Please send a postcard to President Bush to pressure him to act on the Darfur situation.

http://www.millionvoicesfordarfur.org/

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Weekly News and Action Update - February 16, 2006

Action Items:

60 Seconds of Action: Earlier today, the President took an important step in the right direction by sending a supplemental funding proposal to Congress which included a request for a total of $514 million for Sudan, $339 million of which we expect to be designated for Darfur peacekeeping and humanitarian programs. Please take a moment to email the President a note of thanks for doing his part to make this much needed funding a reality, and encourage him to keep taking additional steps to protect the people of Darfur as the spring progresses.

60 Minutes of Action: On April 30th, the Save Darfur Coalition will host the Rally to Stop Genocide in Washington, DC. The rally will feature a broad spectrum of prominent political figures, faith leaders, human rights activists, entertainers, journalists and thousands of others who support a stronger multi-national force to protect the civilians of Darfur. We hope that you will join us, and encourage you to look into tickets and hotel information soon. For more information on the rally, please click here.

This week in Sudan:

Progress towards the transfer of peacekeeping duties in Darfur from the African Union to the United Nations continued this week, as Secretary General Kofi Annan met with President Bush at the White House to discuss the next steps in that process. Annan has called for the inclusion of U.S. troops, although it remains to be seen what the size and structure of the eventual force will be.

The question of how best to augment the AU troops in the meantime continues to be raised as well. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday that “we will work with NATO to try to enhance the capability of the [African Union Mission in Sudan] force until a UN force can get on the ground.” Such an arrangement could help train the AU troops for work as part of the coming UN force, while also immediately improving the range of protection the AU is able to provide.

The AU will also be helped by an expected influx of much-needed cash in the form of a U.S. supplemental funding bill. As noted above, President Bush sent his official supplemental proposal to Congress earlier today, including a request for $339 million for AU peacekeepers and other Darfur-related programs. Congress is expected to act quickly on the bill, with a mid-March target passage date.

Any added protection would be welcome news to the people of Darfur, who continue to suffer through increased  [ send green star]

Your postcards are starting to work and your voices are being heard.

On Monday, the Bush Administration announced support for sending several hundred NATO advisers to aid African Union troops struggling to protect the innocent people of Darfur.

This is a small step in the right direction, but much more still must be done to stop the genocide! 

Here's your challenge: can you keep the pressure on?  Can you get 20 friends, family members and neighbors to sign postcards to President Bush and bring us even closer to building a Million Voices for Darfur?

Click here to download postcards that you can print out and have friends, family and neighbors sign. Then send them back to us (the mailing address is on the card) before the April 30 Rally to Stop Genocide in Washington, D.C.

Or you can click here to use the online tell-a-friend form.

We have already collected several hundred thousand postcards from people all across the country - and the world.  And they have made an impact.

But now is not the time to let up.  If just half of the people on our list get 20 friends, family members and neighbors to sign postcards, we'd have over a million messages to President Bush.

We can't wait to announce that we have ONE MILLION VOICES FOR DARFUR.  Your mission is to help us get there!

Click here to download the postcards. Print them out and get your friends, family and neighbors to sign. Then send them back to us (the mailing address is on the card) before the April 30.

If you'd prefer, you can use the online tell-a-friend form.

Thank you,

David Rubenstein
Save Darfur Coalition

To learn more about the situation in Darfur and read the latest news, click here.

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