Refugees, Rights, and Returns:
Sudan and Beyond
The Sudan has been plagued by vicious civil war and acts of displacement that have devastated and killed hundreds of thousands of children, women, and men. Since conflict erupted three years ago between African rebels and members of the dominant African Arab population and government, over 200,000 African Muslims have been killed and 2.5 million people have been displaced. The violence against girls and women has been especially chilling; rape has been used as a vicious tool of intimidation and domination. According to news reports, in August 2006 alone, at least 200 women were raped at one Darfur refugee camp.
This fall, the United Nations is working to revive peace accords in the region
and to provide security and humanitarian aid to all those subjected to
forced migration that has driven them into refugee camps. Dr. Gloria White-Hammond,
a pediatrician, ordained minister, humanitarian, medical missionary,
and
international activist, has traveled to the Sudan to combat first hand
the upheaval brought on by civil war, religious conflict, and racial tensions.
As chair of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur and as a member
of
an American anti-slavery delegation, she has since 2001 participated
in complex negotiations that have resulted in the emancipation of over 10,000
enslaved children and women.
In 2005, Dr. White-Hammond was in Darfur and
while there met hundreds of women and girls directly affected by the
genocide, military
violence, and political upheaval. She also is the co-founder
of My Sister’s Keeper, a humanitarian women’s organization that collaborates with Sudanese
women as they work to rebuild their communities, provide education
for Sudanese girls, and develop successful economic ventures.
Photo: Sudanese refugee Zeneba Ismail with her daughter and orphaned
niece in Chad refugee camp.
Event Details
Date: Thursday, November 16
Time: 7:30 PM
Speaker: Gloria White-Hammond
Place: Gamble Auditorium, Art Building, Mount Holyoke College
Admission:Free and open to the public.
Directions
To Gamble Auditorium
Mount Holyoke College campus map
