George Clooney’s Satellite Sentinal Project to Monitor Sudan Vote

The Satellite Sentinel Project — initiated by George Clooney — combines satellite imagery analysis and field reports with Google’s Map Maker technology to deter the resumption of war between North and South Sudan. The project provides an early warning system to deter mass atrocities by focusing world attention and generating rapid responses on human rights and human security concerns.

On January 9, 2011, southern Sudan began a week-long vote on independence from the rest of the country and analystshave warned that this could plunge the country back into civil war.  Starting January 7, MTV and mtvU will promote the Satellite Sentinel Project across an array of on-air and online properties, encouraging young people to become peace monitors, inform their friends of the latest happenings in Sudan and be prepared to mobilize support should violence emerge.  Specific calls to action can be found at Sudan.mtvU.com.

The Satellite Sentinel Project marks the first sustained, public effort to systematically monitor and report on potential hotspots and threats to security along a border, in near real-time (within 24-36 hours), with the aim of heading off humanitarian disaster and human rights crimes before they occur. The Satellite Sentinel Project is available at www.satsentinel.org. The project’s funder, Not On Our Watch — co-founded by Don Cheadle, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, David Pressman, and Jerry Weintraub — focuses global attention and resources toward putting an end to mass atrocities around the world.

For more information or ways to take action, please head to Sudan.mtvU.com or www.satsentinel.org.