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What We Can Do
- Make your voices heard to help stem the atrocities in Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo's mineral wealth continues to fuel the armed groups that commit the atrocities in eastern Congo. The minerals are used in electronic devices such as cell phones and laptops. Despite the upsurge in atrocities during 2009 and more than a million people on the run from armed groups,, multinational companies continue to purchase minerals such as gold, tin and tungsten from the Congo.
Urge your Representative to support legislation for conflict-free cell phones, laptops and other electronics by cosponsoring the Congo Conflict Minerals Trade Act of 2009 (HR 4128) <http://www.enoughproject.org/conflict_minerals_trade_act>. The bill will indentify any conflict minerals from Congo imported into the United States. It is the strongest effort to stop the scourge of conflict minerals in Congo.
Contact Your Own Representative Urge him or her to support conflict mineral legislation (HR 4128) Dial 1-800-GENOCIDE. By entering your zipcode, you will have access to the contact information for elected officials ranging from your state Governor to your Senator to the President.
Take Action: Urge Industry Leaders to Make Conflict-Free Products
We need your help to increase demand for conflict-free electronics products. As a consumer, we can influence electronics industry leaders as they weigh whether or not to invest in making their supply chains transparent and producing verifiably conflict-free products. Tell companies that if they take conflict out of their products, you'll buy them.
Go to this website and through them you make your voice heard at Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Microsoft, Canon, IBM,Intel Apple, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo. Rim,Nintendo, Phillips, Panasonic
http://www2.americanprogress.org/t/1659/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6265
Write to President Obama and ask him to make finding a non-military solution to the war in Congo a priority in his foreign policy agenda:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
Educate yourself about how conflict minerals are illegally and inhumanely pillaged from the Congo and make their way into your cell phones and the computer you are using to read this post right now. Demand that electronics companies alter their mining and trade policies so that conflict-free minerals are used in our electronics. Until this happens, we all literally have blood on our hands.
You can inform yourselves on the sites listed here and let your voices be heard
ttp://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/conflictminerals_faq <http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/conflictminerals_faq>
http://money.cnn.com/2009/03/27/news/international/congo.fortune/
- Contact the White House:
www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/ (< you can send an email to President Obama here)
Comment line: 202-456-1111
President Obama has called the crisis in Darfur "a collective stain on our national and human conscience" and said he would make ending it a priority on "day one". He has promised to appoint a special envoy to deal with the Darfur issue and to implement the now disintegrating Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, which ended 22 years of a bloody war between the North and South in which more than 2 million people were killed.
The U.S. and the UN must not allow Khartoum to decide the size, national composition and timeframe for deployment of the UNAMID peacekeeping mission in Darfur.
We need a political strategy and peace process that potentially could end the Darfur tragedy and deal with the serious challenges that Darfur presents.
China still has the most influence with Khartoum. China is still selling weapons to Sudan –which are used against the people of Darfur. Because of China's nearly $9 billion investment in the oil sector in Sudan, and recent $5 billion deal for Congolese minerals, China increasingly has a vested interest in peace and stability in these two countries. President Obama could send a powerful message and take a meaningful step by sending a high-level envoy to Beijin to explore ways to work together to help bring peace to these African countries. With all that divides the U.S. and China, these are issues we can and should unite on.
Investing in the resolution of the conflicts in Congo and Sudan will be much cheaper than continuing to spend billions of dollars a year on humanitarian aid and observer forces. These band-aids are expensive substitutes for the real solutions that come from rolling up our sleeves and building an international coalition committed to addressing the root causes of conflict in a serious and sustained manner. President-elect Obama has a chance to help build an international coalition to end the two biggest wars in the world. He should seize it.
- We should all call our legislators and tell them we want them to do their utmost to bring peace and security to Darfur’s people. Just dial 1-800-GENOCIDE to be put in touch with you states representatives or the White House.
- The US and all world leaders should support the International Criminal Court . If Sudanese President Omar Al-bashir is indicted for the crime of genocide , let all the world stand by the ICC
- Join countless Americans and more than 20 states and 50 universities in supporting divestment from companies funding mass atrocities. learn more at www.sudandivestment.org
- If you are in Europe start and investment campaign similar to the one we initiated here. Because we strangled the flow of dollars into Sudan, they have switched to the Euro. So-European countries-we need your help. If you staunch the flow of the Euro into Sudan, Khartoum will be left with no viable, comparable international currency
- Support our humanitarian aid workers
Save the Children
www.savethechildren.org
United Nations High Commission for Refugees
www.unhcr.org
United Nations Children's Fund
www.unicef.org <http://www.unicef.org>
Medecines sans frontieres
www.msf.org
International Rescue Committee
www.theirc.org
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
www.icrc.org
Solar Cookers-
Solar Cookers are provided to Darfuri women in camps in Chad through Jewish World Watch. To donate go to www.jewishworldwatch.org or call 818-501-1836.
Paul Farmer-Partners in Health
http://www.pih.org/who/vision.html
Put a sturdy, totally cool lap top in the hands of the poorest children on earth, go to http://www.amazon.com/xo> and get one the next day or just give one for only $199.00. Or you can give a laptop AND buy one for the child in your own world for $399.000 . If you have the ability, you could give 100 or 1000 and even specify where they are to go! For example, somebody can buy 100 for a refugee camp or buy 1000 for a small town. Here's a link to the video about the laptop
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GB87EI/ref=sc_iw_c_0_1
- Book List:
Half the Sky
A brilliant, inspiring book -- and a perfect gift -- Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn is essential reading for every global citizen. A book that is being referred to as a manifesto for our times. Kristof and WuDunn expose a global human rights crisis that is estimated to have killed more little girls and women in the last 50 years than the total number of the men lost in all the wars of the 20th century.
To know more about Darfur:
Making Sense of Darfur-Jerome Tubiana
War in Darfur and the Search for peace Sean O’Fahey
Darfur Sultanate. A History-Sean O’Fahey
A Short History of a Long War-Alex De Waal and Julie Flint
A New History of A Long War-Alex DeWaal and Julie Flint
War in Darfur Alex DeWaal
Tears of the Desert-Halima Bashir
A Long Days Dying -Eric Reeves
Darfur’s Sorrow-A History of Destruction and Genocide- M.W.Daly
The Translator-Daoud Hari
Southern Sudan
What is the What-Dave Eggars
Emma’s War- Deborah Scroggins
Rwanda
We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families-Philip Gourevitch
Shake Hands With The Devil-Romeo Dallaire
Life Laid Bare; The Survivors In Rwanda speak- Jean Hatzfeld
Congo
King Leopolds Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa-Adam Hochschild
Heart of Darkness-Joseph Conrad
In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz – Michela Wrong
The Rebels Hour Lieve Joris
All things Must Fight To Live: Stories of War and deliverance in Congo-Bryan Mealer
Eritrea
I didn’t Do it For You Michela Wrong
General
The Graves Are not yet full- Bill Berleley
A Problem from hell: America and the Age of Genocide –Samantha Power
Guns, Germs and Steel-Jared Diamond
- A meaningful gift:
Choose a meaningful gift to give a loved one and help children and families around the world receive training and animal gifts that help them become self-reliant. Heifer provides both "no-interest living loans" in the form of livestock, as well as "small monetary" loans to help people start and expand businesses.
Heifer's mission is:
To work with communities to end hunger and poverty and to care for the earth.
Heifer's strategy is:
To pass on the gift. As people share their animals' offspring with others, along with their knowledge, resources, and skills, an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.
Heifer's History
This simple idea of giving families a source of food rather than short-term relief caught on and has continued for over 60 years. Today, millions of families in 128 countries have been given the gifts of self-reliance and hope.
(800) 422-0474
http://www.heifer.org/
A cow $500
Sheep or goat $120
Flock of geese or chicks $20
Honey bees $30.00
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