International Service: Sudan

From this week's bulletin
Our project this year: Sudan

Sudan is the largest of the many coutnries that make up the African continent. Its history reads as a continuous list of civil war and unrest. However, most notable in its history is the war that currently rages in the western region, Darfur.

Sicne 2003 the tribal communities that inhabit the region of Darfur have fought against the political, economic and social marginalisation brought on them by the Sudanese government. In retaliation, the Sudanese government have armed the Arab Janjaweed militia and charged them to clear the civial population bases in Darfur.

Since this time, hudnreds of thousands of people have been killed, and more than 2.5 million people have been displaced fromt heir homes. Despite efforts by the UN and African Union, the fighting continues. This is the 21st century's first genocide. It has been raging for over four years and still there is very limited public knowledge of it.

We have decided that our major international service project this year will be to create a greater public awareness about the absolutely horrible atrocities that continue to occur in Darfur. We want people to know about it, think about it and want to do somehting to help.

Currently we are still in the ideas phase of our planning, but we are seriously committed to doing something that will make a difference!

For further information on Darfur a great website is The Enough Project.

Also try looking at:
BBC's Q&A: Sudan's Darfur Conflict
The Darfur Australia Network