"Darfur Day": A Demand for More Peace in Sudan

In a global attempt to once again raise awareness for the crisis in Darfur, organizations, human rights groups and individuals rallied together at various demonstrations around the world on September 16th, 2007. The rallies were directed at the United Nations leaders, who will be meeting in about two weeks. The demonstrations had enormous support including that of various celebrities like actor Matt Damon and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, helping to provide the attention in the media. Passionate participants in the rally held signs that read "Stop Genocide In Darfur" and others pleading similar requests(as pictured, right). Re-asserting the U.N. about Sudan in such a public manner shows the urgency for a solution; though, the answer is neither obvious nor easy.

The problems in Darfur have not been a recent development. In fact, the U.N. proposed a relief plan two years ago in hopes of easing some the tensions and ceasing the fighting taking place. Over the past several years hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions of people have been violently forced from their homes due to the fighting between rebels. The on-going delay of humanitarian efforts is frustrating to the human rights activists that gathered on Sunday. It seems that many peacekeeping solutions have been thrust upon western Sudan, yet they have had little to no impact on the situation. Why is this so? Reports indicate that over the last couple of years, the violence in the "camps for displaced people" has increased dramatically, while the number of people fleeing to the camps due to outside violence has also increased. It has been hard for peacekeepers to keep up with the chaos. Additionally, this violence is making the camps so dangerous that "humanitarian activities have been delayed" due to the insecure nature of the camps' environment. Small peacekeeping groups have attempted to enter into Darfur and stop, or at least control, some of the chaos, but have not been as successful as the U.N. would have hoped. However, an "attempt" by the U.N. is not satisfaction enough for the victims still suffering in Sudan or for the activists protesting the war, which they clearly demonstrated at the rallies. That is not to say that the U.N. is not being proactive about the situation, but rather, there is more that can and should be done.
The message in Sunday's worldwide protest was "cease fire now" and implement a global peacekeeping intervention. The rally leaders are pressing the U.N. for larger, immediate action and to realize what seems to be an "international failure" in stopping the genocide and general suffering taking place in Darfur. The photo to the left shows demonstrators from London with blindfolds, indicating "the communities failure to act" since the U.N. promised to implement the peacekeeping teams in Sudan. Perhaps the problem has been that the peacekeeping activities do not have enough man-power or support. With such devastating events and active protests, this issue should be one of the main topics of discussion in the next meeting of the U.N.

In an interview today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his concern, after visiting camps, for the recent increase in violence in western Sudan, specifically referring to the attacks last month in Adilla, South Darfur, Wad Banda and in the neighboring Kordofan region. Although, most world leaders are trying to stay positive about the situation, they are also reminded of their failed attempts of getting the situation under control by the continuous violence and hundreds of deaths each month. Global awareness, much like the rally that took place yesterday, serve as another reminder that the fight to save Darfur is not one that should be forgotten about any time soon.