CAMPAIGN:
Darfur From Day One
Description & BackGround:
Genocide Intervention Network (GI-NET) co- founded in 2004 by Mark
Hanis, and Andrew Sniderman, aims to empower individuals and
communities with the tools necessary to prevent and stop genocide.
What began with a focus in the genocide in Darfur has evolved into
combating global genocide. The genocide in Darfur has claimed 400,000
lives and displaced over 2,500,000 people. More than one hundred
people continue to die each day; five thousand die every month. As a
result of failure in the U.S government and international community to
prevent and stop global genocide, the Genocide Intervention Network
mobilizes a permanent anti-genocide constituency that lobbies our
leaders and policy makers for substantial action, and creates
incentive for those officials who fail to act. The organization
believes that if given the tools (many of which are digital tools),
all citizens of the global community can become daily activists in the
anti-genocide movement.
The Genocide Intervention network strives to turn the oath of “Never
Again” that millions swore to after the Holocaust took place in World
War II into a global reality. The organization’s members envision a
world in which the global civil society is willing and able to protect
civilians from genocide and mass atrocities. In the past, the United
States and the international community have failed to effectively
prevent and stop global genocide because of a lack of political will
in our elected officials and among our citizens. using innovative
tools on the GI-Website and programs provide citizens with the
resources to educate, organize, and advocate in their communities. By
investing heavily in individuals to be vocal local leaders on their
campuses and in their communities, GI-NET provides hands-on
opportunities and tools to make genocide prevention a domestic
political issue.
Empowering people belonging to the GI-NET movement with the tools
necessary, GI-NET provides a Genocide Monitor for all of the areas of
concern spanning the globe such as Darfur, Sri Lanka, Burma, Iraq,
Somalia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic,
and Chad
Digital Tools:
Blog Facebook
Twitter toll-free hotline
digital scorecard
PDF flyer downloads
direct contacts
Email, Website
What they Do:
Relying on various campaigns and programs, by urging all interested to
become outspoken involved anti-genocide activists, the Genocide
Intervention Network has become a key non-profit player and critical
voice in implementing Genocide Policy and urging change by educating &
advocating on behalf of the anti-genocide movement. pressuring
legislators, and policy makers using Darfurscores.org, a website
launched , “calling on cogress to stop genocide,” holding legislators
in congress accountable by scoring them based on their policy efforts
in Darfur. Every legislator has a profile with a visible record and
can be directly contacted. On Durfurscores GI-NET is also lobbying to
Implement a Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, a checklist for
acting against genocide. Both GI-NET and Darfurscores websites urge
individuals to contact the president, legislators, or a local
newspaper and to support $50 million for Darfur in the 2009
Supplemental Appropriations Bill . The Organization also began
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The United States of America, Canada and France, the top three receiving countries in 2008,
together accounted for one-third of all new asylum claims submitted in industrialized countries.
Together with Italy and the United Kingdom, the top five receiving countries accounted for half
of all asylum claims.
Although i didn't fly to Geneva Switzerland, i was following the convention via twitter updates, blogs such as AJC, JPost, Durban Debacle, and the main news media reports via CNN, BBC, and New York Times.
UNRWA: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which created its own criteria for refugee classification- As such that Palestinians are the only refugee population legally defined to include descendants of refugees, as well as others who might otherwise be considered internally displaced persons.
I personally find the situation in the Palestinian territories to be a matter of great concern that must be resolved. A two state solution is desperately needed but how can such a solution be generated when both parties, that being the Palestinians and Israeli's don't both want it. Conflict Resolution, diplomats, peace seekers- have all attempted for years... what is the missing key?
As of December 2005, the World Refugee Survey of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants estimates the total number of Palestinian refugees to be 2,966,100.
"Well-Founded Fear is a stunning example of documentary filmmaking, beautifully crafted and brilliantly structured to allow viewers to enter into a realm of human experiences and political facts as witnesses, citizens, family members, decision-makers. It is as art, not propaganda, that it finds its great power, entering the social imagination which is so heavily informed by television. It reached three principal groups: the INS, the advocacy community, and general audiences.
The INS: Immigration and Naturalization Service: Camerini and Robertson screened the film at six INS offices. It was also seen by Commissioner Meissner. Officers had varying reactions to the film—. But it was generally agreed that the film had captured the culture of INS offices in a way it had never before been seen, and that it foregrounded the threat of “officer burnout” in this high-stress environment. The film is being used in staff training, and steps are being taken to counter burnout.
Legal and Advocacy Communities. Well-Founded Fear gave national visibility to immigration and asylum issues that are rarely seen on television, except in cases that are politically dramatic (Elian Gonzalez) or extreme (smuggled Chinese workers stranded at sea). It provided legitimacy and support to the work of advocates, like the San Francisco Amnesty worker who said the film would help her organization’s efforts, saying, “The refugee experience is so complicated and hard to convey to the public.” Broadcast and local events have produced pro bono volunteers among law students and lawyers, and the film is used in training asylum workers. Amnesty International, the American Bar Association, and refugee rights organizations are among those who have incorporated the film into their programs. The film has made is in showing immigration advocates how to most effectively advance their cause, demonstrating how persuasive an even-handed approach can be.
General audiences. The PBS broadcast of Well-Founded Fear was seen in over a million households in the U.S., bringing serious asylum and refugee issues into public view. This was compelling television: by drawing viewers into intimate stories of personal crisis, it put a human face on abstract issues, and introduced political asylum into public discourse, providing images and language that enable conversation and debate.
Impact was enhanced by a sophisticated pre-broadcast rollout strategy which was timed to engage movers and shakers first, followed by press, and then civic groups and advocacy organizations. In addition to television broadcast, the film reached general audiences through well-planned events at festivals, libraries, schools, and churches, often with the filmmakers and subject experts present. The synergistic convergence of radio, television, print press, websites, listservs, screenings, and word of mouth produced a vibrant public presence for the film, which is continuing. This is a clear example of how technologies can be used to enhance broadcast and promote on-the-ground activities.
In terms of potential long-term impact, this project has succeeded in opening new public spaces and pathways for civic dialogue; forging relationships between groups willing and able to use and sustain those spaces; and providing language, information, and opportunities for conversation around public issues. Thanks to strategic planning the film has been the subject of informed (often heated) discussion in libraries, schools, foundation offices, television stations, film festivals, living rooms, community meetings, and cyberspace.The group of institutions, organizations, and individuals assembled by the filmmakers as they went about their work, came to constitute an effective, if improvised, infrastructure that sustained the production and circulation of the film, and catalyzed its many uses." -Please See: Documentary Case-Study Information
concerning the definition of the term refugee and the principle of non-refoulment were established: i.e that no Contracting state shall expel or return "refouler" a refugee, against his/her will in any manner into a territory where he/she fears persecution.
Article 1
definition of the term “refugee”
A. For the purposes of the present Convention, the term “refugee” shall
apply to any person who:
(1) Has been considered a refugee under the Arrangements of 12 May 1926
and 30 June 1928 or under the Conventions of 28 October 1933 and 10
February 1938, the Protocol of 14 September 1939 or the Constitution of
the International Refugee Organization;
Decisions of non-eligibility taken by the International Refugee Organ-
ization during the period of its activities shall not prevent the status
of refugee being accorded to persons who fulfil the conditions of para-
graph 2 of this section;
(2) As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to well-
founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, national-
ity, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is out-
side the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear,
is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who,
not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former
habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such
fear, is unwilling to return to it.
In the case of a person who has more than one nationality, the term “the
country of his nationality” shall mean each of the countries of which he
is a national, and a person shall not be deemed to be lacking the protec-
tion of the country of his nationality if, without any valid reason based
on well-founded fear, he has not availed himself of the protection of one
of the countries of which he is a national.
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