Guest post: College Basketball Powerhouses Come Together for Darfur

By: Sameer Padania, Posted: Jan 28 10

This Saturday US college basketball powerhouses Georgetown and Duke will face off in one of the most anticipated games of the season. While the two teams battle on the court, students and alumni from both universities will put aside their rivalry and come together to support the Darfur Dream Team’s Sister Schools Program, an initiative which links American middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities with sister schools in 12 refugee camps in eastern Chad.

The Darfur Dream Team was conceptualized following NBA star Tracy McGrady’s trip to Darfuri refugee camps in Chad with John Prendergast and Omer Ismail of the Enough Project. Their journey is chronicled in the documentary film 3 Points: Peace, Protection and Punishment. McGrady and Prendergast will attend the upcoming game to unveil a video announcing the Darfur Dream Team’s partnership with Georgetown and Duke. Students and alumni from the two universities have pledged to raise funds to support two Darfuri refugee camp schools.

Read more.

Basketball Rivals Georgetown And Duke Team Up

January 26, 2010 - 03:05

Longtime rivals Georgetown and Duke will go head to head at Washington, D.C.’s Verizon Center this Saturday afternoon in one of college basketball’s most anticipated games of the season. But it’s a new partnership off the court – set to be announced by students and alumni at the game – that had Enough’s John Prendergast and Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady clamoring for tickets.

Will you be there?

Read more.

Judging Khartoum's Good Will
 
by Michelle
categories: Darfur & Sudan, Obama Administration
Published January 20, 2010 @ 09:29AM PT
 
The deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid is a tried and true tactic used by the Sudanese government to collectively punish millions of civilians caught in the middle of its conflicts with various rebel groups. They did it during the war with the south, and they continue to do it in Darfur.
But the tactic is a violation of international law, and it should get far, far more attention from international diplomats than it currently receives.
A new report out from the Enough Project and the Sudan Now campaign lists humanitarian access and freedom of movement to reach affected populations in Darfur, as well as an end to the systematic denial of services to victims of sexual violence, as a key benchmark that the Obama administration should use to gauge progress towards peace in Sudan -- "should," because the actual benchmarks have not been made public. And while the report includes many important reforms necessary for peace, many of which have been delayed or outright ignored by the government thus far, nothing is a better, more obvious indicator of the regime's -- and especially the ruling National Congress Party's -- intentions than the provision (or lack thereof) of humanitarian assistance to four million conflict-affected civilians.
Read more.

Continue reading here.

Several major jewelry retailers, including Sears, Kmart and Blue Nile made a pledge last week to sell gold that has been mined and produced through humane, eco-friendly methods.

The companies all signed the No Dirty Gold campaign’s Golden Rules for sourcing gold, organized by Earthworks, a nonprofit organization.

Unlike in the diamond industry, no formal certification process exists to ensure conflict-free gold. Earthworks hopes that the No Dirty Gold coalition will help fuel the creation of such a system that “assures consumers and retailers that the gold they are buying has been produced in ways that minimize harm to people or the environment.”

Continue reading here.

Tonight at the Hollywood Film Festival's Human Rights Symposium, Matt Smith will accept his award for submitting the winning video to YouTube's Video for Change program, "Come Clean 4 Congo," in partnership with the Enough Project. Back in May, we asked you to make videos demonstrating the connection between the "conflict minerals" used in cell phones and the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Matt's winning video, voted #1 by the YouTube community, used spoken word to take a far-away, complex issue and make it understandable and compelling.

Continue reading here.

When President Obama unveiled a new "carrot and stick" strategy for dealing with Sudan's murderous regime this week, he walked a thin line. There have been notes of cautious praise from aid groups, who applaud the administration's focus on ending the six-year war between Sudan's government in Khartoum and the Western rebels in Darfur. But there is also concern.  Human rights groups and conservative editorial boards warn that engagement with Khartoum is futile unless the president backs up tough talk with real action. Commentators across the board criticize the administration's failure to make the genocide a top priority.

Continue reading here.

Sudan activists John Prendergast of the Enough Project, Randy Newcomb of Humanity United, Sam Bell of the Genocide Intervention Network and Jerry Fowler of Save Darfur just held a conference call for reporters in which they offered their reactions to the Sudan policy review. 

The group was pleased that the policy review was finally completed after such a long delay.   The activists agreed that, on paper, it says the right things.   The big question now is whether or not it will actually be implemented.  

Continue reading here.

The Enough Project is an organization working to end the genocides and crimes against humanity occurring in Africa. Not only are they trying to spread the word of the horrors going on in those countries in Africa, but they are also trying to help prevent these atrocities from happening again. You can help them in their mission by educating yourself on the many conflicts going on in Africa because knowledge is power. You can also send letters to your politicians urging them to keep their promises and take action in Darfur. The Enough Project is tackling some difficult problems in Africa right now and you can help them. It's crucial we help our international neighbors in order to promote peace so please, go to their website and see how you can help.

Keep reading.

I actually have a lot to discuss today regarding access to good material.

The main theme of this web-site is to promote interest in world affairs. One essential tool for achieving this is to expose relevant web-sites and good sources of information to our readers. Enough is one of those web-sites.

The Enough Project is a project that conducts research in areas of conflict in Africa. From Somalia, Sudan, to Uguanda, the organization provides access to strategy and research papers and general overviews of the conflicts that its researching team has conducted. It’s an excellent way to understand the conflicts in Africa and is a must read for anyone who has been curious or confused by what exactly is happening in the region.

Keep reading.