Donate to Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) to be a partner in our lifesaving journey.

Donate to Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) to be a partner in our lifesaving journey.
During this holiday season Please Give the gift of life to support Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) sustain its lifesaving mission. http://www.darfurwomenaction.org/give. Please help us attain our target of $25,000 by December 31, 2015.

Before you donate Please Read about the current situation and What we have done together:
THE URGENCY OF THE SITUATION:

As you know, 2015 has been a very difficult year for our people in Darfur. Over 3 million people still remain hostage in camps, with violence escalating and humanitarian efforts severely restricted. Rape and all forms of sexual violence continue at an alarming rate in the displacement camps where women are a majority. Millions of Darfuris remain displaced and have been without a permanent home for 12 years, and the number of newly displaced continues to grow exponentially. College students are being abducted, imprisoned, and killed. Sixty percent of children in camps are of school age but have no access to education. The genocide continues unabated.

THE CHALLENGES FACING DARFUR:
Despite the alarming situation in Darfur, the international community has chosen to ignore it. Similarly, the mainstream media has failed to cover the current situation and the ongoing genocide is no longer making headlines at the New York Times or Washington Post.

The government of Sudan has made every effort to isolate Darfur from the outside world. For example, Obama’s special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan has never been allowed to visit Darfur since his appointment. The Representative of the UN Secretary General on Sexual Violence in conflict zones has never visited Darfur while rape continues unhindered and unreported. Al-Bashir, the indicted genocidal criminal, has successfully blocked access to Darfur in order to continue his crimes and get away with murder.

Many advocates have moved away from Darfur or condone the change of narrative that the government of Sudan and its allies want to hear, replacing the word “genocide” with “atrocities” to water down the urgency of the situation. Only genocide survivors and those who stand firm against it like you can understand how and to what extent this can be damaging to our fight.

DWAG’S RESPONSE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
We say “no” to the silence and shine a light on Darfur for all to see. We choose to speak up and remain vigilant, and continue to share the stories of those who have been silenced. Your generosity has enabled us to remain on track, keep the attention on Darfur, and hold our leaders accountable.

s to you, we have accomplished so much this year. We have been in close contact with our people on the ground and shared their stories with world leaders and activists to take more meaningful action. We have shared credible information from the ground to educate the public and our supporters about the current situation and circulated petitions to galvanize our supporters to engage and press the world leaders to take action. Through your support we have also offered services to people in internally displaced camps, though more aid is desperately needed.

In January, when government fighter jets viciously attacked eastern Jebel Marra and displaced people in the middle of an unprecedented winter in Darfur, we learned that 12 people died in one night. We called on you and you kindly supported our action and helped us raise money to assist in delivering lifesaving winter cloths to those left without shelter, some of whom may have died without your support.

In March, when Sudan was elected to co-chair the UN commission on the status of women, we were terrified, but we refused to get discouraged and remained salient. We called on you all and you stood by our side and helped us organize a protest before the Sudanese embassy calling the world’s attention and demanding that a rapist government not be allowed to chair the commission that was specifically created to develop policies that will advance the rights of women. With your help, we collected 221 pictures from our supporters to honor the 221 women raped by government soldiers in late 2014 in Tabit and were able to create visibility that enabled us shame and name the Sudanese government and the UN for its failure to respond.

In April, you helped us organized two important events to honor those who we have lost and to demand action to end the ongoing suffering: the 24-hour Hunger Strike and the protest at the White House. While these did not get a response from President Obama, they were noticed by Darfuris in 122 IDP camps, giving them hope by knowing that we and the American public have not forgotten them. We were also able to educate thousands of students and White House spring visitors who asked why we were there. Most of these students and international visitors had never heard of Darfur or its devastating genocide. They were deeply engaged and impacted by what they learned from us, and they promised to spread the word to their communities and schools.

In June,you helped us organize the world refugee day in which our community members were able to gather and tell their stories of suffering and success while steadily integrating themselves into their new society and working hard to be productive citizens in the US and extending support to their people in Darfur.

In late June, you helped us achieve a great victory when DWAG launched our petition calling on the UNSC to renew UNAMID’s mandate. Our petition was signed by thousands of supporters and the mandate was renewed by a unanimous vote of the UNSC and AU member states.

In July,you helped us stand up for justice on International Justice Day in supporting the ICC as the court of last resort to enable it to try criminals like Al-Bashir and achieve justice for genocide victims not only in Darfur but elsewhere in the world. Together we took on our social media campaign and reminded the world that the fugitive Al-Bashir is still free and we must not let him get away with murder.

On October 17-18 you enabled us to successfully host our outstanding 4th annual symposium on Women and Genocide in the 21st Century. Despite limited resources, we were able host speakers from a diverse array of backgrounds and expertise in addition to survivors not only from Darfur, but from as far as Kurdistan, Iraq, Nigeria and Rwanda. This would not have been possible without your generosity, kind support and your confidence in our effort.

Amazingly, along with our diaspora partners from Canada, we have been able to sponsor 425 children to go to school and provide them with school supplies. We have also been able to provide women in the camps with skills training and income opportunities that keep them safe. We trained 250 women and provided 51 with income to produce crafts that have generated income for them and their families.

In the US we have delivered winter clothes to newly arrived refugees in various cities. We have conducted training and offered mentoring to Sudanese refugees and provided free interpretation and translation Services. Despite our limited resources we have accomplished a lot because of you! With all the difficulties Darfur and our people are facing you have helped us continue our fight and we have been empowered and motivated to continue our effort.

During this holiday season, your donation is of particular importance to sustain our effort. Don’t miss the opportunity to give to an organization offering a myriad of important services both on the ground and in the US; please donate today. Donate

We have made it so far together and we would love to continue having you with us by our side during our lifesaving journey. Your donation of any amount will be greatly appreciated and will help us attain our goal that will sustain our joined effort.

Thank you for your support and generosity—we wish you and your loved ones Happy Holidays and a joyous New Year!

With gratitude,

Niemat Ahmadi, President, Darfur Women Action Group and DWAG team