Darfur Australia Network

AFS are proud supporters on the The Darfur Australia Network (DAN.) DAN advocates for the protection of people from human rights violations in Darfur. The right to protection from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are enshrined in international law in accordance with Resolution 1674, adopted by the United Nations Security Council on April 28th 2006. Darfur is the first test case of the international community's commitment to this principle.

Yet, the conflict in Darfur has continued unabated for more than 4 years. According to the UN, approximately 400,000 civilians have died. Three million people have been displaced and around four million are dependent upon international humanitarian assistance. Some aid organisations, on which millions depend for survival, have been pulling out of Darfur, as they are unable to guarantee the safety of their workers.

Our aim is to add weight to escalating global pressure to ensure the international community, including Australia, discharges its responsibilities to protect the people of Darfur from further atrocities. The failure to avert the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 is a clear and present reminder of the critical importance of advocating the rights of the people of Darfur.

Objectives of DAN

Awareness Raising
1. To build public awareness and educate Australians about the complex crisis in Darfur
2. To bring together a broad cross-section of concerned people in Australia in a show of solidarity and support for the people affected by the crisis in Darfur
3. To promote the Darfur conflict and the humanitarian and refugee crisis onto the media agenda

Advocacy
4. To provide concerned people in Australia with a range of actions they can take to ensure the international community and its members take effective action to help resolve the Darfur crisis
5. To research and develop appropriate domestic and international public policy responses to the Darfur crisis
6. To ensure appropriate policy and action by the Australian government and the international organisations and institutions mandated with the protection of refugees and displaced persons from Darfur

A contribution from AFS allows DAN to engage in a wide range of campaigning and advocacy activities. Such activities include running benefit events, film screenings, public lectures, lobbying, media engagement and information dissemination via our website and mailing list and letter writing. We were also a member of the international Globe for Darfur collective www.globefordarfur.org.

Darfur Australia Network
www.darfuraustralia.org