United to End Genocide: Working to End Genocide and Mass Atrocities

In 2011, several organizations including the Save Darfur Coalition, the Genocide Intervention Network, Students Taking Action Now: Darfur (STAND), and the Sudan Divestment Task Force came together to create a single organization that would work to end genocide and mass atrocities not only in Sudan, but in other areas where mass atrocities and genocide are prevalent. The new organization was called United to End Genocide and is currently under the leadership of former Maine congressman Tom Andrews.

One of the coalition’s main programs is the End Genocide Network which aims to stop mass atrocities and genocide through building an activist movement that is large and powerful enough to be heard. This movement is tasked to ring alarm bells and showcase those who are known to enable or cause genocide and mass atrocities, and in the process, pressuring them to stop what they are doing. They also call for action from elected leaders who have the power to do something about the issues these places and the people living there face on a day to day basis. The End Genocide Network also works with faith-based, community-based, and human rights organizations all over the world in sounding the alarm and calling for action to solve genocide and mass atrocity issues in particular areas.

Another major program that United to End Genocide focuses on is their End Genocide Survivors. This program was created to generate more awareness of the problems genocide and mass atrocity survivors have faced and are still facing today. The network is comprised of survivors not only of Darfur, but of other well known incidents of mass atrocities and genocide like the Holocaust, as well as people from Rwanda, Congo, Bosnia, Burma, and Sudan. These survivors speak in front of people to make them aware of what’s happening on the other part of the world and provide inspiration for people who have the desire to help out.