Darfur Genocide

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Author: Anon Nomus

Started: September 3, 2004, 10:25:44 pm

Target: President George W. Bush

Category: Civil & Human Rights

Supporters:

Goal:

10,000

Goal Progress:

Status

Active

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For more information please go to http://www.darfurgenocide.org/
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This petition is a call to intervene in Darfur. The US as an active arm of the UN Security must act before its too late. Forget about those damn weapons of mass distraction, forget about the oil for a second, and lets help people that really need help on a continent we have for too long ignored.

Here are 4 recent articles on Darfur. You can also search Google News for Darfur and find a lot of updates on the current crisis. Because this doesn't make National News. We are too worried about our own politics of distraction.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/9/3/nation/8804305&sec=nation
http://allafrica.com/stories/200409030375.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/200409030318.html
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,1296515,00.html

Two years after Winston Churchill called it "the crime without a name", a Jewish lawyer who had fled the Nazis dared to give it one. He called it genocide.

More than 60 years later, it's not the crime that is debated, it's the name.

In Darfur, in western Sudan, 30 000 African villagers have been slain by nomadic Arab militiamen. In the past month, the number of refugees has jumped by 20 percent to 1.2 million, according to the United Nations. As the rainy season peaks, relief workers are warning conditions could rapidly deteriorate.

But world powers, including the US government, remain divided over what to call the crisis in Darfur.

Here is a diary of an aid worker in Darfur:

0800:

This morning I travel with the Unicef Water and Environmental Sanitation (WES) Officer and two people from USAid to Kalma IDP camp to have a look at how the water and sanitation activities are being implemented.

Women also want to build latrines - they get paid
This week Jesse Jackson is going to visit Nyala and, of course, we (Unicef and donor USAid) want to show the progress made.

Last week there were about 53,000 people in Kalma camp. Today it is estimated that this has increased to 63,000. The camp is expanding rapidly and new people keep coming in by foot, donkey, donkey cart, taxi or truck.

Many latrines have been built over the last months and some of them are already full. An average latrine is 3 metres deep and 0.8 metres wide.

Following guidelines, we aim to have 1 latrine for 20 people. Facing the present influx of people, this is almost impossible. Wherever we drive and walk we see latrines: old ones (full and almost full), new ones and latrines under construction.

Building a latrine is not as easy as you may think. It requires a latrine slab (made out of cement or plastic), wood, rope and thatch, labour and supervision. In some parts of the camp the terrain is not very suitable for the IDPs to live as the terrain is too flat or on a bit of a slope.

In these cases, there is a risk that the shelters, and also the latrines, will be washed away or flooded when the rains are seriously setting in, as the soil in this area does not absorb the water.

Just try to imagine a flooded latrine washing through your shelter - Not a pretty thing to think about!

So, there is a need to dig ditches that will function as a drainage system. I hope Jesse and his entourage will be impressed with the work done by Unicef, the government and NGOs, especially keeping in mind the constraints we are facing on the ground.

Q&A: Darfur conflict
I also hope that the IDP population will look after the latrines in their new communities. Many of them have never used a latrine in their life, and have never been taught to wash their hands with soap after using the facilities.

To educate the people on this is a huge challenge, but crucial for maintaining good health because the risk of communicable disease in the camp is greater than in their home villages.

The IDP community plays an important role in the construction and maintenance of the latrines. Some men in the camp work as "latrine diggers" and receive an incentive for this.

The women have discovered that the men are earning something and want to be part of the "latrine digging team" as well.

1400:

I see a group of men and a group of women digging latrines next to each other. The supervisor tells me that the women are doing a great job. At least they stick to the required measurements. The men are at risk of having too big a gap to fix the latrine slabs properly.

Just imagine the consequence if it slips through while you are doing your business!

For more information please go to http://www.darfurgenocide.org/