The world has “no higher priority, no greater imperative” than to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Not since the Rwandan genocide of 1994 has the world seen such a calculated campaign of slaughter, rape, starvation and displacement. Government supported troops in the Sudan have displaced over 2.5 million people in the past two years. Those people who have been displaced from their homes now face death from starvation and disease as the government and militias attempt to prevent humanitarian aid from reaching them. The same forces have destroyed the people of Darfur’s villages and crops and poisoned their water supplies, as they continue to murder, rape and terrorize.

Hundreds of thousands have died due to attacks, disease and starvation, and it is estimated that 500 men, women and children continue to die every day. It has been documented that some women are raped 10 to 15 times a day.

The conflict started in early 2003 when two loosely allied rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), attacked military installations. Then the military took action to rid the area of all the people by any means necessary.

The war, which risks inflicting irreparable damage on a delicate ethnic balance of seven million people who are uniformly Muslim, is actually intertwined with many conflicts. One is between government-aligned forces and rebels; a second entails indiscriminate attacks of the government-sponsored Janjaweed militia on civilians; and a third involves a struggle among Darfur communities themselves and also between the Christian and Muslims faiths.

It is not an issue for Africa only, but an issue that affects the entire world that we must stand up and fight against. We can no longer sit while the value of one’s life is measured by the pigmentation of one’s skin or how they affect oil prices or other consumer goods.

With this I urge you to stand up and make a change by participating in awareness rallies and by donating any extra money to this worthy cause. One way to do so is by going to Abe and Jakes on May 4 to an awareness party and raise funds to stop this crime against humanity. All proceeds will be donated to Sudan Sunrise.