Fleeing for safety to Darfur

A New York Times article today featured the "neglected nation" of Central African Republic. The story is nothing new: no food, and fighting is driving people to flee across the border to Chad and even into Darfur.

John Holmes, the newly appointed United Nations under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, just returned from a trip to the region, including a visit to the CAR. He says the problems CAR faces are more urgent than the international community acknowledges, warning that the crisis "is bigger than we are aware of."

Yet Tony Lanza, UN humanitarian chief in the CAR, makes a distinction between that country and its large, complex neighbors. The difference between Chad/Sudan and the CAR? The international community is welcome in the CAR, Lanza says.

Meanwhile, CAR receives significantly less funding. Trendy activism and the use of the "g" word isn't going to provide regional stability. We should extend our attention span and commit to genocide prevention wherever we have the opportunity rather than anti-genocide rhetoric. If Lanza is correct in saying the international community has the power to make a difference in CAR, why aren't we directing our efforts where we can effectively implement - or try to implement - security?