Here is an article that was posted on the 29th. It is interesting because it talks about how China is dealing with the crisis in Darfur. Still not getting an overwhelming amount of articles however. here is the link : http://www.newsweek.com/id/72924


On a different note, for the group project, have your articles sent to the person in charge of your group. If that person could then edit the artiles/information and then send them to my e-mail that would be great. If they could be sent in by sometime before 3 15 Tuesday that would also be great. Thanks!

Ok so this article is really great, again it is on Darfur but there have been some recent developments in terms of predictions for the future:

"On 26 November, the International Crisis Group (ICG) launched a report cautioning that new dynamics in Darfur could result in an Arab insurgency. "

Facts:

"Since 2003, fighting that has pitted government forces and allied militia against rebel groups in Darfur has led to 200,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 2.2 million people."

News about current Peace Talks

And discussion of the Hybrid Forces:

"Guéhenno said the hybrid force still lacked critical mobility capabilities, including one heavy and one medium transport unit, made up of 18 helicopters; and one light tactical helicopter unit, comprising six helicopters.
In addition, Guéhenno said the Sudanese government, which has been reluctant to accept non-African units, had still not replied to UNAMID’s list of troop contributors."

http://www.IRINnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75548



this is just a very brief summary, please check it out for yourself I think it helps alot with trying to understand the steps being taken towards peace and problems with the attempts thus far.

Lost Boy Speaker Update

Ok so everything is set for Dut Deng to come feb 14th to speak. I also talked with Ms. Jefferys and there is a possibility that we can bump Mrs. Meigs so he can give a short chapel talk that night, then later people can come talk to him individually during that free block. Also i think everything is set for the movie to be shown during the previous two Hum Dev periods, and we will hopefully have it mandatory for as many people as possible so that they know the history of the group. So now all that we will do it start planning for the fundraising....any ideas?
here is the latest email from him-

Corey,

Thanks you so much for yr wonderful reply. in terms for what you had all said is looking fine. Feb,14,008, I give very brief and precisely speech and then I can give a room to more questions, conversations, and I can even stay more hours if you all like its. Ann, pass darely greetings to everyone you meet in yr wonderfully School.

God bless you all

Dut L Deng

since i last posted, this is the only article that is on the newsweek website. i think this just proves that there really is not a lot of awareness at all.


http://www.newsweek.com/id/72258

Serbian Treatment of The Mentally Ill

This is not relevant to anything in Africa, but I just saw one of the most horrific news casts. On NBC they just showed a brief story on the way Serbs have been treating their mentally ill, with grown men in cribs, and children tied down within their own cribs.
The Mental Disability Rights International has been checking into this i guess, and have discovered problems in other countries such as Romania, Hungary, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Turkey, Uruguay, Argentina and Serbia's province of Kosovo. <<"They eat, they go to bathroom and die in those cribs," Laurie Ahern, MDRI's investigator, said as the group showed a graphic video of the patients and poor conditions in Serbia's mental institutions.>> This is so frightening, this is not just a suggestion please read this

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21790870/

there are some links of things you can do to help, if anyone wants to do something with me please let me know.

Divestment in Sudan

If you go to Sudanesedivestment.org you can find a list of companies that are supporting scrutiny in Sudan. Most of the companies i found to either be Oil or Power/Energy companies. These companies are from countries around the world, not just the United States. Checkout sudandivestment.org for more information. This website is a great cool as it lists why the companies are on the list and details of each company. check it out

This is not Darfur related, but it is similar in its particular human rights concern, and is also in Africa. This article is about a child soldier who escaped from FDLR and is finally going home after a long difficult process. It gives some background about what is going on, and then goes on to discuss the issues that former child soldiers have as they go through the rehabilitation and readjustment processes. Pretty horrific that a child would have to go through this, but also fairly fascinating to read about the lasting effects, not just the immediate part of their terrible situation.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75258

We have been talking a lot about what needs to be done, this article is a little old but it gives 2 perspectives, an american from mass and a newspaper editor from Cairo. I found the similarties and differences very interesting....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6058920.stm

Protests in the area

Ok so i dont know if anyone has gone to this website, but i think it is actually really helpful.
its just savedarfur.org, It has a lot of good information that can help us with our own individual and organizational level. I think it will really help us with our project this next week, it has some good ideas like dollars for darfur... i also researched any events in the area and there was actually quite a few and ithink it would be awesome if we took a group down...Here is the link...check it out!!
http://www.savedarfur.org/page/event/search_results?type=simple&orderby=zip_radius&zip_radius%5b0%5d=12545&zip_radius%5b1%5d=100&radius_unit=miles&country=US

well, since we are (or were) on the subject of the UN, here is my article from Newsweek:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/68956


All articles on Darfur, even the non-factual ones, are becoming less frequent on the website.

UNAMID hybrid troops to U.N

After reading an article about the security councils decision to send hybrid troops to Darfur on Savedarfur.org, I found that there are two problems that will effect the arrival of those troops. UNAMID needs support, espiecally from countries like the U.S and its allies. The UNAMID does not have the equipment it needs to sucessfully intervene in Darfur. The other problem is that there is an inbalance between AU and UN troops. The AU commision chairman wants an all-african force and he believes it could complicate the infiltration. Just some info for those who are curious...For more check http://www.savedarfur.org/newsroom/policypapers/enough_how_to_get_the_un_au_hybrid_force_deployed_to_darfur/

Rwanda Genocide

This article is quite relevant in our current discussions regarding both legal systems of justice for prosecution against genocide and current global affairs in Rwanda. It talks about how the Rwanda has "dismissed the unfounded claim" that Amnesty International has made saying that they are unfit for trying genocide suspects abroad. Some believed that domestically persuing these cases as opposed to subjecting them to international action is essential to calming the longstanding tensions. read it for yourself its fairly short but interesting.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75118

UN Envoy In Burma

I found an article in the Boston Globe about the arrival of Ibrahim Gambaria, a UN envoy, in Burma. The visit did not last very long though. Take into note "More Stories Like This" on the left side of the page. It includes more articles related to Gambaria and the events leading up to his arrival.

"UN Envoy's visit to Burma strained by expulsion order"

Rules of Engagement

After our conversation in class today I thought it was nessecary to post the actual Rules of Engagement in Warfare for the United States, in order to clear up a lot of the confusion that was evident in class. Here is the site: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/call/call_96-6_roeappa1.htm

Peacekeeping Deferred

Sky News Reports, April, 2007:

Last Spring, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visited Sudan. His reponse to the state of Sudan was not a positive one. He states, "The denial of visas, the harassment of aid workers and other measures have created the impression that the government of Sudan is engaged in a deliberate campaign of intimidation." From this it definitely seems that several levels of the eight of genocide are present. Oxfam says that it is "the world's greatest humanitarian crisis." The Sudanese government is also denying was also resisting any peacekeeping officials to enter the country. Here's the link: http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1260697,00.html.

"Saving" Darfur

here is a really interesting article about fundraising.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/67923

Overhelping?

I guess one of the challenges of providing aid to other nations is making sure you're actually HELPING. And not, uh, kidnapping their children.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/02/world/africa/02chad.html?ref=africa

Raising Money and Awareness at Millbrook

After reflecting on the film I think it would be a great thing if we could somehow donate money to the Lost Boys. Im not completely sure if this is possible but i would really liked to. Maybe we could do a group project where we are in charge of raising money and sending it to them. I think it would be great to help those who need it. I would be willing to do alot of organizing and even if we dont do a group project i would be willing to do some work outside of class as well. Let me know if anyone is interested.

The lost boys have a website with ways to take action and additional information and links etc. about the film and the crisis. Definetly a good thing to have as a follow up:

http://www.lostboysfilm.com/

hello

I actually found an article with fact in in!

http://www.newsweek.com/id/67326

and heres another one about a movie coming out soon.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/62115