Advocacy
After traveling to Darfur in early 2006, board member George Clooney returned to Washington DC to address the Save Darfur rally on the National Mall. Following this, Clooney and Nobel Laureate Elie Weisel addressed the UN Security Council to press for greater action in Darfur. Clooney and board members Don Cheadle and David Pressman then traveled to Beijing with Olympians Tegla Lourope and Joey Cheek to meet with Chinese government officials, with the aim of connecting the Olympic games to the struggle in Darfur. Clooney, Cheadle and Pressman then went on to Cairo to meet with senior officials in the Egyptian government to call for increased action. Upon return, the board members met with the UN Secretary General to further press for action. At present, Not On Our Watch continues to raise funds and advocate for immediate action to end one of the worst human rights crises of our day.
What We Do
Not On Our Watch focuses on advocacy and humanitarian aid. Drawing upon figures with powerful international voices, we develop broad advocacy campaigns that bring global attention to each crisis and amplify the voices of victims. Our messaging targets mass media, international press and world leadership. In conjunction with this, we encourage governments and international organizations to take meaningful, immediate action to protect the vulnerable and displaced.
Not On Our Watch is a federally registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization that raises money through a combination of private events and public donations. These funds enable lifesaving assistance, international advocacy and humanitarian aid projects.
Cyclone Nargis has left an estimated 100,000 Burmese dead and one million without shelter. While the international community has offered limited aid, Not On Our Watch remains committed to donating funds toward lifesaving programs in Burma and advocating for an end to the military regime's gross violations of human rights.
In June of 2008, Not On Our Watch announced its sponsorship of a multinational statement denouncing ruling Burmese General Than Shwe’s “broken promises.” Endorsed by leaders including Former Philippine President Corazon Aquino, Former Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid, current President of East Timor and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate José Ramos-Horta, and Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia Anwar Ibrahim, as well as leading freedom fighters including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Former Czech President Václav Havel and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, the statement appeared in regional papers of note, including The Jakarta Post, The Nation in Thailand, and The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
To view this statement, please click here.
In the last year, Not On Our Watch has granted over $6 million dollars towards the crisis in Darfur, helping to establish critical programs in the region with the help of several strategic partners, including the International Rescue Committee (theIRC.org), Oxfam America (www.oxfamamerica.org), Save the Children (www.SavetheChildren.org) and the United Nations World Food Program (www.wfp.org).
To date, Not On Our Watch has focused its grants on three key issues within the Darfur crisis:
1. Saving Lives
Public health in Darfur has rapidly declined; death and disease have skyrocketed. In the midst of conflict, Not On Our Watch is helping to provide clean water and basic health care to treat diseases and prevent their spread.
Our Programs
With our partners at the IRC and Oxfam, Not On Our Watch has increased the consumption of safe water, use of latrines and proper hygiene practices at camps in North, South and West Darfur, as well as Eastern Chad.
These changes have helped over 550,000 internally displaced persons and more than 180,000 others affected by the conflict.
In Chad, Not On Our Watch has worked with our partners to supply clean water to over 51,000 refugees from the Darfur crisis and educated over 21,000 people on safe hygiene practices.
In conjunction with Oxfam, Not On Our Watch has helped address security problems in North Darfur by extending programs that provide supplies and training for safe cooking alternatives, reducing the need for women to rely upon dangerous fuel-gathering missions outside of their camps where they have frequently fallen victim to rape and violence.
With our partners at Save the Children, Not On Our Watch has helped train hospital staff to manage severe acute malnutrition in children in Eastern Chad.
In conjunction with the IRC, last year Not On Our Watch successfully immunized all children under 1 year old for six common childhood diseases.
2. Empowering Women
Systematic rape and sexual violence against women and girls is a weapon of choice in Darfur. Not On Our Watch is committed to supporting efforts to provide survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) with medical care, counseling, vocational skills, and legal assistance.
Our Programs:
With our partners at Save the Children, Not On Our Watch has built women’s centers in West Darfur to support survivors of Gender-Based Violence (GBV). These centers provide counseling and refer women in need of medical attention to emergency care hospitals in the area.
Not On Our Watch has supported the construction and upgrade of hospital clinics in remote areas that offer comprehensive obstetric care service and access to medical care for conditions relating to Gender Based Violence.
Not On Our Watch has further supported Save the Children’s work with survivors of Gender Based Violence, providing education on reproductive health concerns and funding life skills activity training and education.
3. Peacekeeping And Human Rights
With an increase in armed robberies and attacks on relief workers, aid organizations in Darfur are now almost exclusively reliant on helicopter transport to carry out critical deliveries of food and medicine. With the safety of these efforts in constant jeopardy, Not On Our Watch supports efforts to protect aid agencies from harassment and attack and ensure the delivery of lifesaving supplies.
Our Programs
The United Nations World Food Program-Humanitarian Air Service (UN WFP-HAS) has been operating in Sudan since 2004, and delivers emergency supplies to almost 3.1 million Darfuris. To date, Not On Our Watch has donated $1.5 million towards these Humanitarian Air service helicopters, with the hopes of ensuring the survival of this critical program and the delivery of its much-needed supplies.
Civilians in Darfur also continue to lack any meaningful protection. Not On Our Watch is committed to supporting organizations that train community leaders and local officials in international human rights norms and civilian protection principles.
Our Programs
Together with our partners at the IRC, Not On Our Watch has supported Justice and Confidence Centers in Darfur. These centers strengthen mediation and human rights training activities. In the last year, the centers received over 670 cases, all of which were mediated, are ongoing or were referred to other programs for resolution.
