مظاهرة تورونتوا لدعم اهل دارفور الاحد 30 ابريل

Dear Sisters and brothers;
On Sunday, April 30, 2006, at 1:00 PM, the Sudanese Canadian Human Rights Organization (SCHRO) will be joining a number of other organizations in organizing a rally at Queens
Park in Toronto to express solidarity with the people of Darfur and to raise the awareness among ordinary Canadians of the world's worst humanitarian disaster as it continues to unfold.

Please mark your calendars and try your best to be at the rally on
Sunday, April 30 at 1:00 PM.

The SCRO will be joining:
* OXFAM
* Amnesty International
* Darfur Association of Canada
* The Muslim Canadian Congress
* Canadian Jewish Congress
* KAIROS - Church and ecumenical Organizations

The rally will be addressed by:
* Mohamed Haroun, President of the Darfur Association of Canada
* Elfadil Elsharief, President of The Sudanese Canadian Human Rights Organization
* Former Secretary of State, David Kilgour
* NDP MP Olivia Chow
* Liberal MP Bryon Wilfert
* Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress

Organizers expect Liberal Leadership hopeful Gerard Kennedy, NDP Leader
Jack Layton and former Attorney General Irving Cotler to also be at the
rally.

Thanks
Elfadil Elhashmi
[email protected]

اقرا هذا ال Press Release


Huge Student Initiative Among Ontario Youth
In the past four months students from different schools, different cities and different backgrounds have come together to take a stand for the people of Darfur

My name is David Berkal and I am a grade 12 student, president of my school’s student council, and one of the leaders of a grassroots student organization called Project Equity. About five months ago I got together with two other high school students and one university student and we decided to do something about the crisis in Darfur. While things were slow to start they have really snowballed. What started as three kids meeting up at Starbucks once a week has turned into a huge event supported by Oxfam International, CASTS (Canadians Against Slavery and Torture in Sudan), STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), War Child, UJA, Canadian Jewish Congress, The Sudanese Human Rights Coalition, The Darfur Association of Canada, and many other youth and faith based groups.
Speaking at the rally are the Honourable David Kilgour, a former Secretary of State and Liberal MP who crossed the floor to become an independent partly due to Canada’s inaction in Darfur, Dr. Norman Epstein and Dr. Acol Dror, the co founders of CASTS and huge Darfur activists, and the Honourable Olivia Chow. Special guests include the Honourable Jack Layton and the presidents of The Sudanese Human Rights Coalition and The Darfur Association of Canada. We are also waiting for confirmation from other prominent politicians who have expressed interest in attending and speaking.
Something magical has happened. Four students with no past experience in politics or event planning, have managed to mobilize an entire generation. We have created an assembly about Darfur that is traveling around to 6 different schools, both public and private, in the next two weeks. We have had nothing but enthusiasm from youth to whom we speak. This generation is coming together. We are uniting over an issue that transcends religious, cultural, and political differences. We have been called apathetic, and we are breaking that stereotype. Please help us spread the word about this event, where people of all ages are welcome. When it comes to Darfur the world has been quick to talk but slow to act, and thus the role of leaders has been left to us.
We are showing the world that Canada’s youth are a force to be reckoned with. We are showing the world that we will not stand idly by as this crisis continues. On April 30th we will stand in solidarity with thousands of like minded people rallying in both Washington D.C and San Francisco. Here in Toronto, at 2:00, in place of a moment of silence we will hold a 10 second “Scream for Darfur” because more silence is useless when the world has already been silent for so long. Please join us, and please help us get the word out about this important event. The children of Ontario, and the people of Darfur need your help, will you provide?

The rally takes place on April 30th at 1pm at Queen’s Park in Toronto. For more information check out www.projectequity.org or contact us at (416)837-3114.

up



Check out the following link for a pretty powerful video on Darfur:
http://www.current.tv/studio/media/1063299

Huge Student Initiative Among Ontario Youth
In the past four months students from different schools, different cities and different backgrounds have come together to take a stand for the people of Darfur

My name is David Berkal and I am a grade 12 student, president of my school’s student council, and one of the leaders of a grassroots student organization called Project Equity. About five months ago I got together with two other high school students and one university student and we decided to do something about the crisis in Darfur. While things were slow to start they have really snowballed. What started as three kids meeting up at Starbucks once a week has turned into a huge event supported by Oxfam International, CASTS (Canadians Against Slavery and Torture in Sudan), STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur), War Child, UJA, Canadian Jewish Congress, The Sudanese Human Rights Coalition, The Darfur Association of Canada, and many other youth and faith based groups.
Speaking at the rally are the Honourable David Kilgour, a former Secretary of State and Liberal MP who crossed the floor to become an independent partly due to Canada’s inaction in Darfur, Dr. Norman Epstein and Dr. Acol Dror, the co founders of CASTS and huge Darfur activists, and the Honourable Olivia Chow. Special guests include the Honourable Jack Layton and the presidents of The Sudanese Human Rights Coalition and The Darfur Association of Canada. We are also waiting for confirmation from other prominent politicians who have expressed interest in attending and speaking.
Something magical has happened. Four students with no past experience in politics or event planning, have managed to mobilize an entire generation. We have created an assembly about Darfur that is traveling around to 6 different schools, both public and private, in the next two weeks. We have had nothing but enthusiasm from youth to whom we speak. This generation is coming together. We are uniting over an issue that transcends religious, cultural, and political differences. We have been called apathetic, and we are breaking that stereotype. Please help us spread the word about this event, where people of all ages are welcome. When it comes to Darfur the world has been quick to talk but slow to act, and thus the role of leaders has been left to us.
We are showing the world that Canada’s youth are a force to be reckoned with. We are showing the world that we will not stand idly by as this crisis continues. On April 30th we will stand in solidarity with thousands of like minded people rallying in both Washington D.C and San Francisco. Here in Toronto, at 2:00, in place of a moment of silence we will hold a 10 second “Scream for Darfur” because more silence is useless when the world has already been silent for so long. Please join us, and please help us get the word out about this important event. The children of Ontario, and the people of Darfur need your help, will you provide?

The rally takes place on April 30th at 1pm at Queen’s Park in Toronto. For more information check out www.projectequity.org or contact us at (416)837-3114.

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Excellent work Ya Nas Canada...The voice of Darfur will be strongly heard at the same time in Toronto, Washington, DC and San Francisco...


mohamed elgadi

Darfur food rations cut in half
The UN is cutting in half its daily rations in Sudan's Darfur region due to a severe funding shortfall.

"This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever made," James Morris, head of the UN's World Food Programme, said.

From May the ration will be half the minimum amount required by each day. The cut comes as the UN said Darfur's malnutrition rates are rising again.

Nearly 3m in Darfur are totally reliant on food aid after being driven off their land by three years of conflict.

Despite a ceasefire and on-going peace negotiations, large areas of Darfur are now affected by fighting between government forces, militias and rebels.

This is also hampering the delivery of food and other aid operations.

Hunger season

"Haven't the people of Darfur suffered enough? We are adding insult to injury," Mr Morris said as he explained that despite appeals to donors, the WFP has received only a third of the money it needs.

DARFUR DAILY FOOD RATIONS
Minimum requirement: 2,100 kilocalories per person
New amount: 1,050 kilocalories per person
Cut by half: Cereals, blended fortified food and oil
Cut by three-quarters: Pulses, sugar and salt

More than 6.1m people across Sudan require food aid - more than any other country in the world.

The bill to feed them all is $746m.

The United States has provided $188m, but little has been received from the European Union and nothing at all from any of Sudan's partners in the Arab League, other than Libya, the WFP says.

The EU says it has allocated 48m euros ($60m) for the whole of Sudan this year, while the UK will donate ?9m ($88m) through various aid agencies.

The ration cut is designed to ensure that some food lasts through the "hunger season" between July and September.

"We have been pushed into this last resort of ration cuts in Sudan so we can provide the needy with at least some food during the lean season," Mr Morris said.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher in the capital, Khartoum, says even if more money was to be immediately promised, Darfur's location, in the centre of Africa, means it could still take up to four months for the rations to arrive.

Earlier this week, Ted Chaiban, head of Unicef's mission to Sudan, said in the last three months alone, there had been 200,000 people newly displaced in Darfur.

Aid agencies last year managed to bring the malnutrition rate below the emergency threshold of 15% but south Darfur was seeing those figures again, he said.

The African Union has set a 30 April deadline for the government and rebel groups to accept their draft peace agreement which addresses power-sharing, wealth-sharing and security.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4954096.stm

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