A broad coalition of faith-based groups is working to generate one million postcards asking President Bush to take steps to end genocide in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.
The “Million Voices for Darfur” campaign is sponsored by the Save Darfur Coalition, a loose organization of 155 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights groups from a broad spectrum of Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and evangelical groups.
Partners of the Million Voices for Darfur campaign include the Alliance of Baptists, based in Washington, D.C.
The Interfaith Task Force of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia supports the Save Darfur Coalition of Georgia, which is headed by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.
Upon assuming office, President Bush wrote in the margins of a briefing memo on the Rwandan genocide, “Not on my watch.” The “Million Voices for Darfur” campaign is aimed at holding him accountable to that promise by demanding a more effective U.S. response to violence and atrocities in the region.
Since February 2003 an estimated 300,000-plus people have died in Darfur, resulting from what both the President and Congress recognized in 2004 as genocide sponsored by the Sudanese government.
Bush pledged on Feb. 17 to use the power of his office to support a stronger multi-national force to protect the Darfuri people.
Coalition leaders hope a million electronically generated postcards will prompt the president to keep that promise and take the necessary steps to end the genocide and build a lasting peace.
Organizers plan to deliver the postcards April 30 at a Rally to Stop Genocide on the National Mall in Washington, aimed at drawing media attention to crisis in Darfur and the shared commitment of an unusually broad coalition.
