US church aid agency chief backs action on Darfur
-07/10/05
The head of major US aid and development agency Church World Service yesterday joined thousands of people participating in a day-long ìfastî to call attention to the atrocities taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The event was organized by Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) on campuses across America. Participants were asked to give up one item ñ such as food, caffeine, chocolate or another treat ñ and instead to send the money to relief efforts for victims of the violence.
The United Nations has described the two-year conflict as the worldís worst humanitarian crisis and says that war crimes have been committed. The US has called it genocide.
In Britain, church agencies like Christian Aid do not use this language, which they believe is not appropriate, but with leading NGOs they are also acting to draw attention to current problems and to push the parties involved for concerted action. The World Council of Churches has intervened, as have evangelicals and some other major church agencies.
Patrick Schmitt, a STAND organizer at Georgetown University in Washington DC is urging people not to forget about Darfur: ìIt’s crucial, especially when there are other disasters going on, to demonstrate our continued concern to the people of Sudan, the government of Sudan and our own government.î
The Rev John McCullough, chief executive of Church World Service, says a day of fasting is a small sacrifice ìif it helps to shine a light on the atrocities being committed in Sudan. Fasting means that I will miss a few meals and then go have something to eat. The suffering people in Darfur may die before they eat another meal.î
The conflict in Darfur, located in western Sudan, dates back to 2003 when armed rebel groups began protesting against what they view as oppression of the regionís black African people by Sudanís Arab-dominated government.
The government responded by allowing militias, known as janjaweed, to go on a campaign of murder, rape and arson against black African tribes.
Tens of thousands of people have died in the violence. More than 2 million people have fled their burned villages and settled in makeshift camps in west, north, and south Darfur. Another 200,000 have fled across the border into Chad.
Despite peace talks and a ceasefire agreement, violence has increased in the Darfur region over the past two weeks. Just last week, at least 32 were people killed in a janjaweed attack on a camp for internally displaced people. Aid workers have also been kidnapped.
Following the attack, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that the deteriorating security situation is making it impossible for humanitarian agencies to deliver food, water and medicine to victims of the violence.
Church World Service, in alliance with non-governmental organizations from the US, Europe and Sudan, is providing food, medicine, water, and supplies for people in the camp and is helping with reconstruction efforts for people returning home after being uprooted by a 21-year long conflict between north and south Sudan.
CWS continues its advocacy around this issue, asking people to pressure the Bush administration to work more forcefully within the UN Security Council for increased security for Sudanese civilians and humanitarian workers; for Sudanese government adherence to the January 2005 peace agreement that ended the north-south conflict; and for increased efforts to end the Darfur violence.
Church World Service, the relief, development, and refugee assistance ministry of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the United States (and allied to the National Council of Churches USA), is also chief sponsor of a growing grassroots awareness and fundraising campaign called ìDear Sudan.î The campaign is a nationwide interfaith effort to form a community of support for the Sudanese victims.
Denominations specifically supporting the campaign include United Church of Christ the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the United Methodist Church, American Baptists Churches USA and the Reformed Church in America.
US church aid agency chief backs action on Darfur
-07/10/05
The head of major US aid and development agency Church World Service yesterday joined thousands of people participating in a day-long ‘fast’ to call attention to the atrocities taking place in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The event was organized by Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND) on campuses across America. Participants were asked to give up one item – such as food, caffeine, chocolate or another treat – and instead to send the money to relief efforts for victims of the violence.
The United Nations has described the two-year conflict as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and says that war crimes have been committed. The US has called it genocide.
In Britain, church agencies like Christian Aid do not use this language, which they believe is not appropriate, but with leading NGOs they are also acting to draw attention to current problems and to push the parties involved for concerted action. The World Council of Churches has intervened, as have evangelicals and some other major church agencies.
Patrick Schmitt, a STAND organizer at Georgetown University in Washington DC is urging people not to forget about Darfur: ‘It’s crucial, especially when there are other disasters going on, to demonstrate our continued concern to the people of Sudan, the government of Sudan and our own government.’
The Rev John McCullough, chief executive of Church World Service, says a day of fasting is a small sacrifice ‘if it helps to shine a light on the atrocities being committed in Sudan. Fasting means that I will miss a few meals and then go have something to eat. The suffering people in Darfur may die before they eat another meal.’
The conflict in Darfur, located in western Sudan, dates back to 2003 when armed rebel groups began protesting against what they view as oppression of the region’s black African people by Sudan’s Arab-dominated government.
The government responded by allowing militias, known as janjaweed, to go on a campaign of murder, rape and arson against black African tribes.
Tens of thousands of people have died in the violence. More than 2 million people have fled their burned villages and settled in makeshift camps in west, north, and south Darfur. Another 200,000 have fled across the border into Chad.
Despite peace talks and a ceasefire agreement, violence has increased in the Darfur region over the past two weeks. Just last week, at least 32 were people killed in a janjaweed attack on a camp for internally displaced people. Aid workers have also been kidnapped.
Following the attack, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that the deteriorating security situation is making it impossible for humanitarian agencies to deliver food, water and medicine to victims of the violence.
Church World Service, in alliance with non-governmental organizations from the US, Europe and Sudan, is providing food, medicine, water, and supplies for people in the camp and is helping with reconstruction efforts for people returning home after being uprooted by a 21-year long conflict between north and south Sudan.
CWS continues its advocacy around this issue, asking people to pressure the Bush administration to work more forcefully within the UN Security Council for increased security for Sudanese civilians and humanitarian workers; for Sudanese government adherence to the January 2005 peace agreement that ended the north-south conflict; and for increased efforts to end the Darfur violence.
Church World Service, the relief, development, and refugee assistance ministry of 35 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the United States (and allied to the National Council of Churches USA), is also chief sponsor of a growing grassroots awareness and fundraising campaign called ‘Dear Sudan.’ The campaign is a nationwide interfaith effort to form a community of support for the Sudanese victims.
Denominations specifically supporting the campaign include United Church of Christ the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the United Methodist Church, American Baptists Churches USA and the Reformed Church in America.