In 2009, 250,000 people fled their homes to escape violence in southern Sudan. The area is facing the worst violence the country has seen since 2005.

This violence will continue to escalate unless the U.S. fulfills its promise to exert pressure on those obstructing Sudan's path to peace.

The Obama administration announced a new U.S. policy towards Sudan. The goals of the policy include:

* implementation of the peace agreement between Northern and Southern Sudan
* making sure that Sudan does not become a terrorist haven
* finding an end to the violence in Darfur

National elections in Sudan are approaching, and many Sudanese feel their votes won't matter -- they need to see that change is possible and that the U.S. is serious about its new policy.

The current status quo in Sudan is unacceptable. Tell Obama that the U.S. policy on Sudan is important, and that if change is not happening, then more pressure must be applied.

When Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the new U.S. policy in Sudan, she stated that the U.S. government would exert pressures on parties that are not improving the lives of the Sudanese people, and that the current status quo would be regarded as unacceptable.

I believe that the policy's main objectives: the implementation of the peace agreement between the North and South, ensuring that Sudan does not become a terrorist haven, and ending the fighting in Darfur, must be achieved to bring an end to the violence in Sudan.

I urge you to follow through with this policy, proving to the Sudanese that the U.S. is a country true to their word.