Nobel Hope and Reality in Africa

It is enormously encouraging that the Nobel Committee chose its Peace Prize winner on the basis of the hope he instills and inspires around the world. With the added luster of such an award, peace activists hope that President Obama will wade more deeply into resolving the deadliest conflicts in the world in the last half century: Sudan and Congo.

The Nobel Peace Prize will provide new momentum and a new point of positive leverage on behalf of America's peacemaking efforts around the world. As the president himself remarked this morning:

[T]hroughout history, the Nobel Peace Prize has not just been used to honor specific achievement; it's also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action -- a call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.

Nowhere else is such engagement more pressing from a humanitarian and human rights standpoint than in Congo and Sudan, two of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman or a girl due to the prevalence of sexual violence.

The United States has appointed special envoys for both conflicts, but could do much more to move from conflict management to conflict resolution. With the president's help, more united international action could prevent a return to deadly war in southern Sudan, where over two million lives were lost before a 2005 peace deal, and could catalyze a peace deal in Darfur, which everyone supports but no one is pushing forward strategically. In Congo, the new Nobel Laureate could help catalyze efforts to end the trade in conflict minerals, helping to lay the foundation for peace in much the same way ending the blood diamonds trade helped end the wars in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Angola.

Throughout Africa and the rest of the world, the selection of Barack Obama is generating further hope for real action in support of peace. It is hard to conceive of a more propitious time to act on that hope than now, and difficult to imagine two places that need it more than Congo and Sudan.

John Prendergast is Co-Founder of Enough, the anti-genocide project at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.

 

 

Follow John Prendergast on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EnoughProject

Comments

[GarryLad]

I can recall a time in Geneva as we all tried to arrive at a recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples. I recall that Canada and the United States were the biggest opponents and I recall discussions I had with the American delegation who were as frustrated as we indigenous representatives were.

The Americans actually apologized and asked that we not abandon hope. Bush would not be reelected. Tmes will change. But Bush was reelected and even so, a statement on the rights of indigenous people emerged from the UN. Bolton had gone. Times had changed. We thank Katerina for that. The Holy Wind. Such a horrid thought, but true

I shall never forget the helplessness I felt against the monolith of ideology coming from America. I lost hope and felt the vulnerability that all must feel when confronting your executioner. For many of us, death was a consequence of this inability to agree. Women would continue to fear the knife of circumcision, slaves would continue to feel the rattle of chains, Then change came and now with the change we have an American president that might honour America's commitment. Oh happy day. Thank you Nobel Committee.

[lainey]

Thank you Mr. Prendergast for your consistent and ever-evolving belief in the people of Darfur and Congo. You fight the fight everyday--armed with heavy policy information and development, the understanding of the indigineous people of the land and with the knowledge that these wonderful people have the desire and hope to bring their lives to a point where laughter can be apart of their day. You, in your thoughtful, selflessness and wisdom, stay dedicated to peace in Sudan and Congo even when others grow weary and falter. So, heres to you and all the people whose lives you wish to restore. Heres to them...the survivors, the women and children, and the builders of their world. I believe that each of you are the people President Obama was sharing this prize with today. Thanks for lighting our way...

[Sarazzara]

So eloquently said, lainey. I have been aware of John's efforts for years on behalf of people under dire circumstances, most especially Sudan and Congo, and am a great admirer and supporter. I, too, hope the Nobel Prize will bring meaningful attention and renewed action from our president and government. The hopes of so many millions are invested in our new president; I can only hope there are measures in the works to assist the peoples of Africa who so desperately need our resources and efforts . Cheers to you, John; you are a remarkable example of what one person can accomplish. You remind me to renew my own efforts to help the cause.

[Chakamb]

"It is enormously encouraging that the Nobel Committee chose its Peace Prize winner on the basis of the hope he instills and inspires around the world. With the added luster of such an award, peace activists hope that President Obama will wade more deeply into resolving the deadliest conflicts in the world in the last half century: Sudan and Congo."
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-prendergast/nobel-hope-and-reality-in_b_315450.html

I agree....
Yeep yeep yeep Fire!