Jo Read is
the grassroots co-ordinator for the Darfur Action Group of South Carolina, working with South Carolians across the state to raise awareness of the
suffering in Darfur and encouraging action and
support for the the Darfurian
people.
Jo is originally
from South West Wales in the UK,
and graduated from Cambridge
University
in 2003. She began working on the Darfur
crisis in 2006, while living in Houston,
TX.
In December 2006, she began work for the Globe for Darfur campaign, a coalition of advocacy,
human rights, and community groups from Africa, North
America, Europe and Australasia.
Since the
beginnings of the Darfur crisis in 2003, concerned
people across the world have tried to find a way to contribute to bring peace
and protection to the Darfurian people – but too
often it seems that there is no way that we can help. We need our governments
to take action, to call on the UN to support peacekeeping troops in the region,
and to sanction the genocidal regime of President Omar al-Bashir
of Sudan.
Campaigns
like Globefor Darfur and
the Darfur Action Group of South
Carolina give people a real way to get involved and
exert influence over governments, international bodies, and other important
organizations such as finance companies, media outlets and commercial sponsors.
People from more than 40 countries around the world have shown they care about Darfur by taking part in rallies and ‘Day for Darfur’ events, and we have seen that these
actions really do have an effect.
This summer,
the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution (1769) that would send
much needed peacekeepers to the Darfur region, which
has been protected by only 7,00 underfunded African
Union peacekeeping troops since the violence began nearly 5 years ago – a
ration of only 1 peacekeeper per 1,000 people.
Since 2003 the government of Sudan and armed Arab militias known as the Janjaweed have
conducted a scorched-earth campaign against the African civilian population of Darfur, terrorizing men, women and children and forcibly
displacing the Darfurians from their land. More than 400,000 people have been killed
with over 3 million displaced from their homes and forced to live in squalid
and unsafe refugee camps, with thousands more dying each month of deprivation and
disease. The UN has described the situation as “the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis”.
The United
Nations peacekeepers were due to arrive in Darfur by
the end of this year, however the President of Sudan,
Omar al-Bashir, announced in November that he would
not allow UN peacekeepers into the country.
As a result, the peacekeepers will not be deployed by the deadline of
December 31st as promised to the Darfurian
people who are desperately waiting for our help. In its response to the
genocide, the US government has condemned the violence, which includes
torture and mass rape against children as young as 7. The next US President will play a crucial role in ensuring that the
suffering of the Darfurian people is brought to an
end, and to stop the mistakes of Rwanda from being repeated in Darfur.
The Darfur Action Group of South Carolina
is asking the Presidential candidates who seek our votes to respond to the call
of South Carolinians’ to stop the genocide in Darfur.
We are asking all candidates to pledge their support for UN Resolution
1769, which provides essential peacekeeping forces to Darfur.
They need to show us that they care as much as we do about ending the
suffering of millions of people who are persecuted because of the color of
their skin.
The Darfur Action Group has the support of religious groups,
universities, elected officials, and civic organizations in our state. Together
we will show the world that the people of South Carolina
will not turn away while so many innocents continue to suffer.
To learn how
you can take action to stop the genocide in Darfur,
visit our web site www.dagsc.org.