Please sign the petition and add your name to this letter:

August 18, 2014

Dear President Salva Kiir, Dr. Riek Machar and all South Sudanese military and political leaders,

We write to you as friends of South Sudan and members of the Diaspora.  At your request and at the request of the South Sudanese people, we have invested our lives and resources to support your great and costly struggle for freedom, justice, equality and peace. 

With you, we envisioned a new South Sudan where a government that reflected and represented the people of South Sudan would govern in a manner that would provide protection, security and stability throughout the country.  With you, we believed the resources of the country, including donations from the international community, would be used to build roads and the necessary infrastructure that would enable the development of South Sudan in ways that would protect the near-pristine environment of South Sudan while attracting investors, opening up markets and creating employment opportunities that spurred economic growth.  With you, we saw a bright future where every South Sudanese had access to education, healthcare, clean water, proper sanitation, food and basic necessities that would allow them to work beside you to build a strong and prosperous nation.

We were shocked and profoundly saddened by the violence that engulfed South Sudan in December and we are deeply disappointed that it continues today, eight months later, with no resolution in sight.  As you are aware, instead of facing the bright future we envisioned together, the people of South Sudan are suffering and dying from violence, disease and malnutrition.  South Sudan remains dependent on the international community for assistance and security while it contributes to regional insecurity that threatens the continent. 

While the situation is dire and could evolve into decades of conflict that was experienced and is ongoing in Sudan, we believe another way is possible because we have witnessed Southern Sudanese accomplish, through sheer determination, what some believed was impossible.  In 2011, Southern Sudanese participated in a near perfect demonstration of the democratic process because of their commitment to a vision of a better future.  This Southern Sudanese pride and determination that showed the world then what you can accomplish together is needed today more than ever.  

The last eight months cannot be erased and they must be dealt with in order to establish a strong and united country that can weather the storms ahead, but these last eight months do not need to define South Sudan or its future.  You can do that by committing now to participating whole-heartedly in the peace process, enforcing the cease fire agreements, ensuring unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid, and by doing whatever is necessary to put South Sudan back on track as quickly as possible.  We, as friends of South Sudan and members of the Diaspora, remain committed and stand ready to support any effort that benefits the people of South Sudan.

 Please choose peace.

 Sincerely,

Andrew Natsios, Former USAID Administrator, Former U.S. Envoy to Sudan

The Baroness Caroline Cox, House of Lords, Westminister, UK; CEO, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), United Kingdom

Lord Alton, House of Lords, London, UK

The Rt Hon the Lord Luce KG GCVO, House of Lords, London, UK

Baroness Tonge, House of Lords, London, UK

Baroness Kinnock, House of Lords, London, UK

Paul Flynn MP, House of Commons, London, UK

Mark Lazarowicz, MP for Edinburgh North & Leith, House of Commons, London, UK

Nic Dakin MP, House of Commons, London, UK

Roger Gale MP, House of Commons, London, UK

Allan Reed, Long-time friend of South Sudan, Silver Spring, MD

Gwendolyn Reed, Former Matron of Juba Hospital, Church World Service, Silver Spring, MD

Fija Reed, Former Solidarity with South Sudan Volunteer, San Francisco, CA

Amute Francis Lobalu, Human Rights Officer, South Sudan Human Rights Commission, Juba, EES  South Sudan

Eric Reeves, Northampton, MA  USA

James Majur Ater, Chairman, SPLA/Veterans in Diaspora Organization, Kansas City, MO  USA

Pam Omidyar, Founder & Chair, and Randy Newcomb, President & CEO, Humanity United, San Francisco, CA  USA

Natasha Kieval, National Student Director, STAND: The Student-Led Movement to End Mass Atrocities, Washington, DC  USA

Hon. Thomas H. Andrews, President and CEO, United to End Genocide, Washington, DC  USA

Ruth Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service, New York, NY  USA

Richard Parkins, Executive Director, American Friends of the Episcopal Church of SS/Sudan (AFRECS), Alexandria, VA  USA

Professor Greg Miller, Chair, South Sudanese Covenant Committee, Christ Episcopal Church Poughkeepsie, Poughkeepsie, NY  USA

The Reverend Heidi McGinness, Director of Outreach, Christian Solidarity International-USA, Denver, CO  USA

Anita Sanborn, President, Colorado Episcopal Foundation, Denver, CO  USA

Bishop Duncan M. Gray, III, Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, Jackson, MS  USA

Mark Koenig, Director, Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, New York, NY  USA

The Reverend Ronald D. Culmer, Rector, St. Clare's Episcopal Church, Pleasanton, CA  USA

Paul Perkin, Vicar, St. Mark's Battersea Rise, London, UK

The Venerable William Clay Parnell, Archdeacon for Mission, The Episcopal Diocese of New York, New York, NY  USA

Rev. Dr. Alan Arnold, Moderator, Trinity Sudan Ministry, Lexington, SC  USA

Rev. John Calhoun, Concord, CA  USA

Dr. Rev. Debby Bellingham, Author, The Mentored Life, Ossining, NY  USA

Faith McDonnell, Director of Religious Liberty Program and Church Alliance for a New Sudan, The Institute on Religion and Democracy, Washington, DC  USA

Ahmed H. Adam, Visiting Scholar, Co-Chair of the Two Sudans Project, Program on Peace-building and Rights, Institute for the Study of Human Rights Columbia University, New York, NY  USA

Dr. Gregory Stanton, President, Genocide Watch, Research Professor, George Mason University, Arlington, VA  USA

Dr. Joseph Agolory, Research Scientist, Greensboro, NC  USA

Mustafa Sharif, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX  USA

Dr. Samuel Totten, Professor Emeritus, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Fayetteville, AK  USA

Dr. Caroline Fari, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX  USA

Nasredeen Abdulbari, Independent Consultant, Baltimore, MD  USA

Nagla Ahmed, 2010 Human Rights Advocate, Columbia University

Micklina Kenyi, Executive Director, Community of South Sudanese and America Women/Men (CSSAW), Boulder, CO  USA

Lona James, Chairperson, Citizens for Peace and Justice (CPJ, South Sudan

Edmund Yakani, Executive Director, Community Empowerment for Progress Organization - CEPO, Juba, Central Equatoria  South Sudan

Dr. Isaac Gang, Executive Secretary, Jonglei Peace Initiative (North America), Belton, TX  USA

Dr. Thon Paul Agok, Managing Director, Live Well South Sudan Organization, Juba, South Sudan

Kuoth Wiel, Actress, Representative, South Sudan Women United, Los Angeles, CA  USA

Natalina Malwal, Board Member, The South Sudanese Community, Washington, DC  USA

Lona James Elia, Executive Director, Voice for Change (VFC), South Sudan

Jimmy Mulla, President & Co-Founder, Voices for Sudan, Washington, DC  USA

Omer Abdelsawi Omer, Blue Nile Association for Peace and Development, Lakeland, FL  USA

Mohamed Haroun Ebead, President, Darfur Peoples' Association  of New York, Brooklyn, NY  USA

Hamid Eltigani Ali, PhD, Chair, Board of Directors, Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre, Cairo, Egypt

Adam Aleheimir, Director, Nuba Peace Initiative, Richfield, MN  USA

Nuraddin Abdulmannan, President, Nubia Project, Washington, DC  USA

Sabir Abu Saadia, Executive Director, Sudan Solidarity Network, Pretoria,   South Africa

Elisabeth Achan, Executive Director, Windows for Sudan 

Jacob Berry, Darfur Mission, Kampala, Uganda

Hannah Todd, University of Cambridge, Intern, Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), United Kingdom

Olivia Warham, Director, Waging Peace, London, England  UK

Dr. Jacky Mamou, President, Collectif Urgence Darfour, Paris, France

Al Sutton, M.D., African Freedom Coalition, New York, NY  USA

Debra Dawson, President, African Soul, American Heart, Fargo, ND  USA

Joan Hecht, President, Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan, Jacksonville, FL  USA

Laura Limuli, Coordinator, Brooklyn Coalition for Darfur & Marginalized Sudan, Brooklyn, NY  USA

Roz Duman, Founder & Director, Colorado Coalition for Genocide Awareness and Action, Denver, CO  USA

Richard Sribnick, MD, Chairman, Darfur Action Group of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina

Martha Boshnick, Co-Chairman, Darfur Interfaith Network, Washington, DC  USA

Gerri Miller, Founder, Dear Sudan Love Marin, Tiburon, CA  USA

Craig Louis Perrinjaquet, MD, MPH, Medical Director, Doctors to the World, Breckenridge, CO  USA

John Girgis, President, and Tim Girgis, Community Involvement Coordinator, GeoPetra Energy LLC, Dallas, TX  USA

Melanie Nelkin, Chair, Georgia Coalition to Prevent Genocide, Atlanta, GA  USA

Kimberly Hollingsworth, Founder, Humanity Is Us, New York, NY  USA

Marcia Prasch, Co-Founder, Idaho Darfur Coalition, Boise, ID  USA

Eileen Weiss, Co-Founder, Jews Against Genocide, New York, NY  USA

Lauren Fortgang, Co-Chair, Never Again Coalition, Portland, OR  USA

Neiki Ullah, Communications Director, New York Coalition for Sudan, New York, NY  USA

David Bowman, Founder and Chairman, Partners in Compassionate Care, Grand Rapids, MI  USA

David Rosenberg, Coordinator, Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition, Pittsburgh, PA  USA

Sharon Silber, US Representative, Society for Threatened Peoples, New York, NY  USA

Dr. Eleanor Wright, Moderator, Sudan Advocacy Action Forum, Birmingham, AL  USA

Tom Prichard, Executive Director, Sudan Sunrise, Reston, VA  USA

Esther Sprague, Founder & Director, Sudan Unlimited, San Francisco, CA  USA

Lakshmi Linda Sirois, Chair of Darfur Social Action Committee, Temple Ahavat Achim, Gloucester, MA  USA

Sandra Hammel, Director, Use Your Voice to Stop Genocide RI, Portsmouth, RI  USA

Steven R. Roese, President, Water is Basic, Dallas, TX  USA

Nada Mustafa Ali, Friend of South Sudan, Boston, MA  USA

Kurt Kilgore, San Francisco, CA  USA

Karen Richards, Carlsbad, CA  USA