Easter greetings to you all!  We hope that you have all been blessed by this holy season and renewed by its promise of new life. This Easter promise reaffirms our commitment at the National Advocacy Center to the work of justice and compassion, knowing that, however great the challenges, the forces of death—injustice, poverty, violence—will not ultimately prevail.  Still, the challenges remain and we need your help to shine the light of Easter on some of our country’s and the world’s most serious issues.

          RALLY FOR PEACE IN DARFUR         

Over the past two and a half years, the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan has deteriorated into one of the foremost humanitarian and human rights tragedies. Since February 2003, a government-backed militia known as Janjaweed has been engaging in a genocidal campaign to wipe out communities of African tribal farmers in Darfur, Sudan. According to reports by the World Food Program, the United Nations and the Coalition for International Justice, 3.5 million people are now hungry, 2.5 million have been displaced due to violence, and 400,000 people have died in Darfur thus far.  Although the U.S. government has declared the situation a genocide and Congress is negotiating a final version of the “Darfur Peace and Accountability Act,” stronger action is need by our government and by the international community to intervene.

To again call attention to the situation and urge action, a wide range of organizations has come together to sponsor “A Million Voices for Darfur”, a postcard campaign to President Bush, and April 30^th rallies in Washington, DC and San Francisco, CA to urge our government to support a stronger multi-national peace-keeping force to protect the Darfuri people.  We invite you to join us in these activities and help stop the violence in Sudan.

          ACTION NEEDED         

1. Attend the “Rally to Stop Genocide” in Washington, DC or the “Day of Conscience for Darfur” in San Francisco on April 30^th.  A number of other rallies are also taking place throughout the country.

2. Join in a “virtual march” in solidarity with those gathering in DC sponsored by MoveOn. To sign-up, visit the MoveOn website.  Prayer resources are also available for “virtual marchers” from the Save Darfur Coalition.

3. Participate in the “Million Voices for Darfur” campaign and send an e-mail or postcard to President Bush urging him to support a stronger multi-national force to protect the civilians of Darfur. 

          COVER THE UNINSURED WEEK – NEXT WEEK!         

Access to quality, affordable health care can literally mean the difference between life and death for many and Catholic social teaching strongly asserts that health care is a basic human right.  Yet, despite the amount that we all pay into America’s health care system, nearly 46 million Americans lack health coverage.  Every year in May the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation sponsors a week of events to draw attention to this problem and urge our national leaders to take action to reform our health care system to ensure that ALL Americans are covered.  This year’s “Cover the Uninsured Week” will be taking place from May 1-7 and includes health fairs, seminars, community forums, and prayer services throughout the country.  Details about these events as well as a additional resources are available our new health care page (also included is a reminder about how you can contribute to the national health care dialogue through the Citizen’s Health Care Working Group).