This annual award, to be given by World without Genocide (formerly Genocide Intervention Network-Minnesota), recognizes community outreach projects by college and high school classes to raise awareness about any aspect of genocide: protection, prevention, prosecution, and remembrance.

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This annual award, to be given by World without Genocide (formerly Genocide Intervention Network-Minnesota), recognizes community outreach projects by college and high school classes to raise awareness about any aspect of genocide: protection, prevention, prosecution, and remembrance.

These projects can include educational outreach to other schools, faith-based organizations, civic groups, businesses, and human rights organizations in the form of art exhibits; theater or dance performances; rallies; film events; legislative outreach; fund-raising; media awareness and support; and similar activities.

Evaluation criteria:
1) number of community people reached
2) impact of project as measured by students' reflections
3) project characteristics: actionable, sustainable, and replicable, emotionally-engaging, innovative
4) level of professionalism and excellence

Who can apply:
Applications can be submitted by students or educators at public or private high schools, colleges and universities, and faith-based organizations.

Award ceremony:
A ceremony will be held at the Minnesota State Capitol in May 2010. Awards will be presented by Senator Sandy Pappas, board member of World without Genocide, to the winning students and educators.

Submission information:
Deadline: April 30, 2010
Instructions:
Students or educators are asked to submit an application as follows:
1) Class information
Name of instructor and contact information (mailing address; email address; phone)
School name and location
Course title or student group and date
Name of person submitting application and contact information (mailing address; email address; phone)

2) Project description - a narrative limited to two pages that addresses the four evaluation criteria:
• number of community people reached
• impact of project as measured by students' and/or community members' reflections
• project characteristics:
actionable, sustainable, and replicable
emotionally-engaging
innovative
• level of professionalism and excellence

3) Evaluation of project impact

4) Any relevant supporting information (photographs, newspaper articles, website promotion, etc.)

Applications should be submitted electronically to
hlschommer@gmail.com
Subject: Student Action Award submission

For additional information, contact Heather at 952-994-2729 or visit
www.worldwithoutgenocide.org

PUBH 6801
Health and Human Rights
Wednesdays
5:40 - 7:30 pm
Mayo D199
Taught by Kirk Allison (alli0001@umn.edu)

GLOS 3900, SOC 3090
Genocide and Global Conflict: From Armenia to Darfur
Mondays, Wednesdays
2:30 - 3:45 pm
Blegen Hall 135
Taught by Dr. Ellen Kennedy (ekennedy@umn.edu)
More information

POL4410/5410
Justice in Times of Global Transition.
Tuesdays, Thursday
2:30 - 3:45 pm
Anderson Hall 230
Taught by Leigh Payne (lpayne@umn.edu)
More information.

GLOS 3401
International Human Rights Law
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays
11:15 am - 12:05 pm
Belgen Hall 150
Taught by Barbara Frey (freyx001@umn.edu)
More information.

LAW 6886
International Human Rights Law
Fridays
9:05 am - 12:10 pm
Mondale Hall 50
Taught by Barbara Frey (freyx001@umn.edu)
More information.

HSEM 3051H
Honors Seminar, Political Psych of Conformity, Enmity & Heroism
Tuesdays, Thursdays
9:45 - 11:00 am
Blegen Hall 105
Taught by John Sullivan (jsull@umn.edu)
More information.

Hist 8245
Human Rights and Crimes Against Humanity: A Global History
Tuesdays
3:35 - 5:30 pm
Heller Hall12010A
Taught by Eric Weitz (weitz004@umn.edu)

FREN 8270
Critical Issues: Prose
The Holocaust in France: Testimony/Fiction/Theory
Thursdays
2:30 - 5:00 pm
Folwell Hall 131
Taught by Bruno Chaouat (chaou001@umn.edu)

Yakin Ertürk, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, described the gruesome atrocities she witnessed when visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) last year. "I have seen little girls, women whose hands were chopped off, who were abducted, sexually enslaved, forced to eat the flesh of dead relatives, etcetera, etcetera. Things are quite dire."

Eastern Congo in particular has received greater attention because of the presence there of foreign groups which she said were the "main perpetrators of violence against women as well as the civilian population in general."

But she cautioned that the problems are not limited to eastern Congo; in Equator Province "the army and national police are among the main perpetrators." Ms. Ertürk cited a mass rape by soldiers in April, which led to seven soldiers being sentenced to life imprisonment before they later "escaped or walked out of the military prison."

She decried the fact that in the peace process, efforts to demobilize the militia do not include a justice component. "These militants are demobilized and reintegrated either into civilian life or into the army and they continue the kinds of violent acts they were responsible for during the armed conflict, as civilians or as soldiers in the national army."

The focus on disarmament and reintegration of ex-combatants in the peace process "does not take into consideration the sufferings of women or the needs of women,"she said. "Those are missing links in the peace process."

The expert, who serves in an unpaid, independent capacity, urged international help for women who have been victimized. "Many of these women who have survived are today human rights defenders who are working diligently on the ground to respond to the gap created by the State in terms of providing medical as well as other care services to women who are continually being raped,"she said.

"There is an urgent need to mobilize support for these women who are working both under security threats as well as severe resourceâ" problems, she added. "We must support these grass-roots initiatives because that"how the country is going to be rebuilt."

Countless victims are in inaccessible areas with little or no form of redress. "The justice system, the penitentiary system, is in deplorable conditions," she said. Often victims must pay for access to the courts in what she called a "major obstacle to justice."

She called for "urgent measures to address security and justice simultaneously and stressed that women need more than compensation and they need empowerment."

Ms. Ertü'™s report will be submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in March.