Videos

Help STAND win the Midwest Academy Video Contest!

stripathy — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 12:55:58 -0400

Help STAND win the Midwest Academy Video Contest!

STAND has entered a video in the Midwest Academy video contest and we're counting on you to help us win! Winning this contest will allow us to send some of our student leaders to an advanced organizing training to make our fall genocide prevention campaign even more strategic and effective! Here's what you can do:

Click here to vote for STAND's video before August 12th!
Spread the word! Click here to tweet about the vote
Post the following message on FB and tell your friends to vote!
Vision? Check. A dedicated core of student activists? Passion and dougie-ing skills? Check. STAND is on the road to strengthening our genprev work with more strategy, and if we can win @Midwest Academy's video competition, STAND will be awarded free participation in a strategy seminar. VOTE before August 12th at http://bit.ly/oGGvkf and spread the word! Have we got what it takes?

Response to Tuesday's Ask U.S. Meeting

lamjadi — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:59:01 -0500

Back at school in Cambridge, MA and writing from Lowell House D-hall. I finally found a second to catch my breath and reflect on what was truly a life changing weekend.

I’ve helped organize 18 STAND conferences over the last 3 years, but Pledge2Protect topped them all. The energy this past weekend was so inspiring. I met students from all across the country who are working so hard to see an end to the genocide in Darfur and peaceful Sudan. STAND students from FL told me about an innovative Erase genocide campaign, a chapter leader from the greater Chicago area shared his idea for a city-wide genocide awareness month in April, and high school students from MN let me sit in on their brainstorm for innovative events to raise awareness, like a community-wide campout on their football field. During regional breakouts members shared ideas like a “How To” Wiki for STAND students around the country to share best practices, and the MA breakout indicated their interest in learning more about what other chapters are doing. When I left the conference on Sunday I couldn’t wait to get back to work and start working with the SLT to bring all the awesome ideas I had heard to realization.

Monday was a whole other story. Hundreds of students marching on Capitol Hill, pulling one of the greatest stunts STAND students have ever pulled. Check out the video, by the way. Monday’s lobby meetings were not only innovative (thanks to the Pledge On Camera project with WITNESS), but also effective. I heard that lobby meetings went well across the board and that FPLAs were really receptive to our 4 asks (shout out to Nina McMurry, our National Advocacy Coordinator, who worked so hard to put together a really great set of asks).

And then came Tuesday, the day when I would have the chance to represent all of you, student activists who have worked so incredibly hard on this issue. Just some background on the meeting. General Gration and Samantha Power offered to hold a town hall-like Q&A session and discussion with Save Darfur Coalition and STAND. I went to represent STAND and brought the 5 questions you voted on. We should all view Tuesday as a success for the student movement. We were asked to participate. Students don’t get asked to participate in such high level conversations every day, and the fact that we were should show us that our work has not gone unnoticed. We’ve been heard, and they will continue to listen. We just got to keep it up and amp up the noise with smart, effective asks.

I filmed a video response literally within an hour of Tuesday's meeting. Now for the answers we got…. They were vague. They left out specifics. And they indicated a new area of focus: pressuring the administration to step up and take a much more high level approach to multilateral engagement efforts. That is what all three, Obama, Biden, and Clinton, promised us on the campaign trail. And that is what we should get. Gration is only one man, and this is a big conflict, with a ton of players, with deeply entrenched dividing sentiments. Just as we need an All-Sudan solution, we need an All-Administration effort (excuse the forced parallelism). Now that we know that we’ve got their ear, let’s talk to them. They’re looking for us to hold them accountable. So let’s do it. - L

New ENOUGH Report: Beyond Crisis Management in Eastern Congo

standsabina — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 03:21:20 -0500

Last week, the ENOUGH Project released a report urging the international community to change its approach toward the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – to abandon its tradition of “parachute diplomacy” and peacekeeping quick-fixes in favor of sustained, high-level pressure that will achieve a political settlement and establish long-term security in the region.

Specifically, ENOUGH argues that the international community should:

Give MONUC (the UN peacekeeping mission in DRC) explicit directions to use force to protect civilians from attack by all armed groups: The deployment of an additional 3,000 peacekeepers to reinforce MONUC recently authorized by the UN Security council will take months, posing a significant obstacle to the improvement of security conditions in the east. However, according to ENOUGH, the force’s inability to protect civilians is due more to a lack of political will than inadequate equipment and troop levels. The UNSC plans to renew MONUC’s mandate this month, and ENOUGH advocates that the mandate be revised to make explicit the responsibility of peacekeepers to use force to protect civilians, and that troop-contributing countries hold their forces accountable for carrying out this mandate.

Develop a structure and strategy for sustained diplomacy: According to ENOUGH, the mediation team made up of former Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo and former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa will need substantial backing from the US, the UK, the EU, and other outside actors with leverage. Those involved in the political process should focus on eroding rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda’s support within DRC, removing the FDLR from the country, and pressuring the Rwandan government to end cross-border support for Nkunda.

Introduce accountability for atrocities committed by all parties to the conflict: In order to address the persistence of impunity in eastern DRC, ENOUGH argues that MONUC should raise the profile of its reporting on human rights abuses, and that the International Criminal Court should investigate crimes committed during the most recent round of fighting.

Plan a credible counterinsurgency strategy to remove the FDLR (Rwandan Hutu militia) from eastern Congo: In light of the DRC and Rwandan governments’ inability and unwillingness to deal with the presence of the FDLR, ENOUGH argues that the US and European countries should pressure FDLR leadership – in Congo and abroad – through financial, diplomatic, and judicial channels, explore options for military action to deal with the militia, and pressure the DRC and Rwandan governments to increase efforts to toward demobilizing and reintegrating rank-and-file FDLR fighters.

Lay the ground work for long-term follow through: In order to break the cycle of conflict in DRC, ENOUGH argues that the drivers of the violence must be addressed. This includes measures to decrease demand for illegally exploited minerals from eastern DRC, a sustained effort to normalize relations between Congo and Rwanda, a multilateral effort to establish and capable and professional Congolese army, a sustained effort toward accountability for human rights abuses, and greater investment in local peace building initiatives and building capacity in Congolese civil society.

Click here to read the full report, to access the related activist brief, and to download an audio version.

Former Secretaries of State Discuss Darfur

sredding — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:25:59 -0400

On GW's campus just a few weeks ago, 5 former secretaries of state - James Baker, Madeline Albright, Warren Christopher, Henry Kissinger, and Colin Powell - were interviewed by Christiane Amanpour and Frank Sesno. The group discussed many different global challenges, including Darfur.

The most important quote of the video? Christiane Amanpour's shout-out to STAND: “Many, many people on campuses all over the United States have distinguished themselves by creating a grassroots movement for Darfur.”

Check out the video:

Don't Vote

sredding — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:07:03 -0400

Don't Vote. Seriously.

Check out this video - a large group of celebrities have gotten together to convince people not to vote. Most importantly, Darfur gets a major shout-out, just another sign that genocide is becoming a major campaign issue thanks to us.

A Major Victory in the Debate

sredding — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:20:51 -0400

Tonight, Darfur took the national stage. In front of probably more than 50 million viewers, Gwen Ifill, asked the vice-presidential candidates what they would do about Darfur. And, most likely, this was in no small part due to your letters and e-mails asking her to do so. Watch the video below!

Ifill referenced Sen. Joe Biden supporting intervention in Bosnia and Kosovo. Sen. Biden, who has visited refugee camps in Chad, responded that he does "not have a stomach for genocide", that we should impose a no-fly zone and that "we can lead NATO if we take a hard stand." Gov. Sarah Palin responded that she also supported a no-fly zone and stressed that Alaska Sudan divestment legislation had been introduced and needs to be passed. Let's dwell on that for a moment: Sudan divestment, a movement started by students such as yourselves, was endorsed by a vice-presidential nominee during primetime.

You wrote letters, you e-mailed, you made sure that Darfur was not ignored in a national policy debate. This is your victory.

As Nick Kristof said, let's treasure the moment.

Now let's get back to work.

-Maggie Tiernan, National Advocacy Coordinator.