Thursday, May 31, 2007

Policy experts can help students finish their homework

Student activists are busy. Student activists who want to be effective don't have time to do their homework or pass classes. Just ask our parents, the friends we never see, or look for the computer attached to our hips.

The student movement, however, is finding an increasing amount of support from policy experts. In spring 2006, STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition merged with the Genocide Intervention Network, and now students, with the guidance of policy experts and resources in Washington, D.C., can focus on implementation, bringing a more unified policy ask to the grassroots student contituency.

Today, ENOUGH: the project to abolish genocide + mass atrocities, with GI-NET and STAND, hosted its first activist conference call featuring ENOUGH Policy Advisor Colin Thomas-Jensen, Advocacy Director Cory Smith, and GI-NET Membership Associate Colin Christensen. Moderated by Lisa Rogoff, the call provided information for student activists about the current situation on the ground in Darfur, an advocacy update, and guidance for activist campaigning.

These calls can support students, who must balance school with Darfur activism and policy research.

The ENOUGH website will soon post a summary and record of the call. Why are these calls such an important tool? This is information we, the public, are deprived of, with the exception of the occasional blurb from the press. It's the information students and activists are seeking in their quest to decide how best to turn action into effective, educated action.

Can/should streamlined information help to focus and unify the Darfur movement?

No comments: