World Leaders Are Urged ‘Not To Look Away’ at the Fourth Global Day for Darfur

Refugee Rights News
Volume 4, Issue 1
January 2008

For the fourth time in two years a coordinated global effort was made to raise awareness of the dire situation in Darfur, Sudan on September 16, 2007. Thousands of activists and concerned citizens took to the streets and participated in events in more than 30 countries for the fourth Global Day for Darfur.  Their message was aimed at world leaders taking part in the UN General Assembly and the message was clear: Don’t Look Away Now.  Blindfolds were the trademark for this Global Day for Darfur, and an electronic action featured a pungent picture of world leaders wearing blindfolds was sufficient to bring the message across. 

A day of action

September 16, 2007, the day chosen for the Global Day, which was just two days ahead of the formal opening of the UN General Assembly, marked the second anniversary of the adoption of the  “responsibility to protect,” by the Assembly when governments agreed that they had the responsibility to act collectively to stop genocide and mass atrocities. Despite this commitment, the international community has so far failed to stop the atrocities in Darfur.  In over 200 cities worldwide, people protested, lobbied, debated, walked in vigils, attended workshops, signed petitions and tuned into radio and television programs to learn more about the violence taking place in Darfur.

Member of the Darfur Consortium (a network of more than 50 Africa-based and Africa-focused NGOs which are committed to working collaboratively on the crisis in Darfur) organized a Ramadan iftar in Egypt, a text message petition and street advertisements in Bahrain, a media forum in Nigeria, a seminar on the responsibility to protect in the Darfur context in South Africa and media outreach in the Gambia. Details of the individual events can be found online at http://www.darfurconsortium.org/member_events/  

World leaders respond

When the UN General Assembly opened it was clear that the message had hit home. The Day for Darfur theme of not looking away was taken on board by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon who, in his opening remarks at the UN General Assembly, said that he would “leave no stone unturned to end the tragedy in Darfur,” and “that the government of Sudan must live up to its pledge to join comprehensive peace talks and implement a ceasefire.” 

Ultimately more than 80 world leaders mentioned Darfur in their remarks, underscoring their commitment to resolving the crisis. Though some world leaders shied away from mentioning Darfur in their speeches, various African leaders called strongly for a resolution to the situation in Darfur. Senegalese President Maitre Abdoulaye Wade, for instance, stated that “Resolution 1769 open[ed] new angles for definitely resolving this painful crisis.”  Rwandan President Paul Kagame also welcomed the creation of the UN-AU hybrid peace-keeping force, and called for “its speedy deployment.”  Vice-President Joseph Nyumah Boakai of Liberia urged all countries that had pledged logistical and other support to “fulfill their promises to ensure the timely deployment of the peace-keeping forces.”
 
The next Day for Darfur is planned for April 13, 2008 and the planned focus will be on children.

Please do not hesitate to contact Olivia Bueno at olivia.bueno "at" refugee-rights.org if you are interested in organizing an event or in participating in the development of messaging.