wfn.org | Church World Service Chief Joins Fast for Darfur Victims

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

CWS Chief Joins Fast for Darfur Victims

October 4, 2005

New York--On Oct. 6 the Rev. John McCullough, chief executive of Church
World Service, will join thousands of people expected to participate in a
day-long "fast" to call attention to the atrocities taking place in the
Darfur region of Sudan.

The event is being organized by Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, on
campuses across the nation. Participants are asked to give up one
item--like food, caffeine, chocolate, a manicure-and send the money they
save to an
organization involved in relief efforts for victims of the violence.

The United Nations has described the two-year conflict as the world's worst
humanitarian crisis and says that war crimes have been committed.  The
United States has called it as genocide.

Patrick Schmitt, a STAND organizer at Georgetown University in Washington,
D.C., is urging people not to forget about the crisis.	"It's crucial,
especially when there are other disasters going on, to demonstrate our
continued concern to the people of Sudan, the government of Sudan and our
own government.

McCullough says a day of fasting is a small sacrifice "if it helps to shine
a light on the atrocities being committed in Sudan. Fasting means that I
will miss a few meals and then go have something to eat.  The suffering
people in Darfur may die before they eat another meal."

The conflict in Darfur, located in western Sudan, dates back to 2003 when
armed rebel groups began protesting what they view as oppression of the
region's black African people Sudan's Arab-dominated government.  The
government responded by unleashing Arab militias, known as janjaweed, on a
campaign of murder, rape and arson against black African tribes.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the violence.	 More than 2
million people have fled their burned villages and settled in makeshift
camps in west, north, and south Darfur. Another 200,000 have fled across
the border into Chad.

Despite peace talks and a ceasefire agreement, violence has increased in
the Darfur region over the past two weeks.  Just last week, at least 32
were people killed in a janjaweed attack on a camp for internally displaced
people.  Following the attack, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António
Guterres said that the deteriorating security situation is making it
impossible for humanitarian agencies to deliver food, water and medicine to
victims of the violence.

Church World Service, in alliance with non-governmental organizations from
the U.S. Europe, and Sudan, is providing food, medicine, water, and
supplies for people in the camp and is helping with reconstruction efforts
for people returning home after being uprooted by a 21-year long conflict
between north and south Sudan.

CWS continues its advocacy around this issue, asking people to pressure the
Bush administration to work more forcefully within the UN Security Council
for increased security for Sudanese civilians and humanitarian workers; for
Sudanese government adherence to the January 2005 peace agreement that
ended the north-south conflict; and for increased efforts to end the Darfur
violence.

Church World Service, the relief, development, and refugee assistance
ministry of 36 Protestant, Orthodox, and Anglican denominations in the
United States, also is chief sponsor of a growing grassroots awareness and
fundraising campaign called "Dear Sudan."  The campaign is a nationwide
interfaith effort to form a community of support for the Sudanese victims.

Denominations specifically supporting the "Dear Sudan" campaign include
United Church of Christ -- One Great Hour of Sharing; Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ) - Week of Compassion; The United Methodist Church;
American
Baptists Churches USA; and Reformed Church in America.

Urging people to demonstrate their support for stronger efforts to end the
crisis to by joining the STAND campaign on Oct. 6, McCullough says "We
cannot afford to turn our eyes away from the suffering of the people caught
up in the murderous violence in Sudan."

Media Contacts:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676
lcrosson@churchworldservice.org

Ann Walle, CWS/New York, 212-870-2654
awalle@churchworldservice.org