The Six Elements of Effective Peacekeeping

ENOUGH's policy team recently came out with six prerequisites of an effective peacekeeping force for Darfur.

1. A strong mandate to protect civilians.
2. Management of the mission by the United Nations.
3. A sufficient level of troops and police drawn from around the world.
4. Mobile resources and equipment needed for quick response across Darfur's challenging terrain.
5. A strong emphasis on civilian and humanitarian needs.
6. Sufficient funding from the international community.

Perhaps the most important thing here is that there is nothing particularly innovative or suprising here- and yet proposals for peackeeping forces in Darfur and elsewhere lack many or most of these elements. Peacekeeping forces are one of the most important- and under-resourced- instruments of the international community. If given the troops, capacity, and funds to be effective, these forces can play a big role in establishing basic security and assisting in humanitarian and capacity-building efforts.

So: read ENOUGH's full report here and sign a petition here

An Axis of Peace for Darfur

The ENOUGH project, founded by some distinguished veterans of the Darfur advoacy community, has come out with a new report entitled An Axis of Peace for Darfur. This thoughtful policy document outlines the different reasons that China, France, and the United States- the countries with the most leverage in Darfur- have an interest in ending the violence there. Check it out for a fresh perspective on the diplomatic campaign for Darfur, as well as some action items.

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?