NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Genocide Intervention Network

The Genocide Intervention Network (or GI-Net) is a non-profit organization that "envisions a world in which the global community is willing and able to protect civilians from genocide and mass atrocities. Its current mission is to empower individuals and communities with the tools to prevent and stop genocide." Currently GI-Net focuses all of its efforts on the alleged genocide in Darfur, Sudan.[2] Formerly, the Genocide Intervention Network was known as the Genocide Intervention Fund; it changed its name in September 2005. A non-profit organization (abbreviated NPO, or non-profit or not-for-profit) is an organization whose primary objective is to support an issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes, without concern for monetary profit. ... For other uses, see Genocide (disambiguation). ... Combatants JEM factions NRF alliance Janjaweed SLM (Minnawi) Sudan African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Commanders Ibrahim Khalil Ahmed Diraige Omar al-Bashir Minni Minnawi Luke Aprezi Strength N/A N/A 7,000 The Darfur conflict is a crisis in the...

History

The Genocide Intervention Network was founded in October 2004 in the United States, by then–Swarthmore College students Mark Hanis and Andrew Sniderman, soon joined by Rwandan native Stephanie Nyombayire. As students of international politics and peace and conflict studies, they were convinced that the time had come for a more systematic response to the recurring problem of genocide — a response which could promote and support widespread government and citizen action to protect civilians from violence. GI-Net was formed in order to empower citizens with the tools to advance initiatives able to directly protect civilians from genocidal violence and stop genocide. Although their focus was on direct forms of civilian protection explicitly, they realized the need to educate the public about the numerous possibilities for acting against genocide. In collaboration with other students and alumni of Swarthmore College, GI-Net began developing a website that would eventually host a broad variety of information about the most responsible means of preventing, responding to, and ending genocidal violence along with links to significant organizations whose missions focus on these aspects of genocidal crises. Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,450 students. ... An editor has expressed a concern that the subject of the article does not satisfy one of the following guidelines for inclusion on Wikipedia: If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand the article to establish its notability, citing reliable sources, so as to avoid it being considered... International relations (IR) is an academic and public policy field, a branch of political science, dealing with the foreign policy of states within the international system, including the roles of international organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and multinational corporations (MNCs). ... Peace and conflict studies can be defined as the inter-disciplinary inquiry into war as human condition and peace as human potential, as an alternative to the traditional Polemology (War Studies) and the strategies taught at Military academies. ...

In November 2004, GI-Net gained the dedicated support of Gayle Smith, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, who traveled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to initiate conversations with the African Union. Subsequent outreach efforts allowed GI-Net to develop relationships with necessary supporters in the worlds of policy, education, and media. The Center for American Progress is a progressive American political policy research and advocacy organization. ... For the long-distance runner, see Addis Abebe. ... Anthem Let Us All Unite and Celebrate Together [1] Administrative Centre Working languages Arabic English Spanish French Portuguese Swahili Membership 53 African states Leaders - Chairman Jakaya Kikwete - Jean Ping Establishment - as the OAU May 25, 1963 - as the African Union July 9, 2002 Area - Total 29,757,900 kmÂ² (1st1...

With widespread support from their advisers, endorsers[3] and a determined volunteer staff of students and alumni of Swarthmore College, the GI-Net was incorporated in February 2005, as the Genocide Intervention Fund, working under the fiscal sponsorship of the Center for American Progress.

By April 2005, GI-Net’s support base had grown substantially. The Genocide Intervention Network was publicly launched on 6 April as over 300 students and professionals from around the country joined in a lobby day that would mark the beginning of GI-Net’s "100 Days of Action Campaign", held in honor of the 100-day Rwandan genocide of 1994. is the 96th day of the year (97th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass killing of the hundreds of thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutu sympathizers in Rwanda and was the largest atrocity during the Rwandan Civil War. ...

By the end of the summer GI-Net had raised over $250,000 for its efforts to support civilian protection while increasing their network of supporters, advisers, and concerned citizens.

During reflection and strategy sessions at the end of the summer in 2005, GI-Net chose to more explicitly systematize its efforts to engage and empower citizens. In response to this need GI-Net developed a membership and chapter program[4] that will allows GI-Net to provide increased support for an expanding membership base while enabling members to be in contact for collaborative efforts. It received widespread notice in October after New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof lauded the organization in a column.[5] The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Nicholas D. Kristof is a columnist for The New York Times whose specialty is East Asian affairs, especially those of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

GI-Net currently has a permanent staff of five full-time employees,[6]. It has three official "representatives," Stephanie Nyombayire, Ronan Farrow and Bec Hamilton. Ronan Farrow, Genocide Intervention Network Representative and UNICEF Spokesperson for Youth Ronan Seamus Farrow (born Satchel OSullivan Farrow on December 19, 1987) is an American human rights activist and freelance journalist. ...

It is headquartered in Washington, DC, at 1333 H Street NW. Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United...

Campaigns

The work of GI-Net primarily falls within three categories: education[7], advocacy[8] and fundraising for civilian protection. Their pilot program is to support the African Union peacekeepers in Darfur[9]. AMIS soldier (CIDA, 2005) â€œAMISâ€ redirects here. ...

Education

The Genocide Intervention Network provides weekly summaries known as Darfur News Briefs[10] of all mainstream and independent press about the situation in Darfur, as well as third-party reports and analysis from humanitarian organizations. GI-Net also archives relevant reports[11] on its own site, as well as conducting its own research.

In the best-known instance of this, a report[12] issued by the Genocide Intervention Network and the American Progress Action Fund showed that U.S. television networks "ran 50 times as many stories about Michael Jackson and 12 times as many stories about Tom Cruise as they did about the genocide in Darfur." A subsequent GI-Net report[13] demonstrated that, when informed of the situation in Darfur, U.S. citizens were in favor of the U.S. government taking action. A television network is a distribution network for television content whereby a central operation provides programming for many television stations. ... Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958), commonly known as MJ as well as the King of Pop, is an American musician, entertainer, and pop icon whose successful career and controversial personal life have been a part of pop culture for the last three decades. ... Tom Cruise (born Thomas Cruise Mapother IV on July 3, 1962) is an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and film producer. ...

On 30 April 2006, the Genocide Intervention Network co-sponsored the Rally to Stop Genocide in Washington, D.C., with the Save Darfur Coalition and other organizations. The rally was led by prominent human rights activists like George Clooney, faith leaders, political figures such as Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), as well as Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel and Rwandan Paul Rusesabagina, whose story was the inspiration for the film Hotel Rwanda. It was part of the Million Voices for Darfur campaign, in which concerned citizens sent one million postcards to President Bush urging him to do more to stop the genocide and protect the people of Darfur. is the 120th day of the year (121st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... The Save Darfur Logo. ... George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter who gained fame as one of the lead doctors in the long-running television drama, ER (1994â€“99), as Anthony Edwardss best friend and partner, Dr. Douglas Doug Ross, but is best known for... â€œBarackâ€ redirects here. ... Elie Wiesel (born Eliezer Wiesel on September 30, 1928)[1] is a writer, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor. ... Paul Rusesabagina (born June 15, 1954) is a Rwandan who has been internationally honored for saving over 1,000 civilians during the Rwandan Genocide. ... Hotel Rwanda is an historical drama film that shows the quiet heroism of one man, Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), during the Rwandan Genocide. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001 and re-elected in the 2004 U.S. presidential election. ...

Advocacy

In August 2006, GI-Net published a congressional scorecard rating each member of Congress on legislative action relating to Darfur.[14]

The Genocide Intervention Network issues regular "action alerts"[15] that center on U.S. legislation relating to the Darfur genocide and the African Union peacekeeping force (AMIS II). It often partners with other non-profits working in Darfur-related areas, such as the Save Darfur Coalition, the Friends Committee on National Legislation, Africa Action, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur and Oxfam. The Save Darfur Logo. ... The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) is a Quaker lobby in the public interest. ... Oxfam International logo Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 organizations working with over 3000 partners in more than 100 countries to find lasting solutions to poverty and injustice. ...

Its best-known campaign is "Genocide Hits Home,"[16] which pressures U.S. lawmakers to pass legislation in support of U.S. action in Darfur while they are in their home districts during Congressional recesses. It is also active in the Sudan divestment movement. In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset, for either financial or social goals. ...

In July 2006, it criticized the termination of US funds to AU peacekeepers in Darfur by Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer, encouraging its members to fax Frazer and tell her to reconsider.[17] Frazer had said that the United States will give no further funds because it expects a transition to a UN peacekeeping mission by 1 October 2006. Yet as of July 2006, the UN has yet to pass a resolution in support of the peacekeeping mission and Sudan continues to refuse to admit UN troops into Darfur. AMIS soldier (CIDA, 2005) â€œAMISâ€ redirects here. ... Dr. Jendayi Frazer Jendayi E. Frazer is the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, heading the Bureau of African Affairs. ... is the 274th day of the year (275th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Fundraising

While the Genocide Intervention Network does conduct fundraising on its own behalf,[19] its primary activity in this regard is raising money to directly support African Union peacekeepers in Darfur. In addition to soliciting money from individual donors, it regularly encourages its membership to hold their own fundraising events, such as "Dinners for Darfur."[20]

Principles

The GI-Net does not make legal determinations of genocide; members have argued that recognition and response to the threat of genocide must take precedence over legal debates.

The GI-Net operates within the framework of the "Responsibility to Protect" report, produced by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty in 2001. The Commission concluded that "sovereign states have a responsibility to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe ... but that when they are unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be borne by the broader community of states."[21] The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) was an ad hoc commission of participants from mostly North and South America which in 2001 issued a legal opinion on contingent sovereignty and worked to popularize the concept of humanitarian intervention and democracy-restoring intervention under the name of Responsibility...

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1574[22] strongly endorses AMIS II, whose mandate includes directives to monitor a tenuous ceasefire, oversee the safe return of internally displaced persons, secure the delivery of humanitarian aid, and protect civilians "under imminent threat and in the immediate vicinity." â€œSecurity Councilâ€ redirects here. ...

As of 2006, formal terms of agreement between GI-Net and the African Union are in the process of being drafted, principally by GI-Net advisory board chair Gayle Smith. Funds raised by the Network are not used to purchase lethal equipment.

Endorsers

A complete list of endorsers is available[23], but some of GI-Net's notable supporters include:

Lloyd Norman Axworthy, PC, OC, OM, Ph. ... Gerald Lewis Caplan, PhD (born 1938) is a Canadian academic, public policy analyst, commentator and political activist. ... Richard Cizik is the Vice President for Governmental Affairs of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) and one of the most prominent Evangelical lobbyists in the United States. ... Lieutenant-General RomÃ©o Alain Dallaire, OC, CMM, GOQ, MSC, CD (born June 25, 1946 in Denekamp, The Netherlands) is a French Canadian senator, humanitarian, author and retired general. ... Rev. ... Gareth John Evans AO QC (born 5 September 1944), Australian politician, served as Attorney-General and Foreign Minister of Australia during the Hawke and Keating Labor governments. ... The Rev. ... Rep. ... This article is about the Canadian politician. ... Juan E. MÃ©ndez (born 11 December 1944) is an Argentine lawyer and academic who serves as the United Nations Secretary-Generals Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. ... Samantha Power (b. ... John Prendergast John Prendergast is a leading American human rights activist focused on bringing international attention to the genocide in Sudan and the atrocities of the Lords Resistance Army in Northern Uganda. ... John Shattuck is chief Executive Officer of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and formerly United States Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Clinton. ... Gregory H. Stanton is the founder (1999) and president of Genocide Watch ([1]), the founder (1981) and director of the Cambodian Genocide Project, the director of the World Federalist Associations Campaign to End Genocide and the coordinator of the Coalition for an International Criminal Court ([2]). Dr. Stanton served... Howard Eliot Wolpe, III (born November 2, 1939) served in the United States House of Representatives. ...

Contents

History

Campaigns

Education

Advocacy

Fundraising

Principles

Endorsers

See also

External links

Contents

History GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Campaigns

Education

Advocacy

Fundraising

Principles

Endorsers

See also

External links

History