Your Funds and GI-Net Supporting Civilian Protection in Sudan

November 2007 — The ongoing attacks carried out against civilians by the government of Sudan and its proxy militia — the Janjaweed — have displaced over 2.5 million Darfurians and resulted in the deaths of as many as 400,000 civilians.

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Murder, rape and displacement continue as the world waits for progress in the peace process and deployment of a capable protection force. The three main threats to civilians in Darfur come from:

• Large scale attacks on villages. While less frequent than in 2003 and 2004, these attacks continue on occasion, and have escalated over the last month.
• Civilians caught between armed combatants, including the government and its militias and rebel groups.
• Janjaweed attacks on people who have already been displaced to camps. The Janjaweed have been paid, trained, and granted immunity for these crimes by the government of Sudan.

All three sources of insecurity are important to address, and doing so will only be possible when a proper political agreement is reached and an effective peacekeeping force is deployed. However, in the meantime, every person can do something to improve the security of Darfur's civilians.

In particular, the violence faced when leaving the camps (e.g. to collect firewood) is the most predictable source of violence, and is the threat YOU can do most about by contributing to GI-Net's civilian protection projects.

Individuals Like You Are Saving Lives

Through our civilian protection program, GI-Net members and contributors from across the United States and the world have donated over $500,000 to protect civilians in Darfur. These anti-genocide activists have asserted that they are willing to take out their wallets in order to protect those civilians in Darfur who have been subject to violence since the beginning of the genocide.

How GI-Net Protects Civilians

GI-Net is the only organization with programs in Darfur focused exclusively on the problem of protecting civilians from further violence. We do this by working with the displaced communities, the African Union, the United Nations, and organizations on the ground.

We develop flexible and responsive projects that use the latest information from the ground to best protect civilians. Below are some examples of the types of ways we are providing this protection in five camps in North Darfur.

Firewood

Several of our programs relate to the need for firewood. Securing firewood is of vital importance. The food provided by aid agencies is inedible unless cooked requiring some kind of cooking fuel. However, firewood is becoming scarce or non-existent around the camps, forcing women further into the desert to dig up roots, a journey which can leave them vulnerable for up to 15 hours at a time.

Helping vulnerable households afford firewood

• Within the camps, a robust firewood market offers the necessary fuel to cook without having to risk leaving the camps. All families who can afford to buy firewood do, as it is much less time consuming and allows them to avoid the risk of gathering in the dangerous territories outside the camps. It is those households unable to afford firewood that are forced to collect it themselves.

• By providing families with income generating activites, such as materials for growing vegetables and raising poultry, these families can afford to buy firewood. At a one time cost of only $80, families are provided with the tools to create their own sources of sustainable income.

Developing alternatives to firewood

• GI-Net is developing a model that will allow the most vulnerable women to cook for their households in propane kitchens located in safe areas of the camps.

• Our focus groups and interviews with women and community leaders in the camps have shown that cooking with propane is a particularly efficient and welcomed alternative — one that many women want and have in some cases used in their homes before being displaced. Propane tanks are already used by better-off families in Darfur's towns and villages, and the daily costs of fuel are about the same as or slightly less than purchasing firewood at its current price in the camps. For approximately $1 per family per day, a propane kitchen can be provided to the community, keeping them safely within the camps. GI-Net is currently preparing to build the first model kitchen which we expect to become operational before the end of the year.

Firewood patrols with the African Union and United Nations peacekeeping forces

• Through much of 2007, GI-Net worked with displaced communities and the African Union forces on the grounds that it is mandated to provide these armed escorts for women collecting firewood. Unfortunately, due to the enormity of the African Union's task and the security challenges they face, they have not been able to run these patrols beyond a very limited basis.

• With a strong understanding of the challenges the incoming UN force will face in implementing firewood patrols, we are working with these groups to ensure that the patrols are coordinated with relevant NGOs and the civilian population, and to act as advocates for displaced civilians to pressure the force to follow-up through on their protection commitments. The cost of administering this program is only about $1 per displaced person who will benefit from it.

Helping the incoming peace mission

Civilian protection must be made a top priority for the incoming hybrid peacekeeping force. This requires tremendous planning and an understanding of the civilian protection problem so that forces on the ground are able and ready to perform this task. Together with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (UN), we are working on programs to catalyze the necessary planning process.

• GI-Net is bringing together a working group composed of members from the United Nations, African Union, Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) to determine how the mission, and particularly the "Formed Police Units" (FPUs), will protect camps and civilians.

• GI-Net is also investigating equipment shortages for these FPUs, which are vital to the civilian protection task. We are working with nations to encourage them to contribute equipment to these units. If necessary, we will even help provide non-lethal equipment such as radios directly to these units, in order to equip them, and also to shame nations into doing the same. By supporting this, your donations will send a powerful message about the high priority individuals all over the world place on civilian protection in Darfur.

These projects represent an essential component of GI-Net's mission to directly protect civilians on the ground from genocidal violence. We are proud that this has been made possible through the commitment of countless individuals such as you. Thank you for your support!

Help Us Continue Protecting Civilians!

Make a donation to support our civilian protection program.

Or send a check to:

Genocide Intervention Network
1333 H Street NW, First Floor
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 481-8220
Fax: (202) 682-1867
Contact Us
www.GenocideIntervention.net

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