You are in > manchester.com  > News > Leading children's authors urge action in Darfur

Quirky

Leading children's authors urge action in Darfur

12/04/2008

Leading children's authors from around the world have today published an open letter calling for immediate action to protect children in Darfur.

On the eve of Global Day for Darfur, the fourteen authors, including J.K.Rowling, have demanded action by the international community to protect the children.

The letter calls for an immediate ceasefire in the troubled region as well the full deployment of a UN peacekeeping force.

It describes in harrowing detail the current situation in Sudan, claiming: "Children barely old enough to walk, let alone run, have seen their homes burnt and razed to the ground, their mothers raped and their fathers killed. Most are now holed up in sprawling camps, traumatised and living in fear.

"It is time to change the narrative. It is time to tell a different story. This April many children in Darfur will be reaching their fifth birthdays without ever having known peace. The world needs to wake up. For too long it has let these children suffer. Our politicians need to act on Darfur."

The letter continues, demanding the children be given the opportunity to escape the "daily terror they face".

"The children of Darfur didn’t ask for this war, but are living their days caught in the crossfire of reverberating bullets. They must be allowed to be children again. Despite the daily terror they face, they still have hopes and dreams.

"The world needs to act now to give the children of Darfur a future," the letter declares.