President Obama's Ghana Speech

Barack Obama made his first visit to Africa as United States president last week and he offered some welcome thoughts in a speech before Parliament in Ghana:

America has a responsibility to work with you as a partner to advance this vision, not just with words, but with support that strengthens African capacity. When there's a genocide in Darfur or terrorists in Somalia, these are not simply African problems - they are global security challenges, and they demand a global response.

And that's why we stand ready to partner through diplomacy and technical assistance and logistical support, and we will stand behind efforts to hold war criminals accountable. And let me be clear: Our Africa Command is focused not on establishing a foothold in the continent, but on confronting these common challenges to advance the security of America, Africa, and the world.

Read more about Enough's take on the president's speech on our blog, Enough Said.

Read a Los Angeles Times story on the speech, quoting Enough Co-founder John Prendergast.
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Congo and Sudan Projects Featured at CAP's Campus Progress

Congo campaign manager Candice Knezevic moderated a panel on preventing crimes against humanity at the Center for American Progress's annual event, which drew 1,300 college students. Panelists were (R to L) Adam Sterling of the Sudan Divestment Task Force, Knezevic, Congo gender issues expert Judithe Registre, and author and activist Jimmie Briggs.

Enough Co-founder John Prendergast and musician Joel Madden spoke about the importance of campus activists getting involved in Enough's campaigns, RAISE Hope for Congo and Sister Schools. Click here to watch a video interview of them by Politico.

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Vote for Your Favorite YouTube Congo Campaign Video

The RAISE Hope for Congo campaign's Come Clean 4 Congo video contest, in partnership with YouTube, has received dozens of videos illustrating the need to curb the mining of conflict minerals in Congo. Videos associated with the contest now have more than a quarter of a million views. Check out some of the highly creative and provocative videos sent in from all over the world, and get ready to vote for your favorite: Beginning July 23, the public will be asked to vote on the winner of three finalists. The creator of the winning video will be flown to Los Angeles to have his or her video screened at an entertainment industry event. For more information, visit www.RAISEHopeforCongo.org. Watch a bloggingheads.tv video discussion of this issue on the right.
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Congressional Leaders Seek Action Against the LRA

Ninety-five members of Congress, led by Reps. Ed Royce (R-CA) and James McGovern (D-MA), sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing their concern for the ongoing massacres and abductions being carried out by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in central Africa. They asked for increased U.S. leadership to protect civilians from these atrocities and support for the Lord's Resistance Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 (H.R.2478). Read the letter here.

Read a Huffington Post blog about the LRA by Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI).

Watch the Enough Project's video about the recent advocacy conference on the LRA, "How it Ends."

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Sister Schools Co-founder Tracy McGracy Changes NBA Jersey to Symbolic Number '3'

NBA star Tracy McGrady, a founder and sponsor of the Darfur Dream Team Sister Schools Program to provide equipment and education for Darfuri schools in refugee camps in Chad, has changed his jersey number in honor of his commitment to Darfur activism. The Houston Rockets' McGrady said he took the number 3 to symbolize the 3Ps of peace, protection, and punishment that are the goals he shares for Sudan. McGrady made a documentary film, 3 Points, about his visit to Darfuris at the camps in Chad in 2007. Read about his announcement here.

Stella Kenyi, Enough's Sister Schools coordinator, recently visited the Chad refugee camps. Visit the Darfur Dream Team's website to watch a video about conditions for children in the camps (see photo above), read her blogs about the state of education and the high dropout rate there, and learn about how to sign up as a Sister School or make a donation.

Activities, Actions, Advocacy

Watch our website for tomorrow's release of Eastern Congo: An Action Plan to End the World's Deadliest War, a new Enough report by Co-founder John Prendergast and Congo-based field researcher Noel Atama.
Also tomorrow: WorldPublicOpinion.org will release results of a poll showing support for the International Criminal Court among some Muslim-majority nations in Africa and the Middle East.
Enough sends a huge thank-you to the Mosaic Theatre in Fort Lauderdale, FL, for their activism and support around the recent run of writer and Darfur activist Winter Miller's excellent play, In Darfur.
If you missed the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode, "Hell," which dramatized the plight of former Ugandan child soldiers from the Lord's Resistance Army rebel group, you can catch it on NBC on Saturday, July 18. Watch a preview here.
Follow us on Twitter! Keep up to date by following 'Enoughproject.'

Upcoming Events

July 20, 2009
Enough will release a new report on Abyei, the oil-rich area of central Sudan that has been the subject of both armed conflict and diplomatic negotiations between the North and South and will surely figure in the 2011 referendum in South Sudan. Watch our website for Abyei: Sudan's Next Test.
July 22, 2009
Issuance of the Abyei Arbitration Tribual's decision regarding the boundary of the oil-rich province of Abyei, Sudan. The decision will be announced in a ceremony at the headquarters of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague. Click here to learn more.
July 22, 2009
Kenya on the Brink: Democratic Renewal or Deepening Conflict?, National Endowment for Democracy conference featuring Congressman Donald Payne (D-NJ) and Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Johnnie Carson, Washington, D.C.

(Click here for details on the Enough Project's events page.)

Multimedia

Film star Don Cheadle (shown above with co-author of Not On Our Watch, Enough's John Prendergast) co-founded the Ante Up for Africa tournament in Las Vegas. The third annual event this month raised money for Enough and Refugees International. Click here to watch a video from the event.

Enough Research Associate David Sullivan discussed our campaign to combat conflict minerals with U.N. Dispatch blogger Mark Goldberg. Click here to watch.

Enough expert Colin Thomas-Jensen discusses the ICC

Enough Policy Advisor Colin Thomas-Jensen discussed issues surrounding the International Criminal Court and took questions from the public in a webcast today. Watch it here.

From Our Blog,
Enough Said

Rebecca Brocato writes about an update from Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres):

In Somalia...it can be difficult to gauge the relative severity of the conflict on the ground. However, MSF notes that this is the first time in 17 years working in the capital that violence has forced them to vacate their hospitals in northern Mogadishu, a move that has left thousands without necessary medical care.

Laura Heaton discusses the need for justice in Sudan:

One would think the U.S. position was simple and clear: those wanted by the court should appear to defend themselves as soon as possible and responsible states should cooperate in getting such wanted individuals to face justice. For those in Darfur who have been victims of his crimes, the due time for Bashir to be held accountable is now.

Quotes of the Week

The I.C.C., as a court of last resort, acts only when national justice systems are unwilling or unable to do so. There will be less need for it to protect African victims only when African governments themselves improve their record of bringing to justice those responsible for mass atrocities.

- Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in an op-ed in the New York Times, Africa and the International Court.

Enough in the News

Barack Obama's Africa: More Talk Than Policy
- Politico article quoting John Prendergast.

The U.N.'s Invisible Man
- Wall Street Journal article about U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, quoting John Prendergast.

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Enough is a project of the Center for American Progress to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Founded in 2007, Enough focuses on the crises in Sudan, Chad, eastern Congo, northern Uganda, Somalia and Zimbabwe. Enough's strategy papers and briefings provide sharp field analysis and targeted policy recommendations based on a "3P" crisis response strategy: promoting durable peace, providing civilian protection, and punishing perpetrators of atrocities. Enough works with concerned citizens, advocates, and policy makers to prevent, mitigate, and resolve these crises. To learn more about Enough and what you can do to help, go to www.enoughproject.org.