Darfur Update

[Tim Oslovich is chair of the Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur.]

From: "Tim Oslovich"
Subject: [darfur] Darfur Update

Dear Fellow Darfur Activists,
I participated in the monthly Save Darfur/Enough/GI-Net activist call on Thursday, May 1.  The situation in Darfur is getting worse. Security continues to deteriorate, less relief supplies are getting to people who need them, and the UNAMID force remains understaffed and under-supplied. This email contains some action items that can help change this situation and some events in Connecticut that will raise awareness and raise some funds to help the people of Darfur. I apologize for the length of this email, but there is quite a bit happening this month.
Thank you for your continued support of the people of Darfur. Your actions do make a difference.  Ambassador Richard Williamson, the Special Envoy for Darfur, spoke on the activist call, and he reminded us that the voices of activists do influence policy. When we contact our representatives and senators and the White House, our voices help to move our leaders in the right direction. Yes, the movement is too slow. But without your voices, I fear Darfur would be forgotten. Thank you again for your efforts.
Peace,
Tim Oslovich

Action Items
Click here (or paste into your browser) to access this list online and take action by email:
http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/pending_legislation.
You can also call your legislators or the White House using 1-800-GENOCIDE.

Supplemental Funding Bill for Darfur Peacekeeping in the 2008 Fiscal Year

Purpose: The U.S. budget for the 2008 fiscal year does not yet meet the funding needs for peacekeeping, humanitarian aid, and a political process for Darfur. The U.S. Congress and President Bush must agree a supplemental funding package to meet the shortfall.

Congress and the President worked together in late 2007 to provide just over $1 billion for Darfur in the 2008 fiscal year, including $580 million for the UNAMID peacekeeping force. That $1 billion was a good start, but it falls short in several urgent areas of funding, including:

$334 million for the UNAMID peacekeeping mission
$65 million to train and equip Darfur peacekeepers
$335 million for disaster and famine assistance
$70 million to support preparation for national elections in Sudan in 2009
$2.366 million for sanctions enforcement
$1 million for additional diplomatic efforts
Congress and the President must meet these needs by including additional funds in the upcoming supplemental funding bill for Fiscal Year 2008.

Status: The supplemental funding bill is expected to be considered by Congress this spring, possibly as soon as this week (week of May 5).

Key Offices: Rep. Obey, D-WI, Rep. Lewis, R-CA, Rep. Lowey, D-NY, Rep. Wolf, R-VA, Sen. Byrd, D-WV, Sen. Cochran, R-MS, Sen. Leahy, D-VT, Sen. Gregg, R-NH, as well as other members of the House and Senate Leadership and Appropriations Committees.

Action: Call or write your representative and senators and urge them to support funding in all of these critical Darfur funding needs when the FY08 supplemental funding bill comes up for debate.


House Resolution 1093: Calling on the President not to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games

Purpose: This resolution calls on President Bush not to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing until China:

Persuades Sudan to end violent attacks in Darfur and allow for the full deployment of UN peacekeepers; and
Takes steps to stop arms sales to Sudan
Status: Introduced by Representative Capuano, D-MA. Open for co-sponsors.

Action: Call or write your representative urging him or her to co-sponsor H. Res. 1093.


House Resolution 1011: Calling for a Comprehensive Regional Strategy for Chad and Darfur

Purpose: This resolution calls on President Bush and the U.N. Security Council to:

Implement sanctions against the Sudanese government for its actions in Darfur and its destabilizing effects in Chad, and
Continue U.S. humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons in Darfur, Chad, and the Central African Republic
Status: Introduced by Representatives Wolf, R-VA, and Payne, D-NJ. Open for cosponsors.

Action: Call or write your representative urging him or her to cosponsor H. Res. 1011.


House Resolution Honoring Professor Eric Reeves (H. Res. 792)

Status: Awaiting action in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Key Offices: Rep. Lantos, D-CA, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen, Rep. Pelosi, D-CA. Rep. Hoyer, D-MD.

Purpose: This House resolution honors Professor Eric Reeves, a Sudan expert who has been instrumental in raising awareness about the genocide in Darfur.

Action: Call or write your Representative and urge them to co-sponsor H. Res. 792.

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Upcoming events in Connecticut

"Be the Change: Darfur Performance and Benefit."
will take place Sunday, May 18, 2008 from 7-9 PM on the Woodbridge Town Green. There will be informational booths, food stands, donation stations and a booth to buy t-shirts and wristbands to visit while a band plays. Later in the night, a few actors from my class at the Educational Center for the Arts will perform a play I have written entitled Forever Running. It deals with victims of genocide, particularly in Darfur.
For more information, contact Sivan Battat at sbattat4@gmail.com.

On May 21st both "The Promise" and "Child of Hope" will be screened by the Connecticut Film Festival at the All Nations Baptist Church, Main St. Danbury @ 5pm...The films will fall under a shorts series entitled "Kids and Money." The screening will last approximately 90 minutes w/ Q&A. A reception celebrating the two films will follow immediately afterward at the Lebanon-American Club on West St (just off Main St.) in Danbury (approx. 7-10 p.m.). Tickets can be purchased from City Center Box office or www.ctfilmfest.com. The cost of $25 will go to the Cartus/Save The Children/DHS School in Sudan initiative. Please see www.schoolinsudan.org for details. The Danbury High School Culinary Arts program will be catering the reception.


Human Rights Festival: Darfur Calls

Saturday, May 31, 2008
7:00 PM
B'nai Israel Synagogue
444 Main Street North, Southbury
(203) 267-3395

The annual Human Rights Festival will feature a staged reading of "Darfur Calls," a powerful drama by Michael Hardy, Kathleen Kardon and Rachelle Neumann. Directed by Marla Truini, Drama Director of Westover School. Produced with permission of the authors.