Transcript Darfur - New York Medical College

Humanitarian Crises 101
Ongoing conflicts in Darfur, DR Congo,
Ethiopia-Somalia and more…
Presented by: NYMC Genocide Awareness
and Prevention Club
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Quick History:
 1997: Opposition group AFDL with Rwandan and
Ugandan support overthrows Congolese government,
renames DRC
 Soon after, many armed rebel groups form
 1999: cease-fire signed among factions - UN security
council forms “MONUC” to ensure peace
 Renewed violence since 2008 in “North Kivu”
province displaced 250,000
 Much of the conflict stems from Rwandan genocide
and Hutu/Tutsi conflict & fighting over mineral
resources in eastern DRC
Humanitarian Crisis
 250,000 internally displaced people
 400 cases of sexual violence per month (just in North
Kivu)
 December, 2008: Cholera outbreak
 The displaced are also extremely vulnerable to easily
treatable conditions and diseases such as measles,
malnutrition, respiratory infections, diarrhea, and
obstetrical complications- MSF
45,000 die
per month
-IRC
5.4 MILLION
dead since 1998
due to conflict
-IRC
“Christmas Massacre”
 Combatants of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army
(LRA) brutally massacred at least 620 civilians and
abducted more than 160 children between December
24 and January 13 in northern Democratic Republic of
Congo. - Human Rights Watch
More info:
 www.hrw.org
 www.doctorswithoutborders.org
 Search U.N. MONUC regarding their humanitarian
efforts in the region
 Communicate with your representatives (e.g. U.S. bill
passed cutting military funds to DRC and other nations
using children as soldiers)
 www.theirc.org
Violence in Ethiopia and Somalia
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.or
g/publications/topten/article.cfm?id=
3119
Darfur
5 Years Later
Where are we now?
Statistics
 200,000 to 300,000 people have died since the beginning
of 2004
 2.7 million people have been displaced (310,000 in 2007
alone)
How did this all begin?
 Darfur is home to two major
groups: the settled peasants
who are ethnically African
and the nomadic farmers
who are predominantly Arab
 Climate change/ drought
caused conflict between
these groups as the nomadic
farmers moved their
livestock south onto settled
land.
Conflict Begins
 Darfur is also considered
the poorest state in Sudan.
 In 2003 the Sudan
Liberation Army (SLA) and
the Justice and Equality
Movement (JEM), two
rebel groups, launched a
campaign against the
Khartoum government
S.L.A members
The Response
 In the middle of peace talks to end a conflict in
south Sudan, the government wanted a “blamefree” way to put down the SLA.
 Armed and trained the Janjaweed militia to wipe
out ethnic groups associated with the SLA in
Darfur.
 Fur, Zaghawa, Massalit
 Khartoum also began a aerial bombing campaign
to support the Janjaweed
Humanitarian Crisis Begins
 The Janjaweed are accused
of many human rights
violations including looting,
mass killing, mass rape and
the burning of entire
villages.
 The inhabitants of Darfur
were forced to flee, many
into refugee camps in
neighboring Chad.
After this village was looted by the
Janjaweed, they began to burn it.
What is happening now?
 In April 2004 a ceasefire was signed by the Sudan
government, SLA and JEM
 Fighting in Darfur continues between splinter factions of
rebel groups and the Janjaweed.
 The Sudanese government has continued ground and air
assaults without regard to civilians (2008)
Fleeing civilians are
forced to live in refugee
camps like this and are
still targets for militia
attacks.
What is happening now?
 In Sept. 2007 the UN
passed a resolution for
the deployment of
26,000 peacekeepers
called the UN-African
Union Mission in Darfur
(UNAMID).
 Sudanese government
continues to resist full
UNAMID deployment.
A refugee camp for Darfur’s displaced civilians
in Chad.
STAND NOW!

Civilian Protection Program:
1.
2.
3.
Gives families tools to make an income so that they can
afford firewood.
Develop and distribute alternatives to firewood (solar stoves,
fuel efficient stoves)
Firewood Patrol program with UNAMID peacekeepers.
“We…have chosen the risk of
being raped rather than let the
men risk being killed”
-Displaced Woman at the
International Rescue Meeting in
Darfur.
The Main Event: Darfur Fast
Last year we raised $1,000
Can we do it again?
Sign up to help Feb 23-27
For one week people give
up something like this..
To help people like this.
•Kiva
•Free Rice
Muhammad Yunus created the concept
of microcredit and received the 2006
Nobel Peace Prize for his further work



Microcredit is the extension of
very small loans (microloans) to
the unemployed, to poor
entrepreneurs and to others living
in poverty
Yunus created Grameen Bank in
Bangeledesh
“World's income distribution gives
a very telling story. Ninety four
percent of the world income goes
to 40 percent of the population
while sixty percent of people live
on only 6 per cent of world income.
Half of the world population lives
on two dollars a day. Over one
billion people live on less than a
dollar a day. This is no formula for
peace.” – M. Yunus, 2006 Nobel
Peace Prize lecture
www.kiva.org
www.kiva.org
www.kiva.org
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/uganda
601/uganda-601.html?&c=3wm
www.freerice.com
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=148&Key=193