2.07.2007 - 09:32am ET

(CSRwire) BETHESDA, Md.-- February 6, 2007 -- Calvert, one of the nation's largest families of socially responsible mutual funds, announced today that it has formed a partnership with the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF), a project of the Genocide Intervention Network, together with the Save Darfur Coalition (SDC), to assist the growing Sudan divestment campaign in the U.S. Calvert will immediately begin working with SDTF and SDC by lending its analytical expertise and offering advocacy support.

"Divestment helped isolate apartheid South Africa, and we believe that divestment can intensify the pressure on the government of Sudan to stop the killing in Darfur," said Bennett Freeman, Calvert's senior vice president of Social Research and Policy. "Calvert was at the forefront of the South Africa divestment movement, and today we are committing to support the most significant push for divestment since that successful campaign," Freeman said.

"As this movement accelerates, Calvert's commitment and expertise can help further widen its impact," said Adam Sterling, executive director of the Sudan Divestment Task Force. "We look forward to working with the Calvert team, both to reinforce our analysis of certain companies and to extend our message throughout the investment community at a critical time in Darfur," Sterling added.

With the conflict in Darfur entering its fourth year, the United Nations estimates that more than 400,000 people have been killed and over 2 million people displaced. Nearly 1.8 million children in the Darfur region risk being recruited as fighters and are vulnerable to diseases, malnutrition, and severe trauma. As the humanitarian situation deteriorates and the suffering intensifies, diplomatic efforts to deploy a UN peacekeeping force and bring an end to the conflict continue to fall short.

"Calvert's divestment work comes at a crucial time for the people of Darfur, a time when only international pressure will move the Sudanese government," said David Rubenstein, executive director of the Save Darfur Coalition. "Not only does divestment send a strong signal that individuals and corporations across the world will do what it takes to save lives in Darfur, but in doing so it strips Sudan of funds used to perpetrate this genocide."

Calvert supports the targeted divestment approach focusing on companies operating in Sudan in ways that support the government's essential revenue base and capability to prolong the conflict. "Calvert has reviewed the specific analytical criteria developed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force to determine such involvement, and is confident that it offers a sound and comprehensive basis on which to engage companies -- and if necessary, to divest from them," Freeman said.

Calvert will now work with SDTF to examine the activities of specific companies to help determine whether they should be targets for engagement and possible targeted divestment by other investors, based on involvement in Sudan. Calvert will also join forces with SDTF and SDC to support the advocacy dimension of the divestment campaign with other investors, as well as with government at all levels. "We particularly look forward to working closely with the many others in the SRI community who share our concern about the situation in Darfur and our commitment to the divestment campaign," Freeman added.

"Many members of the Social Investment Forum are passionately interested in using the tools available at their companies to address the genocide in Darfur, Sudan," said Lisa Woll, CEO of the Social Investment Forum. "This Calvert initiative, in conjunction with the Save Darfur Coalition and the Sudan Divestment Task Force, is a timely collaborative effort to focus on the ongoing crisis. A number of Forum members have already indicated their interest in working with Calvert in this effort, and we commend Calvert for their commitment to working with any members of the Forum who wish to join with them."

Calvert's long-standing human rights and Indigenous Peoples' rights criteria explicitly prohibit investing in companies that have serious and persistent human rights problems, directly support governments that systematically deny human rights, or have a pattern and practice of violating the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Therefore, Calvert funds will not invest in companies that materially contribute to sustaining the Sudanese regime and the abuses in Darfur -- and are listed on the Sudan Divestment Task Force's targeted divestment list.

Calvert's focus on Sudan is consistent with its history and values, going back to October 1982 when the Calvert Social Investment Fund (CSIF) became the first U.S. mutual fund to prohibit investment in companies doing business in South Africa. By prohibiting investment, Calvert helped heighten awareness of apartheid and focused attention on divestment as a form of political and economic pressure to end repression and injustice. After Nelson Mandela praised the role of economic sanctions in isolating the apartheid regime and called for their end in 1993, Calvert became the first U.S. SRI firm to lift its investment ban. At the same time, we called on companies that continued to operate in or had returned to the country to make a positive contribution- with special attention to South Africa's need for jobs, skills training, support for black-owned business, housing and equal rights in the workplace. We look forward to the day when we can make a similar call to support a free and peaceful Sudan. To view Calvert's special Report "Partnering to End the Crisis in Darfur," click on www.calvert.com/sudan.

About Calvert
Calvert is one of the nation's largest socially responsible mutual fund firms with $14 billion in assets under management. Calvert offers forty funds that allow individual and institutional investors to pursue a broad range of investment objectives within a single fund family. Calvert launched the Calvert Social Index(R), a benchmark for measuring the performance of large, U.S.-based socially responsible companies. In addition to its equity funds, Calvert has an extensive lineup of tax-free and taxable fixed income investments. For more information on Calvert, click on www.calvert.com.

About the Sudan Divestment Task Force
As the coordinating entity for the Sudan divestment movement, the Sudan Divestment Task Force provides Darfur advocates with a unified policy and media strategy, as well as accessible reports and white papers. The Task Force is actively involved in dozens of successful and developing Sudan divestment campaigns around the world at the university, asset manager, city, state, and national levels.

About the Save Darfur Coalition
The Save Darfur Coalition is a non-profit organization and advocacy group dedicated to ending the genocide in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. It is a coalition of over 160 faith-based, humanitarian, and human rights organizations designed to raise public awareness and to mobilize an effective united response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of some two million people in Darfur.

For more information on any Calvert fund, please contact Calvert at 800.368.2748 for a free prospectus. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of an investment carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information. Read it carefully before you invest or send money.

Calvert mutual funds are underwritten and distributed by Calvert Distributors Inc., member NASD, a subsidiary of Calvert Group. (1.07, 6650)