Save Darfur
One of the celebrations we will have during the historic 217th General Assembly is the 25th anniversary of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. This was established by the General Assembly in 1980.
I was reminded of this as people gathered last Sunday to rally against the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Since 2003, this government-sponsored genocide has resulted in the deaths of more than 400,000 people and the displacement of 2.5 million people.
Earlier, I was at a book-signing featuring Wole Soyinka and his new memoir, You Must Set Forth at Dawn. Several participants to the April 30 rally were there to urge us to attend. They also came to thank Wole Soyinka, the first African to win a Nobel Prize, for his efforts to stop the genocide.
Soyinka said that the Africa Union (AU) is not equipped to stop the genocide and is dragging its feet. He said that the AU leadership is wrong in saying that the situation in Darfur was a "family affair. "A crime against humanity is not a family affair; it is an international affair," Soyinka said. He urged the United Nations to intervene and send an multinational peacekeeping force.
As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, we should, like Wole Soyinka, continue to keep the pressure on our government and the United Nations to stop the genocide in Darfur.
I was reminded of this as people gathered last Sunday to rally against the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Since 2003, this government-sponsored genocide has resulted in the deaths of more than 400,000 people and the displacement of 2.5 million people.
Earlier, I was at a book-signing featuring Wole Soyinka and his new memoir, You Must Set Forth at Dawn. Several participants to the April 30 rally were there to urge us to attend. They also came to thank Wole Soyinka, the first African to win a Nobel Prize, for his efforts to stop the genocide.
Soyinka said that the Africa Union (AU) is not equipped to stop the genocide and is dragging its feet. He said that the AU leadership is wrong in saying that the situation in Darfur was a "family affair. "A crime against humanity is not a family affair; it is an international affair," Soyinka said. He urged the United Nations to intervene and send an multinational peacekeeping force.
As we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program, we should, like Wole Soyinka, continue to keep the pressure on our government and the United Nations to stop the genocide in Darfur.
posted by NYAPC Elder at
5:23 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home