John Prendergast
John Prendergast
John Prendergastis an American human rights activist, author, and former Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council. He is the Founding Director of the Enough Project, a nonprofit human rights organization affiliated with the Center for American Progress. Prendergast is a board member and serves as Strategic Advisor to Not On Our Watch Project. He is a member of the faculty and Advisory Board of the International Peace and Security Institute...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth21 March 1963
CountryUnited States of America
And then here come the Janjaweed on camel or on horseback, ... They come rolling into the town, shooting and torching the village, often bringing women to the side and raping women indiscriminately. And in order to ensure that the destruction is complete, the government either sends ground forces to oversee the operation, or the attack helicopters, which often are the most deadly things.
The principal strategy of all these actors, both state actors and proxy militias, is to displace people in order to undermine the support base of your opponent.
When there are no gas chambers, no barbed wire, and no concentration camps, many don't recognize the perpetration of new genocides and other targeted mass atrocity crimes because they may not look the same.
There isn't one celebrity I've worked with who doesn't have major doubts about what impact they are having. I am glad when they question the impact, because it shows they are based firmly in the reality that peacemaking isn't the same as changing a streetlight or distributing mosquito nets.
Americans' perceptions of Africa remain rooted in troubling stereotypes of helplessness and perpetual crisis.
Through my years of working on war and peace in Africa, I have learned that there are solutions to some of the greatest human rights challenges, and we all can be a part of those solutions.
If you repress rather than unlock the potential of large groups of Americans, what's that going to do to our economy? It's going to contract, not expand.
Garang's death impacts the peace process in northern Uganda because he was a strong advocate for a comprehensive solution for the north,
Those little tidbits and morsels are very important to the Sudanese.
There is a long and successful tradition of popular movements in the U.S. and elsewhere having an impact on crises in forgotten places.
Sudan policy has run off the road into a ditch.
Most Americans may not realize that the news they consume is driven in part by the media mantra, 'if it bleeds, it leads.'
'Unlikely Brothers' talks about the importance of citizen action and shows why and how we can make a difference.
I see courage everywhere I go in Africa. Fearless human rights activists in Darfur. Women peace advocates in eastern Congo. Former child soldiers in Northern Uganda who now are helping other former child soldiers return to civilian life.