Posts Tagged ‘Sudan’

28 Aug

Students STAND: United to End Genocide

Posted by Andrew Mersmann in Act Now, Support, volunteer. Tagged: , , , , , .

It’s back to school time, and in addition to choosing the right outfit and buying the right supplies to overstuff backpacks, some students are committing to banding together and saving the world. United to End Genocide‘s college and high school student-led division, STAND, is gearing up for a new year of inspiration and action. There are already over 100 chapters in schools across the country, and more cropping up now, as the movement deepens in activity and intention to put a stop to the world’s mass atrocities. The program trains advocates and grassroots activists to put the spotlight on, and eventual end to genocide.

Make sure the students in your life know about this movement, and can educate themselves, find out more, and take a STAND for our future. Empowering youth IS our future.

 

1 Jan

The Whole World is Watching-Satellite Sentinel

Posted by Andrew Mersmann in Inspiration, Support. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

John Prendergast (L) George Clooney (C) in Sudan

For the New Year, George Clooney and Google have launched a crowd-sourced new way of holding the government of Sudan accountable for making war noises and human rights atrocities–Satellite Sentinel. North and South Sudan bear a heavy weight of border tension and conflict–one of the most deadly conflicts since World War II. Southern Sudan, according to some experts, is the part of the world most likely to tip into a situation of genocide.

Clooney and John Prendergast released a statement, in part: We were late to Rwanda. We were late to the Congo. We were late to Darfur. There is no time to wait. With your support, we will swiftly call the world to witness and respond. We aim to provide an ever more effective early-warning system: better, faster visual evidence and on-the-ground reporting of human rights concerns to facilitate better, faster responses.

This is why we have launched the Satellite Sentinel Project. There has never been a sustained effort to systematically monitor potential hot spots and threats to human security, in near real-time, with the aim of heading off humanitarian disaster and war crimes before they occur.

Satellite Sentinel uses the ever-advancing technology of Google Earth and satellite cameras to observe and broadcast activity in the hot zone–in the face of government denial of abuses and war crimes, now remote cameras can provide a record–and in real time, we, the rest of the world, can watch and hold them accountable. In just about a week, on January 9, the vote from Southern Sudan will decide if they will secede from the rest of the nation–and it is expected to result in tremendous violence. Take action here to sign a petition and join the movement, spread the word, and keep an eye on a war zone before war breaks out.

29 Oct

War Child

Posted by Andrew Mersmann in Support. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

I’m sitting in the gorgeous, spacious lounge of the Doha, Qatar airport. It was an interesting feeling as we flew over areas of the Middle East that have become so familiar on the evening news. The animated airplane that tracked our progress winged along silently past Kabul, Baghdad, and more…amazing to think how peaceful it was on board as Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock cavorted on the movie screen…and what was likely going on below. child_soldier1.jpeg

War Child International is a network of independent organizations working to help children directly affected by war (and important distinctions….for I contend that ALL children are affected by war). Currently there are three main hubs of their activities, based in Holland, the UK, and Canada. There are currently at least 30 wars and armed conflicts raging in the world…over 80% of the casualties of war are civilians…disproportionately women and children.

From the site:

Children are amongst the first casualties of any armed conflict, always the most vulnerable and innocent of victims. In the last decade alone 1.5 million children have died in wars. Four million have been disabled and a further 10 million traumatized.

The severe psychological wounds that war inflicts on children can scar them for life, crippling the very generations that must one day rebuild their devastated countries. For the future peace of the world we must do everything in our power to help these war children.

There are rehab and counselling services, emergency services and ongoing assistance for kids who are brutalized, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and all of the above. The programs go out to the confict zones from Afghanistan to the Sudan, Iraq to the DR Congo.

There are ways to be involved from home, by donating and by spreading the word, possible even holding an event to get the conversation going. By exploring the dark, difficult stuff, we can begin to trudge through it and look for the other side.

One of the main taglines for WarChild is:

You can take a child out of war…

…but how do you take the war out of a child?

27 Jul

The Elders

Posted by Andrew Mersmann in Inspiration. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

eldersWow do I love this. This auspicious group has been working since 2007, but they are new to me. The Elders is a group of global leaders, brought together by Nelson Mandela, to offer their influence and wisdom to the process of peace building and to address human suffering. In addition to Mandela, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Graca Machel, Desmond Tutu, and Aung San Suu Kyi are a few others of the elders.The group was gathered and launched by Sir Richard Branson and Peter Gabriel.

There are so few cultures that still revere the wisdom that comes with age, the life spirit and lessons passed down through generations–it’s almost as if we move too quickly and are so desperate to reinvent and improve that we end up re-inventing the wheel instead of building upon the knowledge of those who have gone before us. What a loss.

The Elders focus on international rights issues and take on new challenges as they arise. Their collective plate is currently full with initiatives focused on: the difficult and fraught transition to democracy in Burma; issues based on equality for women and girls and calling for an end to religious and traditional practices that discriminate (perhaps you heard that Jimmy Carter, after 60 years, recently left the Southern Baptist church over their institutionalized repression of women); the humanitarian tragedy in Sudan; the unrest and division on the island of Cyprus; the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe; and the Every Human Has Rights campaign—a wordlwide declaration.

Big, heady issues. Big heads taking them on. When was the last time you reached out to the generation before yours for guidance? Your parents, aunts and uncles, neighbors, family friends, business mentors, or anyone older needn’t be a world leader to have incredible gifts of wisdom that are yours for the asking.

Ask.