REFUSE TO IGNORE | UNITE | ACT

organize events to urge our leaders, and our campuses, to take action to fulfill our collective responsibility to protect in Darfur

Walk for Women in Darfur

Women and girls in Darfur must walk three to six miles or more, three to five times per week, to search for firewood - leaving them extremely vulnerable to rape and sexual assault from government security and military forces and the Janjaweed militia. A Walk for Women in Darfur should focus on calling for the deployment of a UN-AU peacekeeping force to protect the women of Darfur from the brutal consequences of war and displacement.

Make it Effective: Make your walk as visible as possible. Walk around the campus in high traffic areas and be sure to make plenty of large, colorful signs. Also, try to get participants to wear the color green, which is a recognizable symbol of Darfur advocacy. Be sure to hand out materials about Darfur Week and the crisis in Darfur at the walk.

Make it Buzz: Make the walk one of solidarity by having participants carry sticks or pieces of wood while they walk and then finish the walk at the campus quad by laying the wood into a large pile. Have a sign nearby explaining the dangers women and girls in Darfur face while collecting firewood.

Key Partners: Women's Studies Department, women leaders from the campus and community

Divestment Campaign

Students at colleges and universities across the world are engaged in campaigns to urge their schools to divest from companies who invest in Sudan or do business with the government in Khartoum - and therefore help it perpetuate genocide in Darfur. FI, as well as the Sudan Divestment Task Force and STAND (A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition), can assist advocates in launching targeted divestment campaigns.

Make it Effective: It is important to tailor divestment to have maximal impact on the government in Khartoum's behavior and minimal harm to innocent Sudanese (and to the financial health of institutional portfolios). Divestment should therefore be targeted at companies that have a business relationship with the government and have minimal benefit to Sudan's poor. (from sudandivestment.org )

Make it Buzz: Divestment campaigns have several advantages as advocacy tools. First, they are a way of directly addressing our own failure to protect civilians in Darfur - attending institutions that invest in companies that do business with the Sudanese government is an example of our failure to protect. Secondly, they have a direct impact on the crisis. Withdrawal of business investments from Sudan simultaneously creates an economic penalty for genocide and reduces the Sudanese government's ability to fund Janjaweed militias and 'security' forces. (from sudandivestment.org )

Key Partners: Sudan Divestment Task Force ( sudandivestment.org ) and STAND ( standnow.org )

Lobby Elected Officials

One of the primary objectives of Darfur Week is to place pressure on our leaders to take concrete steps to resolve the political and humanitarian crisis in Darfur. Through lobby visits, petitions and call-ins we can thank leaders who show leadership in addressing Darfur and hold leaders who fail to respond to the crisis accountable for their inaction.

Make it Effective: Visit the Campaign Materials section at the end of this packet (page 13) for more information on talking points, effective strategy for lobby visits, call-ins and sample petitions.

Make it Buzz: Tap into the growing interest in the 2008 presidential race by targeting US leaders who have announced that they will run for president in 2008.

Key Partners: Save Darfur ( savedarfur.org ), STAND ( standnow.org )

Sprint for Darfur

Nothing short of an international peacekeeping intervention will protect Darfur. Help get peacekeeping "boots" on the ground in Darfur by strapping on your own boots (or running shoes) for a public sprint to raise awareness, resources and political pressure to stop the genocide.

Make it Effective : I nvite participants to get pledges from friends, families and co-workers to sponsor the run. Invite them to give an amount of money per meter or per second and to sign a letter to President Bush that asks for his increased leadership to break the deadlock on Darfur. Visit sprintfordarfur.org for more information.

Make it Buzz: Give prizes to winners that encourage them to stay involved in Darfur advocacy, such as copies of Darfur documentaries or Darfur Week t-shirts.

Key Partners: Sprint for Darfur , athletic teams at your college or university

Benefit Concert

A benefit concert can have double-edged advantage for Darfur Week . It can raise money for humanitarian relief efforts and attract people to Darfur Week who otherwise might not come. The key here is to make sure that the Darfur-focused message is not lost amid the music.

Make it Effective: Make Darfur advocacy the focus of the concert (and not an afterthought!) by setting up a projector to show pictures from Darfur on a screen behind the stage in between or during sets. Also, set up a table at the venue with background materials and a petition.

Make it Buzz: Try to get a student band or musician to participate in the benefit concert and encourage people to spread the word by postering, Facebook/MySpace/AIM and word-of-mouth.

Key Partners: Student bands and musicians