What is Divestment?
Divestment occurs when people sell off their investments in firms, industries, or countries to protest the social or political choices of those institutions. Divestment shows leaders that you’re morally or philosophically opposed to their policies and are willing to detach yourself from potential profit made from something you disagree with. For students, who do not necessarily invest directly themselves, the divestment movement is more about encouraging politicians and university heads to make political and social reforms in their investments.
Divestment in Sudan
In addition to mobilizing student communities to advocate for peace and human rights in Sudan, the Sudan advocacy community launched a successful advocacy campaign to leverage economic pressure on perpetrators of genocide in Darfur. The Sudan Divestment Task Force facilitated targeted divestment from 27 states, 20 cities, and 61 universities, including the University of California university system, Stanford University, and Duke University. In 2009, the Sudan Divestment Task Force was formally incorporated into the Conflict Risk Network, which provides investors with research and engagement services to countries where genocide and/or mass atrocities are occurring. As a membership-based organization, the Conflict Risk Network assists individual and institutional investors in adjusting investment practices in Sudan, as well as other areas of concern.
