Never Again?
Wednesday, January 04, 2006 - 01:49 PM
After our segment yesterday on Darfur with Nicholas Kristof and Paul Slovic, we were besieged by listeners wondering what they could do to help. So, without further ado, here is a list of organizations, charities and blogs working in and around Darfur:
American Jewish World Service: Donate and take action on the Genocidal crisis in Darfur, Sudan. (Slovic's Pick)
The Genocide Intervention Fund: answers the question: What can I do?
(This blogger's favorite)
Human Rights Watch: the recent news and reports from Sudan
The Coalition for Darfur: A Darfur news Blog with Links galore on Sudan and Darfur
sudanreeves.org: Sudan Research, Analysis, and Advocacy by a Professor of English at Smith College
The Darfur Information Center: Facts and news to educate the world about the genocide
Sudan Genocide: A fantastic senior thesis school project by two highschool seniors
A bit of required reading for those who want to learn more:
Paul Slovic's research paper, "If I look at the mass I will never act: Psychic numbing and genocide," published in Judgment and Decision Making on the psychology of genocide.
And finally an alert listener who wants to add more to the list:
Thank you for your show on Darfur. However, when I visited your site at WNYC.org I was disappointed not to see links that gave immediate action suggestions (the Kristof article was truncated and the actions suggestions were cut off).
Aside from the obvious--contacting one's U.S. Representative and Senators and impressing upon them the urgency of restoring the $50 million for African Union peacekeepers--there are other actions to take:
1. Divestment: There is a divestment campaign in universities and state legislatures. New Jersey has put New York to shame by removing Sudanese-related stocks from its pension funds. Oregon and Illinois (the first to do so) have done likewise. Investigate whether your stock portfolio or the portfiolio of your pension fund has stock in companies that do business with Sudan. The most notable are Siemens of Germany, Alcatel of France, ABB of Switzerland and PetroChina, the most ruthless international player inSudan's oil sector. TIAA-CREF the largest private pension fund has stocks in all of these through its Global Equities Fund.
See www.sudandivestment.com and sudanreeves.org.
2. Boycott: Siemen's constantly runs ads in the New York Times advertising its consumer products: household appliances and cellphones.
Write to: George Nolen, President and CEO, Siemens USA, 153 East 53rd Street, New York, N.Y.
10022
Te:1-800-SIEMENS). Tell Mr. Nolen that you will not buy SIEMENS products until they stop doing business with Sudan.
-HM
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.