Last month we gave you information regarding a unique opportunity to travel to Rwanda with our partner organization, Aegis Students, for a skill-development and knowledge-enhancing experience.

This opportunity encompasses the chance to begin to comprehend the tragedy of the Rwandan genocide and to be inspired towards advocating towards peace, especially within post-conflict regions.

If you are passionate about genocide prevention, we highly encourage you look into this opportunity, to gain a practical education on the development of post conflict regions and understanding the stages leading towards a genocide. The program includes learning about Rwandan genocide in 1994; visiting memorials, meeting the survivors, volunteering with their social programs and engaging in activities to confront the legacy of the genocide and understand what we can do to help prevent it occurring again. The program also includes trips to the different sites and memorials in rural Rwanda, as well as a safari and a brief holiday on the shores of Rwanda’s 5th largest lake, the Lake Kivu. Much time is spent with local NGO’s in and around Rwanda, and participants will have the chance to network and learn from those they wish to emulate.

 The program begins on 9th July until 1st August and the cost is $2,080 CAD, excluding flights. The program runs on an annual basis so please feel free to inquire about future trips. If you have any specific questions, please contact the Program Coordinator, Richard Newell at Richard.newell@aegisstudents.org  For more information about the trip please see the attached brochure. You can also follow Aegis Trust on facebook , twitter, and check out the Discover Rwanda Blog for more information.

As STAND members, this trip provides a practical hands-on way for you to become involved in the building of Rwanda’s future. It will equip, train and inspire you to help us end genocide.

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Monica Chakravarty is Principal Director of STAND Canada.

For over five years, STAND Canada has researched and promoted a number of policy recommendations, that sought to bring an end to the conflict taking place in Sudan.  One of our most recent policy recommendations asked that a fact-finding mission be established in order to collect information and document human rights abuses and mass atrocities that are being committed in Sudan’s border regions.

Last week, Amnesty International launched a human rights mission to Sudan. Amnesty International Canada’s Secretary-General, Alex Neve, is travelling to South Sudan to join an important human rights research mission to document such human rights abuses.  This mission will be investigating attacks on villages and the aerial bombings of the tens of thousands of civilians that have been occurring in Sudan’s border regions since the Summer of 2011 and inside South Sudan.

We applaud Amnesty International for taking initiative and implementing this fact-finding mission and we urge our supporters to follow Alex Neve and Amnesty International as they travel to Sudan to collect this critical information.  You can watch their video online HERE.  For more information about STAND’s policy recommendations please read our monthly STAND Digest.
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Laurie Drake is Deputy Principal Director of STAND Canada.

On Wednesday, we launched our new Conflict-Free Campus Initiative: a nation-wide campaign to build a consumer voice for a conflict-free Congo.  In less than one week, Apple will launch the iPad 3.  While we applaud Apple for its innovative leadership both with regards to technology and ethical standards, we want to encourage them to continue to elevate their standards and set a precedent for the industry.  STAND supports the Enough Project’s petition that calls on Apple to help stop a war in Africa by sourcing conflict-free minerals from eastern Congo.

By raising our collective voice as consumers, we can help bring about a shift in corporate policy and help bring peace to Congo. Please join us in letting Apple know they have the capacity to help stop the war in the Congo.

Ensure Apple plays their role in helping end the war in the Congo and ensure you play your role by spreading the word..

Use your voice as a consumer to demand change by filling out this petition HERE.

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Monica Chakravarty is Principal Director of STAND Canada.

In our New Year’s resolution we urged you join us in helping us to end genocide. As we aim to become an accessible source for education and action for all Canadians, we are delighted to announce an exciting new partnership that will give STAND members in Canada a once in a life-time chance to go face-to-face with the aftermath of genocide, to see both the depth of its tragedy and be inspired by the hope and the determination of those who remain to achieve peace, reconciliation and a stable future.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that we have secured for you the chance to attend a 3 week summer programme for students passionate about genocide prevention, taking place in Rwanda for 3 weeks this summer. Discover Rwanda, a programme developed by the UK based student genocide prevention organisation Aegis Students, begins in Kigali on the 9^th of July – ending on the 31^st. This programme, running since 2008, has taken many students from across the world to Rwanda. It is packed full of activities with a focus on learning about the genocide which tore Rwanda apart in 1994; visiting memorials, meeting the survivors, volunteering with their social programmes and engaging in activities to confront the legacy of the genocide and understand what we can do to help prevent it occurring again.

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