The Political Advocacy Committee

The committee has two components this semester:

First, it is helping to roll out the Massachusetts pilot of the Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net). GI-Net aims to build a permanent anti-genocide constituency. Until such a constituency exists, there is little reason to expect the political calculus of decision makers to change, and thus little reason to expect that future genocides will be stopped any sooner than those of the past and present. By building this constituency now, we increase the likelihood that our political representatives will be pressured to respond to the next crisis before it reaches the scale of suffering we see in Darfur."

Second, the committee lobbies Congressmen to support bills furthering the mission of peace and security in Darfur.  Current legislation includes the federal Darfur Peace and Accountability Act and a Massachusetts bill for the divestment of public funds from companies doing business in Sudan.  We urge and help our fellow students to call representatives from their home states, and also reach out to the community to promote lobbying and spread awareness of what all US citizens can do to help end the genocide in Darfur.  We also bring our cause and our methods to local high schools, and are coordinating a multi-school conference at Harvard to raise awareness of the genocide in Darfur and unity in combating it. 

Currently, the committee is spearheading the organization of the Boston Area Darfur Conference on Dec 2-4. For more information,

Contact: rhamilton@law.harvard.edu and jmorse@fas.harvard.edu

Link: www.genocideintervention.net