Who we are. Where we stand.

Americans Against the Darfur Genocide (AADG) is a nonprofit organization and grassroots coalition fighting to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan. Our team, advisors, and members come from different walks of life: We are ordinary citizens. We are communities of faith. We are foreign policy experts. We are dedicated community organizers.

Where we stand: AADG advocates for the immediate deployment of a robust multinational protection force to the Darfur region—with or without the government of Sudan’s consent. We support both the use of military force and the use of strong multilateral sanctions as means to stopping the genocide in Darfur—we contend that the current on-the-ground situation in Western Sudan justifies both these measures.

We realize that intervention is an unpopular word in some circles nowadays. However, if we are really going to help protect Western Sudan, and if we are really going to honor the victims of the Holocaust, of Rwanda, of other genocides, the international community cannot allow Sudan’s perpetrators to dictate the terms. If other public leaders should not have bowed down to Hitler, to Pol Pot, to Rwanda’s Hutu genocidaires, why should people in power give any leeway today to Omar al-Bashir and his totalitarian regime?

Human rights and advocacy groups concerned about Darfur each have unique plans of action, and, in some cases, we push for different policies. On its part, AADG will support any policy that effectively notches up the pressure on the government of Sudan.

At the end, the Darfur movement is a united movement. All of our organizing is effective in approaching the same ends. That is: We seek protection for the people of Darfur. We seek justice for the people of Darfur. And with the help of ordinary citizens around the world—from all different political, religious, economic, and social backgrounds—this movement for Darfur will bring a lasting peace to Sudan.

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The Opportunity to Build Political Will

The people of Darfur are desperately calling for peacekeepers to protect them. At the same time, the perpetrator government of Sudan is refusing to let in these peacekeepers.

The people of Darfur want the international community to use force to stop genocide, with or without the murderers’ consent. It’s time for our public officials and public stakeholders to respect and listen to the men, women, and children who live so close to death every single day.

If we want to stop genocide, we need to create political will. But more than this, we need to make sure that we keep doing advocacy, that all of us continue doing our good work until we reform the hearts, minds, and agendas of our elected representatives.

While the violence in Darfur is overwhelming, we do not have the luxury to feel constantly overwhelmed. More and more people of conscience across our country—and across the world—have come to realize that the Darfur “political will problem” is both manageable and solvable.

In 2006, tens of thousands of concerned Americans called the White House hotline, demanding that our country’s leaders take a stand against genocide. The effect was considerable: President Bush began publicly supporting UN and NATO intervention in Darfur, a marked change from his administration’s previous position.

On April 30, 2006, tens of thousands of Americans rallied for the people of Darfur on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on the Golden Gate Bridge, and in other places and cities around the United States. In response to this outcry, President Bush sent a team of diplomats to Africa, and a peace deal was soon struck between the Sudanese government and a rebel faction based in Western Sudan.

Of course, there’s no room for misplaced optimism. There is no robust protection force currently in Darfur. The peace agreement mentioned above is in tatters. Nevertheless, we know that the White House and Congress respond to citizen pressure. Our emails, phone calls, letters, and face-to-face meetings compel our leaders to implement new policies. The urgent task now is to increase our advocacy exponentially, such that the people of Darfur finally get what they want and need—protection from genocide. This exponential increase in advocacy is AADG’s project.

This website, OurPledge.org, is one example of what we do. Daily updates and action alerts; templates and call scripts so you can easily write and call your Members of Congress; campaigns that truly involve local communities and have an international impact—we hope you’ll find these resources useful, and as always, we welcome and thrive on your input. Also feel free to peek into our “war room”: for any given day, you can read AADG’s current and concrete to-do list right here.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe, but the truth remains:
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Let’s go.