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Darfur Genocide: What Can I Do?

Darfur Genocide: What Can I Do? is also available as a PDF.

Researched by Zoe Engberg
Youth Office Intern, Summer 2006

There are a lot of things that you can do to help the people in Darfur who are affected by the genocide. Most of them are easy and don't take much time, but can make a big difference!

What Exactly is Going on in Darfur?

In 1956, when the country of Sudan gained its independence from Britain and Egypt, the majority of the political and economic power was given to the Northern part of the country. The Southern part of the country was extremely discriminated against, politically, economically, and socially. This led to a civil war which lasted until the 1970s. In the 1980s another civil war broke out which lasted another twenty years. Recently, agreements were signed outlining a potential balance of power between the North and the South.

Throughout the negotiation process between the North and the South, the people of Darfur, which is the western region of Sudan, were completely left out of any political gains. The region was ignored by the Sudanese government, despite the fact that it was gravely afflicted by internal conflict, lack of resources and poor government. Two rebel groups sprung from these frustrations and took a stand against the Sudanese government.

In February of 2003, the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement captured a government airport. In response, the government of Sudan unleashed an armed militia called the Janjaweed, which set out to murder innocent civilians, rape women, destroy villages and wipe out existing resources, in attempts to "ethnically cleanse" the Darfur region. The attacks begin with air raids, which are followed by an assault by the Janjaweed ground force. They destroy everything: people, houses, land, trees, in order to insure that any remaining survivors would have no way to live.

Those who survive the attacks are still in trouble. About 2 million people are now internally displaced, meaning that they are still in Sudan or nearby, but had to leave their homes and move into refugee camps, some located in Sudan and others in the neighboring country of Chad. However, the conditions in these camps are horrible. The camps are overpopulated, and there are very few aid workers available, so there is a lot of difficulty in getting shelter, food, water, and medical help to the refugees. They are also not protected from further attacks from the Janjaweed, who have run out of villages to attack and have now turned to assaulting the camps. Women are in especially grave danger at these camps, and when they leave the premises, they are often captured and raped by the Janjaweed.

The conflict between Darfur and the Sudanese government is a racially based conflict. The Arab government is trying to "ethnically cleanse" the African population of Darfur. It is not a religious conflict, as both of the groups are Muslim.

Unitarian Universalists have been very active in the campaign against this genocide. UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) President William Sinkford recently visited refugee camps in Chad, and was even arrested when demonstrating at the Sudanese embassy (PDF). He also wrote a pastoral letter to all Unitarian Universalists, asking them to help out the victims.

Oh Wow, I Want to Help Out. What Can I Do?

Raise Awareness

Many people in our country are not even aware that there is a genocide taking place right now. In fact, there are many people who do not know what genocide is. People can't help if they don't know what is going on, so educating people and raising awareness can make a huge difference.

If you want to get your congregation involved in the campaign, get a Faith Action Packet, a resource for those who want to hold services in their congregations dedicated to Darfur. You can also get your congregation involved in the Million Voices for Darfur Campaign being led by the Save Darfur Coalition, of which the UUA is a member. The goal of the campaign is to get one million postcards sent to George Bush asking him to do something about the genocide. The UUA has been very active in this campaign, getting large quantities of the postcards signed and delivered. To learn more about it read "Join the Million Voices for Darfur Campaign—Call for a U.S. Response to Genocide!"

Holding concerts and rallies are other great ways to make your community aware of the genocide. So is having a workshop about Darfur at a conference. You can also screen a video or have a photo exhibit and invite members of your community. Even just wearing a green wristband or ribbon (green is the color of the campaign against the genocide) or wearing a t-shirt can promote awareness and provoke conversation.

Another way to raise awareness is though the media. To make sure that the media is doing its part to educate people about the genocide, you can contact your local newspapers and television stations. If they have been covering the genocide, write encouraging letters telling them that it is appreciated and urging them to continue. If they have not, write to them informing them about the situation and letting them know that you think that they should be reporting on it. You can also write to major news networks.

Raise Money

Another way to help the victims of the Darfur genocide is to raise money. Simple things like bake sales or passing around donation boxes can be very profitable. Selling t-shirts can also raise a lot of money, as well as promote awareness. So can holding events, such as a concert or talent show to raise awareness and money. Money can be donated to numerous non-profit organizations, many of which can be found on the Human Rights Watch website.

Start a STAND

STAND (Students Taking Action Now): Darfur is a student movement with over two hundred chapters at high schools, colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. Each chapter is independently formed by students, and is dedicated, along with the National STAND Coalition to raising awareness and educating others about the genocide in Darfur, as well as raising money and advocating political action. STANDs have been extremely instrumental in the campaign against the genocide in the U.S. In order to find out more about them, or get the resources to start one, visit the STAND website.

Contact Your Government Officials

Although our government has declared that a genocide is taking place, they are still not doing very much to help the people in Darfur. To give you an idea, Harpers Magazine reported that the amount of money that the U.S. spends each week in Iraq is twice the cumulative amount of money they have given to support aid in Darfur since the beginning of the genocide in 2003.

Contacting our president, senators, and congresspeople lets them know that the genocide in Darfur is an issue that people care about. Urge them to use their power to make sure that the U.S. is doing all that it can to stop the genocide and provide aid to its victims. The American Jewish World Service suggests that you urge them to "create security in Darfur through an international peacekeeping force, with the expanded mandate and ability to protect all civilians, and to deploy that force in support of existing African Union forces in Darfur." president @ whitehouse.gov or phone 202-456-1111. Contact your senator or the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives can be reached by calling 202-224-3121 as well.

Contact the UN

Secretary-General Kofi Annan hesitates to use the term 'genocide' in reference to the situation in Darfur. However he does admit that "international offenses such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be no less serious and heinous than genocide." Until the UN declares the situation in Darfur genocide, they are not required to take any action according to the Genocide Convention of 1948. They have been slow in taking action, offering technical assistance and training support to the African Union troops in Darfur right now, but refusing logistical support, such as troops and equipment. One of the main reasons that this is happening is that China and Russia are two of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. China is one of the largest consumers of Sudanese oil, and Russia supplies the Sudanese government with aircraft and other military equipment. Because their economies depend so heavily on Sudan, they are opposed to any economic sanctions or anything that would hurt the government of Sudan. As a result, in order for any resolutions to be passed, the other members have to compromise and water-down everything until they are pretty much ineffective.

You can write to the members of the UN Security Council and urge them to:

Under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, assume civilian protection in Darfur, immediately planning for and implementing the transfer of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) civilian protection force to a U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) force of at least a 20,000-by "bluehatting" where possible;
Fully support the AMIS military and police mission in the interim;
Impose an arms embargo against the Sudanese government, with a mechanism for monitoring and enforcement; and
Impose sanctions on individuals as recommended by the Panel of Experts' December 8, 2005 report to the Sanctions Committee of the Security Council.

You can also contact Kofi Annan and ask him to:

Take the lead on advocacy for Darfur in the international forum;
Seek a broad international coalition of countries concerned about these massive human rights abuses and lack of access to humanitarian relief;
Visit Darfur and speak out regularly on the needed international action to protect civilians in Darfur; and
Speed up the preparations for the full transfer of AMIS to a UN DPKO force in Darfur.
Kofi Annan can be reached at inquiries @ un.org The addresses of the members of the Security Council can be found on the Human Rights Watch website, where these talking points were obtained.

Resources

To find out more about the genocide in Darfur, get the latest news, or research further things you can do there are many websites that you can go to.

Visit other helpful websites.

For more information contact youth @ uua.org.

Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.