What you should know about the Darfur crisis & what Canadian high school students like you

are doing to make a difference.

Darfur is a region in western Sudan, the largest country in Africa. Darfur is home to 6 million people

from a variety of backgrounds and cultures. There is a history of people

living together in reasonable peace despite their cultural, social and economic differences.

Darfur is a poor a region with little infrastructure and few natural resources. The land is generally

hot, dry and difficult to farm. However, cooperation and trade between communities, as well as hard

work, help people survive a variety of challenges.

In April of 2003, two armed rebel groups attacked a government military base, triggering a conflict now approaching its 6th year. As the violence

has drawn on, the number of groups fighting has multiplied and negotiations for peace have become more complex. A joint African Union and United Nations peacekeeping mission known as UNAMID has been

unable to enforce security or protect vulnerable populations as it was mandated to do. This is largely due to efforts by the Sudanese

Government to delay UNAMID’s deployment, and a lack of commitments from the international community and United Nations donor states.

Much of the violence has targeted civilians and their villages, in violation of international law. 3.5 million

people have fled their homes to escape attacks; another 300,000 have died. Villages are burnt to the ground so

that residents can’t return home.

Those who make it out of their villages must take refuge wherever

they can. Sometimes it takes days or weeks for them to reach a camp for displaced people, traveling with just the

clothes on their backs. Often, families are

missing members who were lost in the chaos of an attack, or who didn’t make it out of the village

alive. Everyone, including the children,

are traumatized by what they’ve seen.

Life in camps for displaced people is difficult. People must make do with shelters made of tarps and sticks. Essential supplies often don’t

arrive because delivery trucks have been hijacked or stopped en route. Young girls and women are often subject to violent attacks as

the leave the camps in search of firewood and water. Medical services are limited or altogether inaccessible. Many people, particularly children, get ill or die from preventable diseases.

Tens and even hundreds of thousands of people seek shelter in the same place, stretching camp resources, and creating

tensions with local populations.

The United Nations considers Darfur’s the ‘worst humanitarian crisis in the world today.’

This poster from the International Committee of the

Red Cross displays photos of children

separated from their families after

attacks. Some have no family left

to find them.

This drawing documents the attack on one child’s home

village. He was only 13 years old when he drew it.

Displacement, violence and instability in Darfur is particularly difficult for young people. They are incredibly

vulnerable to acute malnutrition and preventable diseases. 1.8 million kids have been directly affected by the crisis.

Young people are also the targets of violence, particularly young girls, as they go out in search of firewood and necessary supplies for their families.

The boys are subject to recruitment by armed groups. It’s a luxury in Darfur for kids to get to just be kids.

Relief agencies and organizations provide displaced Darfurians with a lot of food, water, sanitary equipment and medical care that they need to survive. But in the past year, increased violence has forced many of these groups to

scale down their operations, or leave all together. 3.5 million people currently depend on international support in their daily lives. 500,000 people

have been completely cut off from this lifeline due to insecurity.

Many organizations

– including several from

Canada - provide support to Darfuri

kids and their families, that they

would not otherwise be able

to obtain. Services for youth

in particular include

educational programming, psycho-social

assistance and the planning of

recreational activities.

Most of those displaced in Darfur would like to return to their home villages, and get on with rebuilding their lives. Unfortunately, it’s not safe for them to do right now. Furthermore, the longer they live in

relief camps, the less likely it becomes that they will be able to return.

The crisis in Darfur is destroying communities and lives.

But Canadian students are taking matters into their own hands to make a difference for young people in Darfur. The Darfur Challenge is a competition between groups

across the country to raise funds and awareness about the situation in Darfur. Participants also engage in national

campaigns to make sure Darfur is on the agendas of Canadian foreign policy decision-makers.

Funds raised in The Darfur Challenge will be shared

between Canadian organizations that are

responding to the crisis in Darfur.

The Darfur Challenge is a campaign of Save Darfur

Canada, a national advocacy coalition of more than 30

groups and organizations. Find out more about SDC

and its work at: www.SDCanada.org

Join us, won’t you?

www.DarfurChallenge.org

THE DARFUR CHALLENGECanadian students making a difference for young people in Darfur.

November 3rd, 2008 – May 2, 2009

Child of hope