Advocacy and Community Organizing

 Congress

The coalition works closely with Congress to help ensure that the strongest possible hybrid United Nations – African Union peacekeeping force was authorized and that it is funded and deployed to Darfur as soon as possible.  To that end, we helped to draft a Senate resolution introduced by Senators Joe Biden (D-Del.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) which sets the criteria for an effective peacekeeping force for Darfur and demands its swift deployment.  The coalition then activated grassroots advocates to push for additional cosponsors, and saw the number increase from 13 to 40 in the space of 10 days, which helped lead to its passage by unanimous consent. 

 We worked to ensure that adequate funding is available to speed up the deployment of the newly authorized hybrid U.N.-A.U. force.  Specifically, we worked directly with House and Senate appropriations subcommittee staff to increase the funds available in the account through which the U.S. pays the current A.U. force. The U.S. used those funds to build additional camps and barracks for the UNAMID force, cutting down on future delays in deployment. 

 The coalition led efforts to secure $350 million for A.U. peacekeeping in Darfur. We likewise have worked to increase funding for U.N. peacekeeping missions in Sudan, including a $724 million emergency funding request from the President for the U.N.-A.U. mission in Darfur. 

International Advocacy  

Coalition staff members have met with various African, Arab, and European ambassadors in Washington, D.C.; African missions to the United Nations in New York; members of the British Parliament and officials from then-Prime Minister Blair’s office and the Foreign Office in London; high-level officials at NATO, the European Union, the U.N.’s peacekeeping office, and the U.N. Human Rights Council; and African diplomats. 

Coalition staff members have also participated in human rights-focused trips over the last year. Staff traveled with celebrities and Olympic athletes to China and Egypt to discuss the genocide in Darfur with high-level government leaders, urging each nation to use its influence with Sudan to end the killing.  Organized by Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney, the delegation included Don Cheadle, Academy Award nominee for Hotel Rwanda; Olympic speed-skating champion Joey Cheek (United States); and Olympic marathon star Tegla Loroupe (Kenya).  At the end of the mission, the delegation met with then-U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to brief him on the meetings.  The delegation’s trip garnered media attention and interviews by numerous domestic and international media outlets. 

Communities United to Save Darfur

Individuals working together are more effective than individuals working alone, which is why the coalition created the Communities United to Save Darfur program.
Communities United is a network of 1,000 groups dedicated to stopping the genocide in Darfur.  These groups represent a diverse mix of activists, professionals, people of faith and students who have joined together to advocate for the people of Darfur and to educate their communities about the ongoing genocide.
To support this network, the coalition provides activists with the tools and resources they need to help organize an effective advocacy group in their community.  The coalition helps activists plan events and recruit speakers to attend them; write persuasive opinion pieces, lobby elected officials, and much more. In addition, the coalition helps activists collaborate with other groups working on Darfur.

Media Relations

In an effort to expand and amplify advocacy efforts, the coalition’s media outreach increases the profile of the Darfur crisis for activists as well as policy- and lawmakers. Coalition officials and briefing materials guide and inform Darfur media coverage – consistently pressing for aggressive and sound policy positions that will favorably impact the people of Darfur. Informative, timely and impactful news articles – including pointed editorials – have been published in leading print publications including the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian and Washington Times. Additionally, Save Darfur representatives and partners have appeared on leading news outlets including CNN, ABC News, Al-Jazeera, BBC World News, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNBC and others.

Online Advocacy

The coalition’s list of online activists has grown dramatically, from 30,000 in January 2006 to a million in one year. A mix of rapid-response e-advocacy efforts; powerful online advertising campaigns; high levels of friend-to-friend recruitment and the coordination of television, print, TV, and radio advertising campaigns powered the growth. More than 30,000 of these members now belong to the coalition’s “Weekly Action Network,” a corps of e-mail activists committed to taking weekly actions to bring peace to Darfur. To sign up for our email list or join the Weekly Action Network, visit http://www.SaveDarfur.org.

Interfaith Outreach

Faith communities are a crucial constituency in our campaign to end the genocide in Darfur. The Save Darfur Coalition sponsored three separate Weeks of Prayer and Action in the first years of the Darfur movement.  The coalition continues its outreach to faith communities, including distribution of a video featuring religious leaders such as Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom; Dr. Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America; and Catholic Bishop John H. Ricard discussing the moral imperative of acting on behalf of the people Darfur.