Humanity United News
Sudan Now Campaign Highlights Importance of Effective Implementation of U.S. Sudan Policy
January 19, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2010
Contact:
Susan Morgan – (617) 797-0451 – susan@paxcommunications.org
Eileen Read – (202) 642-0779 – eread@enoughproject.org
Julia Thornton – (650) 587-2030 – jthornton@humanityunited.org
CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF U.S. SUDAN POLICY
Nonprofit groups’ ads urge five U.S. officials to hold Sudanese government accountable
Washington, D.C. – This week, the National Security Council Deputies Committee will meet to review progress of the Obama Administration’s Sudan policy. A group of anti-genocide and human rights organizations collaborating around a campaign called Sudan Now plans to focus a spotlight on the unique importance of these individuals in holding the parties in Sudan accountable for continued violence and their unique opportunity to help prevent a return a full-scale war in the country. Ultimately, the objective of the campaign is to encourage these officials to ensure that the Administration’s Sudan policy is implemented fully in accordance with President Barack Obama’s October 19, 2009 policy review which pledged strict accountability for Sudan’s leaders.
Sudan Now has secured advertising in the Washington Post, Politico, and on Facebook and is also helping to organize a grassroots effort via social media to draw attention to the deputies meeting and its outcome. Facebook ads will be targeted to reach employees at the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S Congress, as well as the fan pages of the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency.
The five U.S. officials responsible for the policy review and that the campaign is targeting include:
· Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor
· Michèle Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
· Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
· Erica Barks-Ruggles, Deputy to the Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the United Nations
· Jim Steinberg, Deputy Secretary of State
All are members of the National Security Council Deputies Committee, which reviews the Administration’s major foreign policy initiatives to ensure they are being implemented in a timely and effective manner and to consider whether existing policy directives should be revamped or rescinded.
In tandem with Sudan Now’s advertising and social media initiative, a broader group of the world’s leading human rights organizations is today is releasing a strategy paper spelling out the practical benchmarks that will help officials, concerned citizens, and others in the international community assess progress or lack thereof in the Obama Administration’s efforts to forge a lasting peace in Sudan.
“As we approach the elections in April, there has never been a more critical time in Sudan’s history, nor a more acute opportunity for the U.S. to lead a bolder path forward, than right now,” said John Norris, executive director of the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, which helped lead the groups’ efforts to define a common set of benchmarks on Sudan Policy. “We appeal to the five deputies to act now in leading multilateral efforts aimed at holding those who promote violence in Sudan accountable. We also urge them to immediately deploy full-time U.S. diplomatic teams to the region in order to accelerate peace efforts.”
Members of the Sudan Now campaign include Humanity United, the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, i-ACT, Investors Against Genocide, and Genocide Intervention Network. The campaign is advocating for the Obama Administration to live up to its campaign promises on Sudan and to help lead the international effort to help secure peace once and for all for the people of Sudan. This includes carefully balancing incentives for Sudan’s political leaders with consequences for those who continue to perpetrate violence. “Sustained pressure backed by meaningful and focused consequences is the only tool that has moved Sudanese President al-Bashir and his National Congress Party during the 20 years of its authoritarian rule in Sudan,” said Norris. “This was the approach President Obama advocated as a candidate and this is the course his Administration should follow with a comprehensive policy focused on nationwide peace.”
The situation in Sudan is urgent: Nearly 3 million Darfuris living in camps face the threat of rape and aid cut-offs. The country’s president remains wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and attacks against civilian populations. And a return to full-scale North-South civil war looms as the nation prepares for a vote on independence for Southern Sudan in 2011.
###
Sudan Now is a coalition of anti-genocide advocacy organizations committed to bringing meaningful and lasting peace to Sudan and encouraging strong American leadership and action to achieve this goal. For more information, visit SudanActionNow.com.
