Sep 2, 2009

Report card for Save Darfur: A+

The genocide in Darfur is a grave crisis that I am extremely passionate about. I’ve been pursuing my PhD at Arizona State University's School of Justice and Social Inquiry, focusing on armed conflict and genocide in Africa, to help me better understand how I can help make a difference in this horrific situation.

Save Darfur sets the standard for how Coalitions should be run. Visit their website and you won’t see “Save 100,000 people in Darfur by 2010!” and “Stop all genocide NOW!” While of course, I’m sure they have goals similar to these, they aren’t focusing on the outcomes. Using outcomes can negatively affect your coalition in a couple ways.

For one, as a single person who’s just looking to help out in whatever way they can, “Save 100,000 people in Darfur this year,” just on their own seems almost impossible. Whereas, promoting values, as Save Darfur does, make their actions seem more feasible. For instance, they promote peace. Someone who is looking to take small steps will feel like peace is more attainable – because for one, it’s not on a deadline, and for two, little steps can help bring peace, piece by piece.

Secondly, it’s a lot harder to get people to rally around a goal than it is to get them to rally around a value. Ask around and I’m sure you won’t find many people who are gung-ho on the specific outcome of saving 100,000 people from genocide within a year. However, ask those same people if they’re passionate about peace, protection and justice, and your group will grow exponentially.

Because they promote values over outcomes, Save Darfur is at the top of the class.

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