U.S. Diplomat and Sudanese Driver Killed in Khartoum

On January 1, 2008, a USAID diplomat and his Sudanese driver were shot and killed in Khartoum, happening just one day after peacekeeping duties were transferred to UNAMID, a hybrid UN/African Union force. Details here.

UNAMID Assumes Peacekeeping Duties in Darfur

On December 31, 2007, the United Nations joined forces with the African Union to provide peacekeeping in Darfur. UNAMID is expected to be the world's largest peacekeeping force with 26,000 troops, although estimates are that it will take months to reach that troop level.

Bush Signs Bill Allowing States and Localities to Curtail Sudanese Investments

As horrific as I have found the current U.S. administration to be on the world stage--let alone at home--President Bush has at least for the most part taken up the cause of trying to stop the genocide in Darfur. On December 31, 2007, he signed into law the Sudan Accountability and Investment Act that will allow state and local governments to cut investment ties with Sudan.

To track progress in the divestment movement, check out Genocide Intervention Network's Sudan Divestment Task Force website. Thanks go to Genocide Intervention Network for their hard work in getting this law passed.

Miraya 101 FM

Thanks to Isadora for the link to Miraya 101 FM for news about Darfur and Sudan, in general.

Darfur Peace and Development Organization

While searching today for information about what people in my city (Pasadena, CA) are doing to help people in Darfur, I found this story about a local high school student raising money for Darfur Peace and Development Organization (DPDO). Here's the beginning of the DPDO mission statement:

The mission of Darfur Peace and Development Organization, which is a 501 (c ) 3 nonprofit and nonsectarian organization, is to restore reconciliation where conflict exists in the Darfur region of Sudan through humanitarian aid and services to the needy people in the Darfur region, without regard to race, religion, sex or national origin. DPDO is an international organization of persons committed to working with indigenous people in Darfur to overcome hunger and poverty through integrated self-development and relief programs and where possible to encourage conflict resolutions as the preferred method rather than resorting to violence and terror. (link)

Check out some of their projects, especially the Schools Sponsorship project, which helps students "[play] a vital and pivotal role in rejecting the notion of passivity and inaction, responding to the desperate calls from children around the globe in Darfur to actively participate in building a better life for all." (link)

Music for Darfur: Instant Karma

The album Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to
Save Darfur came out yesterday. One of the project's organizers emailed us about it:

Artists as diverse as U2, Green Day, Christina Aguilera and REM interpret the very best of John Lennon's solo work, evoking the power of music to help soften our hearts and harden our resolve to stop the rape, murder and violence happening each and every day in Darfur.

Let visitors to your blog hear some of the music for themselves, while at the same time helping spread the word about this important campaign! Just go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/page.do?id=1031079, where you'll find a music player and code that you can copy and paste to embed the player into your blog or personal webpage.

You can also learn more about the campaign and the album (including how to order or download it) by visiting http:// www.instantkarma.org.

You can see one of the music player widgets for this album in our sidebar. To get one for your blog, click here.

BlogHers Act - Vote for Darfur!

BlogHer has unveiled a new community: BlogHers Act. They're asking their 11,000 members to choose one global issue to be the focus of a year-long campaign. Here's your chance to speak up for Darfur! Britt Bravo started the conversation on behalf of Darfur at BlogHer--if you'd like Darfur to be the global issue those 11,000 bloggers support for the next year, add your comment HERE. (BlogHer is a blogging community open to everyone--no member fees involved.)

new Darfur projects

(Photo by Maura Lanahan - Courtesy of IFC)

Actor Don Cheadle, who has written with John Prendergast the book Not On Our Watch, will be the guest on IFC's The Henry Rollins Show this Friday, June 8th, at 11 pm EDT. Cheadle will be talking about how he came to be involved in Darfur and what he's doing to fight the genocide there. He'll also be talking about his book which details not only his and Prendergast's involvement in Darfur, but also the involvement of others and how each of us can take action. Cheadle is also a partner in the group, Not On Our Watch, which is working to raise awareness of the situation in Darfur and to raise funds for International Rescue Committee for its work there.

On June 6th, Amnesty International launched Eyes on Darfur which contains satellite imagery of Darfur. Now each of us can be a witness to the horrors and devastation in Darfur through Eyes on Darfur's satellite images, first-hand accounts and videos. Don't wait for mainstream media to pick up a story on the genocide in Darfur--SEE FOR YOURSELF what's happening there RIGHT NOW.

And on June 12th, Warner Brothers will release a 2-disc CD, Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur featuring the music of John Lennon. Proceeds will benefit Amnesty International and the fight to stop the genocide in Darfur. The rights to Lennon's songs were donated by Yoko Ono who is donating publishing rights. Listen to some of the tracks and pre-order it at MTV's The Leak here. If you're on MySpace, you can add this project as a friend here. And Amnesty International lists some other ways you can get involved here.

Google Earth Shows Atrocities in Sudan

This story has been all over the news this week--with Google Earth satellite mapping service, we can now zoom in on the 1,600 Sudanese villages destroyed as part of the genocide that's been occurring in Darfur since 2003. Keep in mind that the images are not in real time. This article says that the images were captured between 2003 and 2006. But it's a start. And as the article states, it's one more critical tool in spreading awareness as reporters in Darfur are losing their access there.

Google Earth

Global Days for Darfur - April 23-30

Click here to go to the Save Darfur site to find a Global Days for Darfur event near you. It's hard to believe that Jill and I created Bloggers for Darfur a year ago already--in response to last year's Global Day for Darfur. Another year gone by...and no real progress. PLEASE GET INVOLVED TO HELP RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT THE GENOCIDE IN DARFUR!

China Finally Takes Action in Sudan

From the April 12th New York Times - In response to cries from Hollywood (of all things - Mia Farrow and Steven Spielberg), China sent a high-ranking envoy to Sudan to push the government to accept a U.N. Peacekeeping force.

[I apologize for the big gap in posting here. Life got kind of crazy-busy. Will try to post more regularly here. ~Marilyn]

Aid Workers Being Evacuated

It has become increasingly difficult for aid workers in Darfur to do their jobs, and the result is an even more dire humanitarian need. There have been many violent attacks against civilians and aid workers in the past couple of months. Many details are in this December 15th IRC report.

Sudan Willing to Accept U.N. Peacekeepers

The BBC is reporting today that the Sudanese government is finally willing to accept a U.N. peacekeeping force to help quell the violence in Darfur. Let's hope this is true...

14 Days of Reports from the Darfur/Chad Border

Follow along as Gabriel and Stacey from Stop Genocide Now visit the Darfur/Chad border region for 14 days beginning today. You can view the videos of their 14-day experience here. Next to each video will be an "Action" item. Won't you please join Gabriel and Stacey spread the word about Darfur?

They've also issued a 14-day challenge. Click here for details.

Gabriel and Stacey have given up the comfort of home for the holidays to (literally) put their lives at risk (the situation is very dangerous and volatile right now) to do whatever they can to connect all of us to the people in Darfur and Chad who need our help. I'll be following their journey. Will you?

******************
As always, if you want to join us as a Blogger for Darfur, go to our original April 2006 post to read how to do that. It doesn't cost a cent--we don't fundraise on this site. We're simply trying to spread awareness. PLEASE help us spread the word about this very dire humanitarian crisis. Thank you.

U.N. Officials heading to Darfur and Chad

The situation in Darfur and neighboring Chad grows increasingly desperate. Two U.N. officials are headed to the region today to enter into talks with the Sudanese President about the proposed U.N. peacekeeping force.

The crisis worsens...

On November 22nd CNN ran a story about the U.N.'s top humanitarian official, Jan Egeland's, recent report on the genocide crisis in Darfur:

"The next weeks may be make or break for our lifeline to more than 3 million people," Egeland said in the Reuters report. "This period may well be the last opportunity for this Council, the government of Sudan, the African Union, the rebels, and all of us to avert a humanitarian disaster of much larger proportions than even the one we so far have witnessed in Darfur."

THREE MILLION PEOPLE. In the U.S., we can feel deeply moved by the story of a tragedy that touches a single life. Imagine the horror we'd feel if we were suddenly faced with a situation where THREE MILLION of our citizens' lives were in danger.

Bloggers for Darfur seeks no financial support--all we ask is that you TAKE ONE SMALL ACTION to let our government know we must not stand idly by while the crisis in Darfur worsens, putting millions of lives at risk.

What can you do? If you're a blogger, we hope you'll add your voice to Bloggers for Darfur. See the April 20th post below--please add your blog link in the comments on that post, add yourself to our Frappr map, and add our candle logo badge to your blog's sidebar.

You can go to the Save Darfur site and take the recommended actions there, including sending on online postcard to President Bush, emailing family and friends to let them know about this situation, writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper, and joining your local Save Darfur group. In this time of holiday gift-giving, won't you please take just ONE FREE ACTION to do your part to try to save lives in Darfur?

Maybe you think saving lives in Darfur doesn't align with your political beliefs. This is not a partisan crisis--it's a humanitarian one. Last month, 24 Christian evangelical leaders joined together to create Evangelicals for Darfur. Note that they've scheduled a worldwide weekend of prayer and action for Darfur on Sunday, December 10th. If you're of this faith, I urge you to encourage your church to be involved on December 10th.

For further information and ideas on how you can help, please check out the links in the sidebar of my Darfur - Call to Action blog.

Jeneane Sessum wrote at BlogHer about Save Darfur's PSA that ran during yesterday's Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The campaign spot can be viewed here:



Please, let's each of us do one thing to help save these lives. Thank you.

~Marilyn

Sudan Ejects U.N. Envoy

The Sudanese government has ordered the chief U.N. envoy out of Sudan...over a blog post. The cnn.com story is here. Jan Kronk's blog is here. The news out of Darfur is nothing short of dire. Today's front page headline at nytimes.com: "Grim New Turn May Harden Darfur Conflict." The article is here (registration required).

Global Day for Darfur

On Sunday, September 17th, people around the world will gather for a GLOBAL DAY FOR DARFUR. You can read all about it here. Click on a location in the left sidebar for rally details in various cities. If you don't live near a rally but would like to show your support, you can do a number of things:

You can organize an event in your town. Steps to help you take local action are listed here.

Many entities have joined together for the Global Day for Darfur on September 17. You can read about their goals for Darfur here.

You can add your name to the Day for Darfur campaign--scroll down to the bottom of the page here.

You can add a blue U.N. Peacekeeping beret to your photo and add it to the Global Day for Darfur gallery here.

And, as always, you can join us as a Blogger for Darfur by adding our candle logo to your sidebar. Instructions on how to do that appear in the post immediately following this one.

Darfur needs us--NOW, as much as ever.

Want to join Bloggers for Darfur? Here's how:

• Add our Bloggers for Darfur candle button to your blog's sidebar. Instructions are here.
  


• Leave a comment on this post with the URL of your blog, thereby adding your name to our group.
  

• Add yourself to our Bloggers for Darfur Frappr map in the right sidebar by going here.
  
  
• If you'd like to create your own candle photo in support of Darfur, you can add it to our Bloggers for Darfur Flickr pool here.
  
  
• If you'd like to make a Bloggers for Darfur poster or sign, a higher resolution version of the Bloggers for Darfur button image is available here.
  

Thank you to all of you who have joined us as Bloggers for Darfur since April. We must not forget Darfur. Together, we can make a difference.

Online Rally for Darfur

On April 30, 2006, several cities and towns across America will be holding vigils and rallies in the hope that it will stir our government to take action to stop the genocide in Darfur. For more general information about the live rallies being held on April 30th, please go to Save Darfur, Our Pledge and Darfur - A Call to Action.

Many of us are unable to attend those rallies and events. We created this blog as a way for the blogging community to come together to let our government know that we feel it's imperative that we take action NOW to stop the genocide in Darfur. Please join us!

Here are other things you can do:

• Watch this movie from Physicians for Human Rights.
  

• Add your voice to Million Voices for Darfur here.

• Be a witness here.

• Check out the "10 Things You Can Do Right Now" list here.

• Utilize the links in the sidebar to get more information on the situation in Darfur and what you can do to help.
  

Add the Bloggers for Darfur button to your blog or website

To add the Bloggers for Darfur button to your blog or website, cut and paste the text under one of the buttons below into your blog's html.

<a href="http://bloggersfordarfur.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/46/131896513_3dc7444039_m.jpg" alt="Bloggers for Darfur" height="122" width="158" /></a>

<a href="http://bloggersfordarfur.blogspot.com"><img src="http://static.flickr.com/46/131896513_3dc7444039_t.jpg" alt="Bloggers for Darfur" height="77" width="100" /></a>

________________

The Bloggers for Darfur button is also available through Word of Blog.