It's good to see some coverage on this. While America whines about filling up their SUV's, others are being displaced and killed on a daily basis. If this story was splashed across the news everyday, maybe Americans would get some perspective on their problems.
WASHINGTON - Thousands of people joined celebrities and lawmakers at a rally Sunday urging the Bush administration and Congress to help end genocide in Sudan's Darfur region. "Not on our watch!" the crowd chanted as a parade of speakers lined up for their turn on a stage on the National Mall, the Capitol serving as a backdrop.
The organizers' permit anticipated 10,000 to 15,000 people would rally, one of several in U.S. cities this weekend against what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian disaster.
Jendayi Frazer, who leads the State Department's Africa bureau, said Bush hasn't shied from calling it genocide. He's working to prevent more deaths, she said, while the United States provides $1.3 billion in humanitarian assistance. "The strategy is working but you must continue to push for faster international action," she told the crowd.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a broadcast interview, noted developments Sunday in Nigeria, where Sudan's government said it was ready to sign a peace agreement to end the bloodshed. Rebels, however, rejected the draft deal.
Years of fighting between ethnic groups and Arab militias in western Sudan have left at least 180,000 people dead and about 2 million homeless.
The problem is about to get worse- the UN just cut food rations to Sudan.
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Friday it would cut food rations for more than 6 million people in Sudan, half of them in Darfur, due to a severe lack of funds.
Many donor countries appear to have tired of the long-term conflict in Darfur, despite signs that malnutrition is again on the rise among people living in squalid camps, the United Nations' World Food Programme (WFP) said.
WFP said it was halving food aid from the minimum daily requirement of 2,100 calories to 1,050 calories as of May.
The Rome-based agency had only received $238 million or 32 percent of its annual appeal of $746 million for Sudan. Africa's largest country is emerging from civil war in the south as talks continue on a peace deal to end a conflict in Darfur.