Sudan Divestment Task Force

why it's important:

While humanitarian groups have courageously assisted the millions of displaced in Darfur, international action has been shamefully underwhelming. The magnitude of the crimes in Darfur, combined with the failure of the international community to stem these horrors, has given institutions around the world impetus to act. Harkening back to the days of Apartheid South Africa, individuals, governments and investors have explored the option of divesting from companies that either do business in Sudan or with the government of Sudan.

the plan of action:

Since the Sudan divestment campaign was initiated in 2005:
As the coordinating entity for the Sudan divestment movement, the http://www.sudandivestment.org Sudan Divestment Task Force, a project of the Genocide Intervention Network, is actively involved in hundreds of successful and developing targeted Sudan divestment campaigns around the world at the university, asset manager, city, state, and national levels. The Sudan Divestment Task Force has developed a unique approach to shareholder activism and divestment, focusing the campaigns efforts on the most problematic companies in Sudan. This approach, termed "targeted divestment", helps to maximize impact on the Sudanese government, while minimizing potential harm to both innocent Sudanese civilians and investment returns.

Twenty-two states have adopted divestment policies from Sudan and have initiated Sudan divestment campaigns. The United States Government has approved the Sudan Accountability and Divestment Act which authorizes and encourages state and local divestment, prohibits federal contracts with problematic companies that operate in Sudan’s oil, power, mineral and military sectors and provides legal protections to asset managers that choose to divest from Sudan.

• 58 universities have adopted divestment policies from Sudan. 47 universities have initiated campaigns to pursue Sudan divestment policies.
• 11 cities have adopted divestment policies from Sudan.
• 15 countries have initiated targeted Sudan divestment campaigns. International divestment campaigns currently include Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Japan, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, South Africa, the US, and the UK.
• 9 major companies have ceased operations in Sudan or significantly changed their behavior in the country since the proliferation of the Sudan divestment movement.
• Thousands of individuals, including a number US presidential candidates, have used the Sudan Divestment Task Force's mutual fund screening tool to ensure that their own investments aren't supporting the genocide.

how you can get involved:

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