

And Mission: Impossible star Thandie Newton blowtorches a doll while socialite Jemima Khan burns a child's drawing.

The stars' wrecking spree highlights the plight of suffering children in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan.

They are backing a global protest today to mark five years since the start of the war.

Damon said: "After the genocide in Rwanda we all shook our heads and said never again.

"Today, as killings mount in Darfur, we need to make never again a reality and demand protection for the most vulnerable."

War has ravaged the western region of the country since 2003, killing up to 400,000 people.

Gordon Brown has marked Global Day for Darfur by pledging that the world will not abandon its people in the current humanitarian crisis.

In a Downing Street statement, the PM called the Darfur crisis a "tragedy of colossal proportions" and promised to work with the United Nations and the African Union to help bring an end to the violence. Around 200,000 people have died and two million have been displaced in the region, he said.

The PM said:

"Today, five years after the fighting began, the world must come together to highlight the plight of the people of Darfur and to tell all sides in the conflict that the violence must end.

"Only then will the people of Darfur be able to rebuild their lives and give their children -many of whom have known nothing but war -a future free from terror, insecurity and conflict."

Protesters have gathered outside the Sudanese Embassy in London as part of a global day of action to end the conflict in Darfur.

A rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the civil war was addressed by faith leaders, politicians and journalists.