"Sudan agreed Monday to let 3,000 UN peacekeepers deploy in Darfur with attack helicopters, opening the door to the first significant UN force to help beleaguered African Union soldiers."
This is something that could make a significant impact in bringing an end to the genocide that has lasted 4 years! We will have to see what actually happens as a result of this commitment from the government of Sudan to let the UN forces into its country
The encouraging thing is that the rumblings of discontent with the present situation and lack of action on the part of our government are spreading in the Canadian public. On Saturday I was confronted by a group of young people who were raising awareness about the genocide. There is another group that is walking from Calgary to Edmonton starting April 22 to raise awareness. And I think that the government might even be getting on board because as I am writing this, I received a response to an e-mail about Darfur I sent to my MP (albeit a generic 'we got your e-mail' e-mail, but its more than what I haven't gotten from all previous letters!)
Here is where the rubber meets the road, it might be 6 months or more before there are is help on Sudanese soil (or sand) and some are predicting that it may not even get to that point considering the Sudanese government's track record on keeping promises. But I definitely look at what is happening as progress, and that progress is a result of different factors that include writing letters to the editor and to your MP's, activist rallies, and threats of ceasing trade with Sudan from some of its big consumers (including China!).
I encourage you to put the pressure on whoever you can in whatever way you can to relieve the suffering of the people of Sudan. There are some links on how to do that at The Essential Gord Mills.
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