The Pledge 2 Protect conference is just around the corner, and 1,000 people are traveling from near and far to participate.

Haven’t made your housing plans yet? Don’t worry! The Hyatt Regency Washington at Capitol Hill has extended our discount until Friday, October 30 at 11:59pm.

Sri Lanka’s government claimed victory over the LTTE in March, ending the civil war that had ravaged the country for twenty-five years.

In addition to losing their husbands, children, parents and neighbors, many women, especially in Eastern Congo, have lost their dignity through rape. The UN estimates that 200,000 women and gals have been victims of sexual violence since 1998. And in 2008 alone, 16,000 cases were reported. Unfortunately, the perpetrators are not only the rebels and hooligans, but also the very government forces supposed to protect the civilians.

Still haven’t paid your Pledge2Protect registration fee? You now have until 11:59 on Thursday, October 8th for the early bird discount — $99 for students, $125 for adults.  Space is filling up fast, so register now here!

Remember, your registration is not confirmed (and your spot is not guaranteed) until you register and pay your registration fee.

With the G-20 summit in our backyard last week, we, members of the University of Pittsburgh’s STAND chapter, knew that we had a unique opportunity to deliver our message to the world’s most powerful leaders. This message was that we, as members of developed economies, hold links to all genocides that make us complicit in their implementation and maintenance. These links also provide us with crucial opportunities to debilitate these genocidal regimes

For the Eastern Congolese, peace is clearly not anywhere around the corner. What they might have recently viewed as a liberation offensive on the FDLR by the UN and Congolese military has brought them more grief than they were beginning to settle for. The offensive, code named Operation Kimia II and launched in January 2009, is currently responsible for the displacement and fleeing of over 800,000 civilians, from areas in both the South and North Kivu.