Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur - Update 03/18/08

The rainy season is quickly approaching Africa and little has been done to stem the flow of death in Darfur. While it has quickly disappeared from the news headlines, the situation in Darfur is now at a critical point based on a few issues.

First is the potentially disastrous short supply of food aid. Over the last few months, about 50 supply trucks have been hijacked, with many of the drivers murdered. To date, there are still 13 drivers missing. Trucking companies that had previously worked with the World Food Program are refusing to supply convoy drivers because of the lack of security being provided for the convoys. The World Food Program also recently announced that it may have to suspend its Humanitarian Air Service at the end of March because of the lack of funding. This means that the lives of those Darfuris living in refugee camps in remote parts of Darfur will be placed at greater risk because they will be cut off from food and medical supplies. NGOs, whose services are very much needed in these remote parts, utilize the air service because it is the only way to transport staff to these camps. The situation in Darfur will get worse when the rainy season starts. This news does not paint a good picture.

The other news coming out of Darfur is the fact that fighting has increased between the Sudanese government forces, including the Janjaweed and local rebel groups, which has resulted in hundreds of deaths. International sources are now convinced that the Sudan government will fulfill its mandate to eradicate Darfur of the ethnic black African population and resettle Darfur with black Arabs that are loyal to Khartoum.

The issue of the UN-AU Hybrid Force continues to increase due to the lack of interest of non-African nations to provide troops to this much needed force. There are still only 9,000 UN-AU troops deployed in Darfur, most having changed their green AU berets for the blue beret of the UN. The current state of the force has ensured that the massacre of innocent men, women and children will continue, based on the fact that the force is dreadfully undermanned, logistically inadequate and the African Union in general has been grossly manipulated by Sudan to the point that AU pressure on Sudan to halt its crimes against humanity in Darfur is almost nonexistent.

So what does all this mean? It means an evitable escalation in the deaths of innocent men, women, and children. It also means the continuation of mass rape of women and young girls, some as young as four years of age. But most of all, it appears that the international community has moved its attention to other issues that are of greater concern to its membership, including the current situation in Kosovo, the recent Chinese clampdown in Tibet and the worsening global financial situation.

The message that the international community appears to be sending out to the people of Darfur resembles something along the lines of “You missed your turn! We have other much more important issues to work on at the moment. Hang on and we will come back to you when we get a chance to.” Again, Africa is put on the back burner while “white” issues are placed before the millions of people that face imminent death and destruction in Darfur. The international community can not allow instability in any part of Europe, hence the drive to calm the worries of Serbia as they pertain to Kosovo and its declaration of independence last month. In regards to Tibet, the Chinese government’s clampdown on the Tibetan fight for independence has drawn global attention because of the force used by China and the accusations of human rights violations in Tibet.

Kosovo, Tibet and other major happenings across the world has worked very well to give the international community some relief in relation to its lack of action in Darfur. If attention keeps sliding from one issue to the next, it means that all the issues, irrespective of where they are happening, will go unresolved which will lead to further unrest. That is why it is of great importance that the power of the global community, which comprises of every man, woman and child everywhere, be brought into action to help the international community to focus on resolving all the issues, not only those it deems most important to the stability of global affairs.

It is with this in mind that the International Alliance for Human Rights, together with Hope for Humanity will stage the largest concert ever held to enhance global awareness of the situation in Darfur and the plight of the millions of innocent men, women and children who face imminent death if we fail to act on their behalf. Join us as we prepare to stage the Voices of Hope Concert for Darfur in New York City. For more information on this global event, please email David Nolan at dnolan@iafhr.org or call him at 212.695. 7022, ext. 315. You can also add your comments of support on our blog at http://iafhr-darfur.blogspot.com