Sudan

On November 1, 2006, State Treasurer Richard Moore announced that the North Carolina Retirement Systems (NCRS) had divested from companies that provide monetary or military support to the Sudanese government. These companies have demonstrated little or no interest in changing their activities or helping to improve the welfare of the Sudanese people.

The new NCRS policy regarding Sudan begins with divestment from the nine companies that have been identified by CALPERS, the University of California system and other state systems as the most egregious offenders. NCRS will continue to do its own research and work with other states and pension funds to identify companies whose operations in the Sudan are supporting the Sudanese government’s actions. NCRS staff will engage these companies and encourage positive change, a strategy that has proven successful in many corporate governance policies.

In the Darfur region of the Sudan, the bloody war between various rebel factions, militia groups and the government has been raging for years. The United Nations estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed and 2 million have been displaced from their homes. The Sudanese government has been complicit in these ongoing attacks, which the U.S. government has deemed genocide. The United States has also labeled Sudan a state sponsor of international terrorism.