STANDFast and Civilian Protection
Over the past three years, STAND members have been leaders in the fundraising effort for GI-NET’s innovative civilian protection projects. On December 3, citizens everywhere will have another opportunity to have a direct impact in saving lives. STAND members around the world will ask their peers, families, and communities to join them in STANDFast by giving up a luxury item for just one day and using that money instead to support the civilian protection projects. Even the price of one Starbucks latte can make a difference!
For example*,
$2.56 can provide a woman with a donkey for one week to collect firewood.
$4.25 can provide 5 minutes of satellite phone coverage to communicate urgent warnings or upload images of an attack in eastern Burma.
$4.49 can provide a Darfuri woman with access to a donkey cart.
$27 can cover the costs of protecting one household in eastern Burma via the civilian radio network.
The projects described above will likely be launched shortly and have been deeply researched and planned involving trips to both regions, selection of implementing partners, and refining of the plan with them. However, due to the changing nature of conflicts they may be adjusted or other projects may be substituted. Updates on the projects we fund are available online here.
On December 3rd, STANDFast for civilian protection. For more information on the Genocide Intervention Network's Civilian Protection Program and specific projects, visit http://genocideintervention.net/protection.
Click here to download the Civilian Protection Handout
Click here to download a handout on the genocide in Darfur
Click here to download a handout on the conflict in eastern Burma
*These figures are obtained based on the following calculations:
Darfur: Though donkeys and donkey carts should be serviceable for many years, we use the term of this project (6 months) as the time horizon. Each donkey costs roughly $200, and each donkey cart costs $350. Each donkey and cart will benefit 3 women per week. Thus we estimate the price to provide these services to one woman for one week will be approximately $200/(26*3) = $2.56 to provide a donkey, and $350/(26*3)=$4.49 to provide a cart.
Burma: This project will provide radios to at-risk villages and incorporate them in an early warning network, at which point the chance of them being surprised by an attack is very low. The base cost is $680 per radio ($500 for radio, solar charger, antenna, etc. plus $180 in other project implementation costs). Each village needs one radio and has approximately 25 households, resulting in an average cost of approximately $27 for each household. In reality a single radio will also benefit the villages and hamlets surrounding it, increasing the number protected for a given number of radios.
