Advocate
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"If every member of the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been different.”
– US Senator Paul Simon, 1994
What is advocacy?
We can compel elected officials to take meaningful action to prevent and stop genocide by engaging in advocacy – that is, by talking to our elected officials. Advocacy can take place through letter-writing campaigns, call-in days, or direct lobbying.
What’s more, we can attend campaign events and ask tough questions about Darfur, write op-eds and letters to the editor to call attention to the need for substantive action, and mobilize other members of the community to demand action from the US government.
What elected officials can do
Who decides whether or not the US funds UN peacekeepers in Darfur? Who can authorize sanctions and financial penalties on countries who are committing genocide or mass atrocities? The answer? The US government, and specifically, our elected officials.
Elected officials like members of Congress and the President wield the power to end and prevent genocide, but they won’t act unless they feel pressure from the people who elected them to office.
STAND focuses its energy on making sure elected officials know that there is an anti-genocide constituency in every congressional district, a constituency that will hold its elected officials accountable for ending and preventing genocide. We keep the pressure on through advocacy.
