On April 13 – 15 the first multi-party elections since 1986 took place in Sudan. The results will be announced on Apr. 22 in Khartoum — preliminary reports suggest that the president incumbent of the ruling National Congress Party, Omar al-Bashir, is leading nationwide. However, two international observation missions have issued reports that the elections did not meet international standards and Sudanese observer groups reported widespread electoral rigging and political oppression. Leading human rights groups are calling on the Obama Administration to acknowledge that the presidential election will not reflect the legitimate choice of the Sudanese people. The past 20 years in Sudan have been dominated by warfare that has starkly divided the country on racial, religious, and regional grounds; displaced an estimated four million people; and killed an estimated two million people. The lack of investment during this time, particularly in South Sudan, has meant a generation lacking basic health services, education, and jobs. This weekend I attended the screening of a powerful documentary, Rebuilding Hope, that follows three “Lost Boys” – Gabriel Bol, Koor, and Garang – from the US to Sudan to find surviving family members, discover what the current situation is in South Sudan, and determine how they can help their community rebuild after devastating civil war. I recommend this film to all!

We are on the verge of duplicating a feat only once before accomplished by humankind: the eradication of a disease by concerted and cooperative efforts. By doing this, men, women and children can live without fear of being incapacitated, and can enjoy the human ability to participate in their own self-determination – an integral part of any efforts to improve human rights. This time the disease to be eradicated is the Guinea Worm Disease which once had a reported 3.5 million cases in 20 countries in Africa and Asia in 1986. The Carter Center is spearheading efforts to eradicate Guinea Worm Disease and former President, Jimmy Carter, and his wife Rosalynn, have reported that only 2,753 cases of the disease remain in Sudan. This is down from 118,578 cases in 1996. Cases, overall, in all nations have been reduced by 99%. Smallpox, the only other disease eradicated by a concerted effort, was eliminated more than 20 years ago in a campaign orchestrated by the United Nations.

My thoughts and prayers are with the millions of people impacted by the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday January 13. Print and online media is awash with stories and images of “one of the worst ever natural disasters in the western hemisphere.” No matter how many articles I read or how much live footage I watch the utter devastation, pain, and suffering are difficult to comprehend.

Amidst the endless stream of information detailing the destruction and tireless relief efforts there is also a plethora of suggestions of how and where to send donations, including information about the largest text-based fundraising campaign in history. As with most life-threatening emergencies there has been an immediate outpouring of support (an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review discusses why sudden crises pull heartstrings and loosen purse strings more than persistent, chronic conditions).

The media coverage is focused, in large part, on the current conditions, with only occasional reference to the historical and structural injustices that magnified the earthquake’s devastating impact. A provocative audio slideshow, published online in the July 2009 issue of Guernica Magazine, captures the reality that the current devastation is best understood as the manmade outcome of a long and ugly historical sequence. A May 2009 Times of London article points to the degree to which Haiti’s status as the poorest country in the western hemisphere – mired in historic debt, stricken by flood and famine, and rife with violence and abuse – was simply accepted.

It is critical that the international community confronts these historical and structural injustices as it considers the help that Haiti needs. An online post in Foreign Policy magazine calls on the international community to cancel Haiti’s debt. The Association for Women’s Rights in Development highlights the specific experiences and needs of Haitian women during this humanitarian catastrophe. If we are serious about Haiti’s recovery, we need to be as committed to addressing the country’s systematic injustices and inequalities as we are to emergency relief.

Last night, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave a speech at Georgetown University, outlining a renewed U.S. commitment to universal human rights standards. Statements by human rights organizations such as Amnesty International are supportive of the content and intent of the speech, but emphasize the need for the Obama administration to follow through with tangible policy commitments that will transform rhetoric into reality. You can read articles on the speech by Reuters and the New York Times.

This past weekend, I had the great honor of meeting Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Irene Khan. As the keynote speaker at Amnesty International USA’s Southern Regional Conference in Decatur, GA, Khan spoke directly and passionately on the intersection of poverty and human rights. Unlike many in the elite circles of humanitarian-aid or international development agencies, Khan not only highlights that human rights violations are often the underlying causes of poverty, she also argues that the cycle of poverty cannot be solved by charity or ‘economic growth’ models- rather, efforts to end poverty must be grounded in human rights and the empowerment of communities, so that they themselves can demand access, security, and the means to self-determination. Her book, “The Unheard Truth” is available worldwide and a must-read for anyone interested in the solutions to global poverty and inequality.