The Abyei Community in USA is exerting efforts to promote the rights of the people of Abyei to participate in the referendum

guaranteed in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and recommended by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel and accepted by the African Union Peace and Security Council to take place this October. On August 15th, the new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, hosted a town hall meeting on Twitter. The Abyei Community and its friends contacted Ambassador Power repeatedly before the meeting and asked Ambassador Power to focus on Abyei. The community was very pleased that her first message at the meeting was, I share your urgency on Abyei. Pressing to get Mbekis 9/21 proposal, in reference to the September 21, 2012 AUHIP proposal on Abyei that states, The Referendum shall be held during the month of October 2013. On August 20th a letter was sent to the African Union Commission urging the AU to conduct the referendum in October in the event the government of Sudan reneges on the conduct of the referendum as agreed. The letter highlighted the benefits of the referendum for the people of Abyei and it underscored the importance of the referendum in building peace in and between Sudan and South Sudan. The African Union responded by indicating that the letter was well received. Voice of America and Sudan Tribune both ran pieces on the letter. On September 9, 2013, a letter was sent to President Obama noting that a key factor in the success of the South Sudan referendum was [his] personal engagement with international leaders at the 2010 UN General Assembly. The letter asked President Obama to encourage the AUPSC to endorse the AUHIP Proposal on the final status of Abyei and to outline a specific timeline for preparation and conduct of the referendum and to include the measures that will be taken by the international community if the timeline is not adhered to strictly. A second letter was written to Congress urging its members to contact the President and to reinforce the Abyei Communitys request to President Obama. The letters were hand-delivered to nearly 200 Members of Congress in Washington and in their home districts. The Abyei Community has organized and is organizing rallies in some states of USA, and it is preparing for a large rally in New York City on September 23 rd during the African Union Peace and Security meeting scheduled to be held on the margins of the UN General Assembly. The organizers of the rally are expecting a large turnout by the Abyei Community and by other communities of South Sudan, Sudan and the U.S. Their petition will be presented to the AUHIP, AUPSC, UNSC, UN Secretary General, permament members of the UNSC, EU Special Envoy to the two Sudans, US Special Envoy to the two Sudans and UN Special Envoy to AU and Vice President James Wani of South Sudan. The petition urges the AUPSC to: (1) endorse the

AUHIP September 2012 Proposal on the final status of Abyei, (2) immediately form Abyei Referendum Commission to conduct Abyei Referendum in October 2013, (3) outline a specific timeline for preparation and conduct of Abyei referendum, and (4) ask the government of Sudan to withdraw its forces from Kec/Diffra in Abyei Area.
News about the Abyei referendum and information about activities in support of the Abyei referendum can be found on the Abyei Referendum 2013 Facebook page and also by following the campaign on twitter @Abyei2013. Please show your support for the Abyei Referendum, for upholding the rights of the people and for full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Thank you! Abyei Community Organization in USA