Invisible Children to Host Landmark Two-Day Lobbying Campaign in Washington, DC - 'How It Ends'

From Oprah in Chicago, to Larry King in LA, Invisible Children Takes their Rally to Washington D.C. with their Eyes Set on the Obama Administration

SAN DIEGO, June 11 /PRNewswire/ -- In just five years, Invisible Children, an organization dedicated to ending Africa's longest-running war, has made sure that millions of people worldwide have heard the story of Joseph Kony and his abducted child soldiers. They have organized global rallies that have brought more than 250,000 youth activists to take a stand on the issue. They journeyed to Chicago to share their story with Oprah Winfrey, who opened her doors and welcomed them onto her show the very same day. In Los Angeles, Larry King has invited them to his stage to further the cause, and on June 22nd and 23rd they will head to Washington D.C. in a historic attempt to urge the Obama Administration to pass legislation that will make Africa's war history.

On June 22nd and 23rd 2009, Invisible Children will host a landmark two-day lobbying campaign in Washington D.C. called How It Ends, aimed at raising awareness for the plight of children abducted and forced to fight as soldiers in the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) under Joseph Kony, which has been terrorizing Central East Africa for the past 23 years, and the urgent need to bring these atrocities to an end.

How it Ends is a joint venture by a broad coalition of organizations, including Invisible Children, Resolve Uganda and Enough Project, dedicated to promoting the international leadership needed to end LRA atrocities and advance justice for victims of violence in this troubled region. The goal of this effort is to urge the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to pass legislation recently introduced on the issue that would see U.S. leadership help bring an end to the horrific crimes by the LRA and advance long-term recovery in the region.

"It's frightening that this war has now grown into an international crisis," says Jason Russell, co-founder of Invisible Children. "We need to respond with an international body of activists to increase the visibility of this conflict and end Joseph Kony's reign of terror."

The event will bring together experts, celebrities, musicians and activists from across the country to learn about the crisis and meet with elected leaders to promote policy measures to end it, making it one of the largest lobbying initiatives in our country's history. Confirmed speakers include Senator Russ Feingold, Enough Project co-founder John Prendergast, activist Betty Bigombe, director Tom Shadyac, and actress Kristen Bell. This unprecedented outpouring of activism on Capitol Hill will culminate that night with an outdoor rally in front of the White House that will include guest speakers and musicians performing for the crowd.

How it Ends succeeds Invisible Children's third awareness event, THE RESCUE, inspired by their 30 minute documentary The Rescue of Joseph Kony's Child Soldiers, which took place on April 25th 2009. More than 80,000 gathered in 100 cities across 10 countries in the global event that required participants to 'abduct themselves for the abducted' and refuse to leave until a politician, mogul or local celebrity 'RESCUED' them by making a public statement on behalf of the child soldiers. "Rescuers" included Oprah, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), musician Pete Wentz and actor Val Kilmer, amongst numerous others.

The political impact of How it Ends is anticipated to be historical not only for northern Uganda and its surrounding areas, but for the world, as a new generation of activists set a precedent for justice and change through a unified message - the time for peace is now, and this is How it Ends.

For more information on Invisible Children visit www.invisiblechildren.com and for How It Ends visit http://howitends.tv/.

SOURCE Invisible Children

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