How does the Sudan/Darfur conflict impact the lives of citizens globally?I wondered how my life could possibly be affected by something so far away and so remotely different from my way of life.I was surprised how naive and blinded I was. This conflict has impacted my life without me being aware that it has.Like a virus ,it has slowly encroached into the daily habits of people everywhere.
How could that possibly be you ask?
For example, the resources that Sudan has to offer the world,namely oil. The world ,especially the United States (U.S.) , consumes a great portion of the world's oil resources. When international sanctions were imposed on Sudan as a way to pressure the government to stop the killings and corruption from happening, this impacted me in many ways. It will cost more for me to drive my car,heat my house,purchase goods made with petroleum products.I wondered what exactly was made from petroleum products,the oil produced from countries like Sudan.I was yet again amazed. Products such as : printer ink, clothing, shampoo, heart valves, crayons, hand lotion, cortisone cream, ball point pens, insect repellent, fishing rods, hair color, soap, floor rugs, toothbrushes, food preservatives, tires, car interior parts, deodorant and sun glasses are just a few things we use in our daily lives that come from the natural resources from countries such as Sudan.
Another example of how I am impacted but unaware is monetarily.What happens to that state pension/pension plan that people are counting on for retirement or university that rely on endowments? The U.N, Security Council approved sanctions on Sudan ,which included the freeze of international financial transactions. Private pension funds such as TIAA-CREF,the largest pension fund in the U.S. could no longer invest money into Sudan. This meant millions of dollars lost to pensions belonging to Americans. University endowments belonging to American University,Harvard and Yale were also impacted. State pensions for workers such as teachers,police,fire, government and municipal workers from places such as California,New Jersey,Iowa and Illinois all lost money from investments due to the sanctions imposed on Sudan due to the fighting and killings happening. Rolls-Royce, in the United Kingdom, stopped selling oil engineering equipment to the Sudanese government because of humanitarian issues in the country.This must have had a chain reaction impacting big executive positions to the factory worker who may have lost his job due to a slow down in production. Could anything else be affected?
Finally, what becomes of the international aid worker or traveler.With the grim fact that people are dying and conditions for disease are present, one must also face the realization that with death can come disease. Now that the world globally has become smaller, diseases have a way of traveling to other parts of the world easier.Humanitarian aid workers and travelers run the risk of coming into contact with diseases that people in other parts of the work have not been exposed to. Ebola,Malaria, Hepatitis E and Cholera have the potential of being carried by aid workers and travelers who have worked or visited Sudan. Some of these conditions do not manifest themselves for days or even weeks. The risk of exposure after a person returns from countries like Sudan is there for others to come in contact with or spread to others.The risks may be slight,but still there.
If improvement were made in the lives of people in Sudan and Darfur would we be talking about these issues? Maybe not. People have a right to live free and happy.The world's citizens have an obligation to help the people in Sudan and Darfur because the genocide does impact people globally everyday.Is it possible to boycott oil and oil based product? Maybe this would put enough pressure on big companies to stir a meaningful dialog with the people on Capitol Hill? You don't know until you try.
Sources:
http://www.ranken-energy.com/Products from Petroleum.htm
http://www.globalization101.org/news1/Darfur_globalization
http://www.genocideintervention.net/area_of_concern/sudan
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