The plight of African refugees is getting national and local attention this weekend, as religious and civil rights groups join forces for efforts in Washington, D.C., and Honolulu.

This weekend, a rally will be held in Washington to shine the spotlight on the Darfur region of Sudan, where hundreds of thousands have been killed and even more left homeless.

And yet, while stars such as George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie have been throwing their wattage behind efforts there, the news out of Africa keeps getting worse. Yesterday, the World Food Program, the U.N. agency that feeds the 3 million affected by the Sudanese conflict, said it is running low on funds and would have to reduce the amount of food it distributes.

"Individual rations of grain, beans, oil, sugar and salt for people in Darfur, where a brutal ethnic and political conflict has raged since 2003, will be halved from 2,100 calories a day to 1,050," The New York Times reported.

But the protests have been stepped up, as well. Yesterday, five members of Congress were among the 11 people arrested during a protest outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C.

The focus comes home tonight, when a group started by young filmmakers taking up the cause of Uganda, a neighbor to Sudan, calls on local people of faith and people concerned about the region to meet for a "Global Night Commute."

With the gathering, Honolulu becomes one of more than 130 cities hosting an overnight event; Here, it will be held at the Hawai'i State Capitol.

Ralliers plan to sleep on the grassy area next to the Capitol building in sleeping bags.

"Uganda is literally the most unsafe place to be a child," said Kristy Everhart, director of Global Night Commute in San Diego and a student at San Diego State University, who was brought here by local organizers to help with the event.

"Right now, there's a genocide in Sudan," she said. "It's the second time that word has been mentioned. The last time was during the Holocaust."

Her group, Invisible Children, is shining its magnifying glass on those children to the south of Sudan, who are fleeing "recruiters" who have abducted children as young as 5 to become soldiers in the ongoing fighting.

"When people hear the word 'Africa' and the issues going on there, they just go, 'Oh, that's Africa,' " Everhart said. "They seem more interested in what they see in front of them. ... It's continuing, because nobody's taking a stand."

She described the nightly ordeal children on the poverty-stricken outskirts of Northern Ugandan towns face to protect themselves from kidnapping by the rebels:

"They have to walk 5 to 12 miles, with just a blanket and possibly a piece of bread, to the inner cities," she said, explaining that rebels won't go into the cities.

Once there, children seek refuge in bus parks, where they are locked in by the government police, and awakened as the first light of day to return to their families, if indeed they have homes to return to, she said.

Everhart's organization, which is made up mostly of people under age 30, has been attempting to spread the word about the experiences of these children to churches, schools and youth groups across the country, by passing out DVDs featuring a rough-cut version of the film made about these Ugandan children, "Invisible Children." Here in Hawai'i, it played at a number of churches. Everhart reports that a Hawai'i Pacific University professor also showed it in classes. The organization plans to bring the film to theaters nationwide.

However, the effort here is a fairly new one. Some church groups said that the effort had been announced in church, but representatives of several churches couldn't say how many people would be in attendance.

"Honolulu started a couple weeks ago, so everything's last minute," Everhart acknowledged. Even so, she's not worried about the turnout.

"Having too many people might be an issue," she said. "When people hear about this, something comes over them."

Perry Alexander appreciates that kind of youthful exuberance. The pastor of Kailua Community Church is planning to bring members of his congregation by bus to event.

"I think the grassroots movement and enthusiasm of college students gets us motivated," he said.

"Those of us who are older get calloused to it. Young people seeing it for first time have the energy to say, 'Wake up, you've got to do something.' "

Alexander, whose church is involved in mission work in East Africa, including Uganda, has visited the region three times in the past year and half.

"Some people get overwhelmed and don't do anything," he said. "If we can change one person at a time, we can do anything."

He's been amazed by the recent outpouring of support.

"You turn on the news, and today you see George Clooney in Sudan. Then Oprah (who had the 'Invisible Children' filmmakers on her show earlier in the week). I see a lot of people are interested. ... I think it's fantastic. (It's) pressure that's needed for governments to do something. The Ugandan government needs to step in and do something with the help of the international community."