Sudan experts to talk today about Darfur
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John Prendergast, America's most influential activist in Africa, is a visiting instructor at the Ford Institute for Human Security at the University of Pittsburgh.
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For the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition, 2011 was a thrilling year.
The group that formed in 2004 to help end the genocide occurring in Darfur, in western Sudan, watched as local supporters originally from southern Sudan voted in January to split from northern Sudan. In July, with the vote confirmed, it helped those same Sudanese immigrants celebrate their Independence Day and the creation of a new country.
Days later, the Pittsburgh group was credited with being part of the international push to free an activist in Darfur.
But now, half a year later, the fear is that along the way the public has forgotten what it was that galvanized so many people eight years ago: Darfur and the plight of its people, who remain largely displaced from their homelands, that is if they survived the attacks that drove them away.
"We've been concerned for a while," said David Rosenberg, a founder and coordinator of PDEC. "There's been an attention deficit operating in the advocacy movement for some time, but it has gotten worse in the last year."
At 5 this afternoon, at the Carnegie Library's Squirrel Hill branch, PDEC will try to help address that deficit, hosting a panel of five internationally recognized experts and local activists on Sudan entitled "Challenges for Sudan, Challenges for Advocates."
It's the second part of the group's 2011-12 speaker series; a national student activist, Daniel Solomon, was here in December, and the United State's senior adviser on Darfur, Dane Smith, comes next month, followed by author Rebecca Hamilton arrives in April. Entitled "It's Not Over for Darfur," the free series is designed to do both some cheerleading and idea-stirring.
The reason for that is based on the organization's experience locally. It has had a harder time getting people together and creating a conversation around Darfur, Mr. Rosenberg said.
"I have a mailing list with 350 people on it who have taken part in the past, and when I send out a mailing, I don't get much response," he said.
First Published February 13, 2012 12:06 am
