Action for Abyei

posted by Susan

We’re going back to Sudan today for a call to action around events unfolding in Abyei.

As a refresher or for those of you unfamiliar with Abyei (pronounced ab YAY), it is a disputed region that straddles the tentative border between North and South Sudan.  It has oil and fertile land.  This New York Times article is from January, but it captures the “problem” with Abyei.

Unfortunately none of the issues talked about in the article have been resolved, and the situation for Abyei is worsening.  Thousands are suffering, displaced and dying. The Enough Project has lots of information in their blog, which you can find here.

Our call today, an action. This petition urges President Obama to take decisive action in Abyei.  It is sponsored by Enough!, Humanity United, Stop Genocide Now & i-ACT, Investors Against Genocide, Save Darfur, American Jewish World Service and Genocide Intervention Network.  Check them out when you have time, but please sign the petition now.

You'll see the names of these organizations come up, again and again.  It's because the work they are addresses the issue of genocide and atrocities head-on.  They are out in front of the movement, and deserve all our support.  

As always, I'd love to hear that you've signed the petition, or any other thoughts, comments or questions.

Guisma's Story -- Part 3

Guisma is a six year old girl living in a refugee camp in Chad. She and her family were forced to leave their home in Darfur because of the ongoing violence.  

As promised, heres' a link to the third and final video about Guisma. This video was produced by iAct in partnership with OMB's beneficiary Enough!  If you missed the first two installments, you can see them through the link above as well.

The story told in these three videos is inspiring, heartbreaking, and I hope, a call to action.  

All of us at One Million Bones wish you a great long weekend if you have one, and great days in general if you don't.  We're closed on Monday, but that means we'll have twice as many bones to make on Tuesday so stop into the Open Studio and help out! And really, check out the video before you head out for the weekend.

How Can it Be?

Posted by Susan

I usually use this blog as a way of sharing information about organizations, people and actions that OMB thinks are worth knowing about and supporting in the “big fight” against genocide and atrocities going on in the world.  Today though, I’m taking a break.  I have to put down some personal thoughts about Joseph Kony, The Lord’s Resistance Army, and what I consider to be one of the most irresponsible and callous responses to human suffering that I know. 

For 20 years, Joseph Kony has been murdering civilians, abducting and torturing children and terrorizing countries in Africa. I know there are groups, like the most remarkable Enough Project, Invisible Children, and Resolve who have made incredible progress in efforts on the ground to thwart his actions and in Washington to drive US policy towards more assertive action.  I’ve read reports about why it’s so difficult to stop him and I understand the complexities.  His tactics are so twisted and so evil that it’s hard to know how to fight against them, especially the fact that his army is made up of children that he abducted and whose families would wish to have back, and what army is willing to face off against children.

Despite all this, I have to ask, how is it that the forces of the government of Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, the UN, and the United States over 20 some odd years cannot figure out a way to stop this. 

This is an emotional lament, I know.  I’m not interested in national interest or sovereignty, cost or logistics.  I do not know how we can speak without emotion when we talk about a man who has perpetrated the kinds of crimes Joseph Kony is responsible for. I do not know how we can speak without emotion when we talk about the atrocities he has forced children to commit.  He is known to force abducted children to kill their families to prove their loyalty to himself and the LRA. Joseph Kony and two of his military leaders top the list of the International Criminal Court’s Most Wanted List and more than deservedly so. 

Joseph Kony must be stopped.  I’m personally late to the call for his arrest and trial, but every day he and his army are allowed to roam free thousands of people, thousands of children are in danger.  How can it be that we can make a computer that you can carry in one hand, that gives access to the entire wealth of human knowledge, that connects to satellites orbiting the Earth to reach that information and we can’t figure out how to stop this tragedy.

This is a link to the Enough Project’s webpage where you can find more information about what the Obama Administration is doing, and what it isn’t doing to address the LRA’s ongoing reign of terror.

Monday Hodge-Podge

Today we have a hodge-podge of organizations and projects that look at environmental issues from multiple perspectives.   All do important work, all are worth a few minutes of your time.

Strong Roots Congo

EarthRights International

International Union for the Conservation of Nature

I LOVE this one:

There’s a short blog post here about a new way of making cooking fuel briquettes in Congo

And this is an article about two young people in Congo using their creativity, in the context of lingering and imminent conflict to address issues of conservation

Do you know of other organizations or projects we can share?  We're talking about conflict and the environment for another week so let us know in the comments section of you do. Thanks!

A Friday action: The War Against Women in Congo

I'm sure we're all looking forward to the weekend, but join me in taking a few minutes to support the work to raise awareness about the plight of women in Congo. The statistics recently released about the rate of rape in Congo are heartbreaking.  You can read the actual study, or this report about it in the NY Times.  

The summation from the NY Times article:

"The study’s authors believe the rape problem may be worse than their study suggests. The findings are based on survey results from females of reproductive age, but many reports and witness accounts have shown that armed men often gang-rape young girls — some even toddlers — and women in their 70s and older, in addition to a growing number of men and boys. Also, many rape victims never report being assaulted because of the shame and stigma. In Congo, countless women have been abandoned by their husbands after being raped.

“There are two big surprises in the study,” said Anthony Gambino, mission director for Congo of the United States Agency for International Development in 2001-4. “First, the magnitude of the problem — rates of rape that are much higher than seen elsewhere. And, second, that these alarming, shockingly high rape statistics are found in western Congo as well as northern and eastern Congo.”

Scientists and aid workers have struggled to pinpoint exactly why so many women are raped in Congo. Mr. Gambino says it may be related to nearly 40 years of “steady economic and political decline,” which has meant that the government’s presence has essentially disappeared from many areas of Congo."

Now, please go to the webpage for A Thousand Sisters and take action. They have a great list of actions to chose from.

Finally this is a link to the facebook page where you can take a creative action pushing the Obama administration to appoint a Special Envoy to Congo.  The envoy will make a difference, but our government has to know we expect them to appoint one.  Your action=your voice!

We'd love to know you took action.  Send a note in the comments.