Darfur Crisis: Have You Played Your Role?
October 6th, 2006 | Published in Advocacy, Darfur, Sudan | 9 Comments
There are more than one way to contribute to the resolution of the Darfur crisis - being vocal about the issue is one. And we can be vocal through a variety of media and in a multitude of ways. Have you done you part?
My blogging buddy, BRE at Jewels in the Jungle, has some updates on the Darfur crisis. Two issues caught my attention: First the STAND campaign - which was yesterday, and the helpless impotence of the African Union peacekeepers in Darfur.
“DarfurFast to give something up in recognition of the genocide taking place in Sudan. The Fast will raise awareness about the crisis in Darfur and support an immediate and robust protection force for the people of Darfur. The Fast is meant to tell individuals and communities around the globe that the people of Darfur will not and should not be forgotten.” -STAND website
This statement wouldn’t be a big deal if it came from within the shores of the continent where the genocide is, but it is the voices of some concerned people thousands of miles in the United States. And to me that is a big deal.This begets the question: What is happening within the African continent in regard to Darfur? Are there no voices speaking against the Darfur genocide, are there any mass action, particularly from the universities - places that were notoriously popular (in the past) as breeding grounds for all sorts of radical panAfrican activism. Many of these universities, especially those in Nigeria have been unusually silent lately.
Maybe I wrong? Afterall I’m thousands of mile removed from the place as well, how would I know. Does anyone know? Based on a survey report that states less than 40% of Africans know about Darfur genocide. Could this survey be biased in some ways? I don’t think so. Until I get a contrary view, Africans appear to have gone to sleep over Darfur!
The second issue: AU peacekeepers in Darfur. Jeff Koinange, CNN Africa Correspondent post: “Out-gunned soldiers avoid confronting enemy” says it all. Read it article please and tell me why you shouldn’t haul stones at any African head of state you see next (I would be glad you did, just don’t get caught!).
It is a shame that the best Africa leaders can muster is some 7,000 ill-equipped troops that are expected to police an area half the size of Nigeria! [Darfur=493 180 sq. km , Nigeria= 923,768 sq. km] This is a huge shame!
I repeat, there are more than one way to contribute to the resolution of the Darfur crisis-  being vocal about the issue is one. Have you done you part?
Technorati Tags: African Union, DarfurFast, Darfur genocide, Jeff Koinange
October 6th, 2006 at 6:48 pm (#)
[…] What is Africa doing to help Darfur?, asks Grandiose Parlor: It is a shame that the best Africa leaders can muster is some 7,000 ill-equipped troops that are expected to to police an area half the size of Nigeria! [Darfur=493 180 sq. km , Nigeria= 923,768 sq. km] This is a huge shame. […]
October 7th, 2006 at 10:04 am (#)
After this latest stunt by Omar al-Butcher sending official Letters of Threat to several AU member countries warning them not to intervene with UN peacekeepers in order to save lives in Darfur, what AU leaders need to be thinking about is how to get rid of this guy before he drags his country and the entire African continent deeper into the Abyss.
I no longer support sending UN peacekeepers to Darfur but instead demand that we send in the “Peacemakers” first. Combat forces are needed on the ground, in the air, and off the coast of Sudan ASAP with or without the “consent” of the UN or the Khartoum regime. We either go in there now to rescue and save those people, or we let ‘em die in the hundreds-of-thousands as the “world community” has done so often in countless cases of genocide and ethnic cleansing down through the ages. Nothing and I mean nothing has changed except the level of rhetoric and finger-pointing.
Re: the GlobeScan poll of 10,809 Africans in eight countries I found these results to be interesting:
The eight-nation GlobeScan poll of 10,809 Africans (margin of error +/-2-3%) found that overall, 65% of Africans interviewed believe the UN Security Council should have the right to authorize the use of military force to prevent severe human rights violations such as genocide, while just 19% are opposed. Support was strongest among those in Ghana (80%), Kenya (75%), Nigeria (66%), Tanzania (66%), Zimbabwe (65%), and Cameroon (64%), while milder support was found among Angolans (55%) and South Africans (47%). Opposition to UN intervention was the highest among Angolans (37%), but in most other countries less than one in five were opposed.
Africans show widespread openness to the idea of multilateral military intervention in their own country in the event of a conflict “like Darfur.†When asked who they would prefer to intervene in the event of such a conflict, UN military troops received the widest endorsement (30%), followed by the African Union (22%). The idea of intervention by rich countries acting alone was endorsed by just 5%.
One should note that this survey (poll) was conducted between October thru December 2004. That may account for the low level of awareness amongst more than 2/3 of the African participants. Sub-Saharan African news media and press have come up-to-speed on the crisis since then. North African and Arab news media needs to be examined more closely on this crisis as well.
October 7th, 2006 at 10:09 am (#)
BTW: This is a great new look (blog template) for Grandiose Parlor. I really like the way that you change the banner graphic each time the browser window is refreshed. Slick, real slick look and feel.
October 8th, 2006 at 12:19 pm (#)
Thanks for the comment.
Omar is not a butcher, he has become a rabid dog and should be treated as such. He needs to be put down ASAP!
I have always believed that wanting for Khartoum’s consent before saving lives is a grandiose delusion. And I totally support the use of “good force” in enforcing peace in Darfur. AU can easily increase the size of the troops if concerned nations would make available cash and logistical support.
It is true that sub-Saharan African news media have have come up to speed on Darfur, but need to do more by galvanizing and facilitating social discourse on the genocide.
October 10th, 2006 at 1:43 pm (#)
[…] How I wish there could be, at least, some indication from the African continent that they care about Darfur. A couple of days back, there was a big bash/concert in Nigeria (ThisDay Music festival), featuring some American hip hop stars as well as famous local musicians.  […]
October 13th, 2006 at 2:01 am (#)
[…] I have been following some conversations on the African blogosphere that speak to these core issues, of the several blogs, Mzansi Afrika and Black Start Journal have interesting posts on colonialism which they try to use to explain why Africa is poor. Naijablog adds the corruption variable to the equation, and Jewel in the Jungle adds the last piece, conflict, as exemplified by the genocide in Darfur. I have made commentaries to all these areas on this blog; however, I have yet to connect all three, and perhaps by so doing several workable solutions may become more apparent. […]
November 21st, 2006 at 5:34 pm (#)
Hi,
I am Anandi Pendse, a graduate student pursuing my masters in Human-Computer Interaction at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, U.S.A. I belong to the college of computing (http://www.cc.gatech.edu/). I am writing a research paper on the Effectiveness of blogs in promoting and raising awareness about development activities such as women’s issues, conflict resolution and education etc under the guidance of Dr. Michael Best ( http://www.inta.gatech.edu/~michael_best).
I am focusing on blogs written by residents of developing countries or blogs about developing countries. I am trying to cover as many countries and development issues as possible.
I came across your blog through a blog search engine and thought you would be an ideal person to be a part of my survey.
I would be grateful if you could take out some time from your schedule and answer the questions in the survey. This survey should not take more than 15 minutes to complete. I am hoping that this survey will help me to pinpoint the deficiencies and improve blog service providers so that you and other bloggers like you can use the blog in a better way to raise awareness and get your ideas across.
I assure you that the information you give will not be used for any purpose other than this paper and your identity will not be revealed to anyone. There will be no mention of your name or nationality or any other personal information in the paper. The information you provide will be used to generate statistics and only these statistics will be used in the paper.
This survey is divided into 2 parts. Following are the links to the 2 parts.
Please do respond to both the links
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=231122912261
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=87962927704
If you go to this link and respond to the survey it means that you are voluntarily consenting to be a part of the survey and allowing the information you provide to be used to compile statistics for the research paper. If you are a minor i.e. an individual who is less than 18 years of age the please seek parental permission before taking the survey. I would once more like to make it clear that no personal information you provide will be revealed to any person or organization.
If you have any other questions or would like to share any other information please email me at anandi@gatech.edu. I would be glad to answer.
I am hoping that you can be a part of this survey,
Anandi Pendse
Masters in Human Computer Interaction
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology
January 19th, 2007 at 9:18 am (#)
i think that people really need to step back and take a look at what they are doing. What if we were in their position, how would we feel if there wasnt anyone helping us? Im sure the realization of that alone would be enough to want people to help.
November 17th, 2007 at 7:19 pm (#)
Popular Science…
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…