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WHEREAS, the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition is working to raise awareness of the genocide in the Darfur region of Western Sudan and;
WHEREAS, The Darfur Coalition has invited four refugees from Darfur to come to Pittsburgh, to the Tree of Life Congregation on Sunday, February 17 to give first hand accounts of the genocide and to help launch the Destroyed Villages Project; and
WHEREAS, two and a half million Darfuris have been driven from their homes and destroyed villages and are living in camps and towns of refuge in conditions of extreme instability and insecurity; and
WHEREAS, US Government sources have confirmed that 2,066 villages in Darfur have been destroyed between February 2003 and October 2007 and an additional 685 villages severely damaged for a total of 2,751 destroyed or damaged villages; and
WHEREAS, as many as 250,000 or 400,000 people, mostly noncombatants, have died in Darfur during the past four years; and
WHEREAS on May 18, 2008, the Destroyed Villages Project will culminate in a march and rally in downtown Pittsburgh, where people will carry signs of individual destroyed villages and will call upon our nation and the international community to press ahead strongly with peacekeeping efforts.
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City Pittsburgh welcomes the refugee speakers from Darfur and commends the Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition for its past work and this new initiative; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh hereby declares February 17, 2008, "Destroyed Villages Project Day" in the City of Pittsburgh.