US Political, Foreign Policy Figures Join Unique Effort by Swarthmore College to Help Stop Genocide in Sudan
Genocide Intervention Fund
SWARTHMORE, PA – Students at Swarthmore College are trying to help stop the
genocide in Darfur, Sudan by organizing what participants say is the
first-ever private fundraising drive for a peacekeeping force.
The creation of the Genocide Intervention Fund (GIF) already has gained the
backing of a bi-partisan list of political and foreign policy figures,
including John Podesta, the former Clinton chief of staff who now heads the
Center for American Progress, and of a key United Nations official.
In a recent speech at Yale Law School, Podesta said his organization is
supporting the effort launched by Swarthmore College senior Mark Hanis and
junior Andrew Sniderman because “even when our government fails to act,
citizens can and should.”
Podesta’s organization is providing sponsorship so that GIF can begin
collecting tax-exempt donations to help fund a peace-keeping force that could
halt the terror campaign of the Khartoum regime, while Juan Méndez, United
Nations Special Advisor on the Prevention of Genocide, recently offered GIF
his support.
The African Union is the only international organization that has said it is
willing to send troops into Darfur. Only 900 of the 3,300 troops the AU says
it can provide have been deployed to Darfur, a region the size of Texas. The
United Nations has so far refused to send a peacekeeping force.
The current situation in Darfur – what the UN has called “the worst
humanitarian crisis in the world,” with more than 300,000 dead since February
2003 and 2 million displaced – is too desperate to wait any longer for
government and UN action, according to the Swarthmore organizers of the GIF.
“Physical insecurity is the primary weapon against humanitarian operations –
aid workers have been murdered and the Red Cross reported that people are
scared to leave their villages to receive food aid for fear of attack,” Hanis
says. “We conceived of the GIF to give private citizens a collective voice to
demand action and a mechanism to help a peacekeeping force capable of
providing desperately needed security in Darfur.”
Another key supporter of the GIF effort is Gayle Smith, former Senior Director
for African Affairs at the National Security Council from 1998-2001 and
current senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.
The Genocide Intervention Fund also has received public endorsements from Lt.
General Robert G. Gard, Jr. (U.S. Army-retired), former President of the
National Defense University (1977-1981), former President of the Monterey
Institute of International Studies (1987-1998), and current Senior Military
Fellow at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation; Joe Hoeffel,
former Pennsylvania congressman and member of the House International
Relations Committee; William Martin, Special Assistant to President Reagan
(NSC Staff 1981-1986); Congressman Donald Payne (NJ), ranking member of the
Subcommittee on Africa of the International Relations Committee, member of the
Congressional Human Rights Caucus and former Chairman of the Congressional
Black Caucus; John Prendergast, former Senior Director of African affairs at
the National Security Council (1996-1998) and current special advisor to the
president of the International Crisis Group; David J. Scheffer, former U.S.
Ambassador at Large for War Crimes Issues (1997-2001); Charles B. Strozier,
Professor of History and Director of the Center on Terrorism, John Jay
College, CUNY; Dr. James Smith, Executive Director of Aegis Trust (United
Kingdom); Gregory Stanton, President of Genocide Watch; and Howard Wolpe,
former seven-term Member of Congress and Presidential Special Envoy to
Africa’s Great Lakes Region.
For more information, go to www.GenocideInterventionFund.org. Tax-deductible
donations, meanwhile, can be made out to “Center for American Progress, ”
memo: “Genocide Intervention Fund,” and sent to the Genocide Intervention
Fund, c/o Center for American Progress, 1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor,
Washington, D.C. 2005.
About Swarthmore College
Located near Philadelphia, Swarthmore is a highly selective liberal arts
college whose mission combines academic rigor with social responsibility.
Swarthmore, with an enrollment of 1,450, is consistently ranked among the top
liberal arts colleges in the country.
About The Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research and educational
institute in Washington, D.C. It advances policies that help create sustained
economic growth and new opportunities for all Americans by supporting fiscal
discipline, shared prosperity, and investments in people through education,
health care and workforce training.
Contact info: Cara Angelotta, Director of Communications for GIF
215.901.5074
[email protected]
DONATIONS: Checks can be made out to the “Center for American Progress”
with the memo note, “Genocide Intervention Fund.”
Please send tax-deductible donations to:
Genocide Intervention Fund
c/o Center for American Progress
1333 H Street, N.W., 10th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005
—
http://www.GenocideInterventionFund.org
“Man’s inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of
those who are bad. It is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those
who are good.” Dr. Martin Luther King
– Cara Angelotta
– 500 College Avenue
– Swarthmore, PA 19081
Tel: (215) 901-5074