Friday, May 1, 2015

Help me make a promise


Dear Tracy,

On Monday, I’ll be boarding a plane to start an Amnesty International human rights research mission and I need to know that you will support me.

I’m going where few go, to see people who are almost completely cut off from contact from the rest of the world, with nowhere to escape, facing hunger and living in fear.

This will be my 3rd fact-find mission to South Sudan and the first since 2013 when I saw with my own eyes the devastation of aerial bombings on the rural, civilian population.  

Watch video and make a contribution right now

Our small team of Amnesty International researchers will be documenting the real human impacts of the Sudanese government's illegal bombing campaign. I’ll be meeting with men, women and children in refugee camps and displaced persons sites who have faced hunger, lost family members, and who live with a fear that’s difficult for you and I to understand: the dread of bombs being indiscriminately pushed out the back of airplanes.

On my last mission to this region of southern Kordofan, I saw the foxholes where people hid to escape the bombs. I saw how the Sudanese government deliberately destroyed crops so that people will suffer. We know the dreadful but real statistics behind this conflict: thousands of lives lost. (I invite you to learn more about the terrible human cost by reading Amnesty's most recent report on South Sudan)

Let me tell you why we must go on this research mission, and why we need your support

South_Sudan_support.jpg
    Click to watch video

When Amnesty International commits its resources to the dangerous work of interviewing civilians affected by conflicts, decision-makers at the United Nations want to hear. Our reporting can
lead to media interest. It can lead to mobilization of humanitarian aid to bring relief to the victims of this forgotten conflict. It can lead to peacekeepers being deployed to provide protection. And maybe –- and most importantly of all -- it can bring hope.

Next week, I will have to look elders and widows in the eye and say “we’re listening”. I will want to make a firm promise that I’ll do everything in my power to make sure the world knows they’re still there, trapped on the border, and need help. 

Please help me keep that promise.

Your financial support will contribute to the necessary cost of flying a small team to South Sudan, of providing us with the minimum tools needed to remain in contact, of having the logistical support from drivers and local people who can bring us safely where we need to go. An Amnesty International mission doesn’t cost a lot, compared to the lives it can save. The entire mission and cost of distributing our findings is about $25,000.  Your support for this mission - large or small - could mobilize resources and attention that can free up food supplies, reduce the vulnerability and isolation of civilians and ultimately stop the bombing. 

Can you make a gift of $50 or $100 or more, and encourage others with the means to give to support Amnesty’s life-saving human rights mission?

Thank you for standing behind me and helping Amnesty International shed light on this forgotten conflict.


Sincerely,
 
alex_sig.gif
Alex Neve
Secretary General,
Amnesty International Canada

P.S. Where communication allows for it, I hope to send reports from the field into our staff who will post it to our website. Please donate generously now and follow our reporting from the field

No comments: