President Bush met today with leaders of the movement to stop the genocide in Sudan. Here is the list of participants. President Bush’s comments follow in next post.
Apr 28th, 2006 by jimmoore
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release April 28, 2006
Event Backgrounder:
The President meets with Darfur Advocates
BACKGROUND
The President will meet with leading Darfur advocates who are taking
steps to bring global attention to Darfur. The meeting gives the
President an opportunity to highlight his commitment to improving
security in Darfur, finding a political solution to the crisis, and
meeting urgent humanitarian needs.
BIOGRAPHIES OF PARTICIPANTS
David Rubenstein, Coordinator, Save Darfur Coalition (Washington, D.C.)
The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of more than 100 faith-based,
humanitarian, and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise
public awareness and mobilize an effective unified response to the
atrocities that threaten the lives of two million people in the Darfur
region. The Coalition formed on July 14, 2004, when the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum and American Jewish World Service organized a
Darfur Emergency Summit to address the situation and push for a global
response.
Elisa Massimino, Washington Director, Human Rights First (Takoma Park, Maryland)
Human Rights First is a leading human rights advocacy organization
based in New York City and Washington, D.C. Since 1978, they have
worked at home and abroad to create a secure and humane world,
advancing justice, human dignity, and respect for the rule of law.
Massimino is the organization’s chief advocacy strategist, an expert on
a range of international human rights issues, and a national authority
on U.S. compliance with human rights law.
Faith McDonnell, Director, Religious Liberty Programs, Institute on
Religion and Democracy; and Coordinator, Church Alliance for a New
Sudan (Annandale, Virginia)
The Church Alliance for a New Sudan (CANS) is one of several programs
of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, which is celebrating 25
years of working to reform the social and political witness of American
churches, while promoting democracy and religious freedom at home and
abroad. McDonnell has been leading CANS since 1998 and has spoken out
publicly regarding the Darfur issue.
Reverend Gloria White-Hammond, Chairwoman, Million Voices for Darfur Campaign (Boston, Massachusetts)
Million Voices for Darfur seeks to collect one million signed postcards
urging the President to take action in Darfur. Individuals can send a
postcard simply by visiting the campaign’s web site. The messages will
be delivered to the White House and Capitol Hill. The group is using
this campaign to garner national and local media attention for the
crisis in Darfur. The campaign, which began on April 2, is
already halfway toward its goal. White-Hammond is also Co-Pastor of
Bethel AME Church in Boston, Massachusetts.
Jerry Fowler, Director, Committee on Conscience, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Arlington, Virginia)
Jerry Fowler is the first staff director of the Committee on
Conscience, which guides the genocide prevention efforts of the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM). When the President’s
Commission on the Holocaust recommended the creation of a living
memorial to the victims of the Holocaust, it observed that no issue was
as perplexing or as urgent as the need to insure that such a totally
inhuman assault as the Holocaust or any partial version thereof never
recurs. To address that need, the Commission recommended the creation
of a Committee on Conscience, which the USHMM unanimously approved
shortly after its opening.
Rabbi David Saperstein, Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (Washington, D.C.)
The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism (RAC) has been the hub of
Jewish social justice and legislative activity in Washington, D.C., for
over 40 years. It has educated and mobilized the American Jewish
community on such issues as Israel, international religious freedom,
economic justice, civil rights, international peace, and religious
liberty. The RAC is the Washington office of the Union for Reform
Judaism, whose more than 900 congregations across North America
encompass 1.5 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of
American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 1,800 Reform
rabbis.
Reverend Keith Roderick, Executive Director, Sudan Campaign, Christian Solidarity International (Fredericksburg, Virginia)
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is a Christian human rights
organization for religious liberty helping victims of religious
repression, victimized children, and victims of disaster. Founded in
Switzerland in 1977 by Reverend Hans St�ckelberger, CSI is a
non-profit, independent organization that seeks to bring together
Christians of all denominations to meet urgent needs.
Simon Deng, Former Sudanese Slave (New York, New York)
Simon Deng initiated the Sudan Freedom Walk in which he traveled 300
miles from New York to Washington in an effort to raise awareness and
support for bringing about an end to the genocide in Darfur and
establish a comprehensive peace for all of Sudan. The walk ended on the
steps of the U.S. Capitol on March 16 2006. At the age of 9, Deng was
caught up in the struggle between the Arab-dominated government and
African villagers in Sudan. He was kidnapped from his village in the
southern region of the country and forced to work for a family. With
the help of a stranger he met who happened to be from his village, Deng
was smuggled back to his family after almost three years of forced
labor.
# # #
_______________________
Jay S. Zeidman
The White House
Office of Public Liaison