Presents

Ante Up for Africa Europe
No Limit Texas Hold-Em Tournament
in association with PokerStars.com.

This event raised over $340,000 for the
humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

The Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Monday, April 27, 2009

 

Ante Up For Africa is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 by Don Cheadle, Annie Duke and Norman Epstein. Proceeds from the event will go to charities that provide aid and assistance to the survivors of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan and support activism dedicated to resolving this crisis.

The situation in Darfur, although improved in some ways after the past two tournaments, continues to be perilous. Government forces in Sudan embarked upon a campaign of ethnic cleansing that has to date resulted in 400,000 dead and almost 4 million people displaced, living in squalor in refugee camps on the Chad/Sudan border. Deployment of peacekeeping troops has been authorized but helicopters and other supplies are needed to make this a reality.

Not On Our Watch (www.notonourwatchproject.org) is a non-profit organization with the mission to focus global attention and resources towards putting an end to mass atrocities around the world. Through comprehensive advocacy and strategic contributions to important humanitarian organizations like the International Rescue Committee, Not On Our Watch generates lifesaving assistance and protection for the vulnerable, marginalized and displaced.

ENOUGH (www.enoughproject.org), founded by the International Crisis Group and the Center for American Progress, is a campaign to galvanize public and political leaders to effectively confront mass violence against innocent civilians in Darfur, northern Uganda and eastern Congo, and to prevent future mass atrocities wherever they may be.

Last year companies were just beginning to divest themselves of holdings in those entities doing business with Sudan. Now, among others, Berkshire Hathaway and Fidelity have sold all of their holdings in companies that do business there. This is tens of millions of dollars of divestiture. Also 22 states in the U.S. have passed laws barring their pension funds from investing in companies doing business in Sudan. Other states, including Nevada, have initiatives pending to accomplish the same thing. Our hope is that through efforts like Ante Up For Africa, we can continue to keep the issue in the spotlight while providing real funds to support the efforts of peacekeepers and aid workers on the ground.

Help us to continue to raise the profile of the plight of millions of people whose lives hang in the balance.