Lowe's Tsunami Response

New Action

From Habitat for Humanity:

Help Habitat for Humanity build homes for families displaced by the tsunami. Lowe's will fund at least 200 homes in Sri Lanka and other affected areas. You can help. Lowe's will match your donations up to a total Lowe's contribution of $1,000,000. You can donate online through this Web site, by using our mail-in donation form or by visiting your local Lowe's store

(Click the title of this post to follow the link to donate)

Sudan peace agreement gives new hope

New Action

From The Hunger Site:

Africa's longest running civil war came to an end after two decades of fighting when on January 9, 2005, the southern rebels and the Sudanese government signed a peace agreement. The devastating 21-year-old conflict caused the deaths of two million and displaced millions more from their homes.

Over the past year, the violence has increased leaving a path of destruction in its wake. During the crisis, the United Nations estimated that 49% of displaced Sudanese suffered from lack of food, 88% from lack of shelter, 67% lacked adequate water, and 93% lacked adequate sanitation. Although the agreement means many civilians can now return to their homes, these hardships will not disappear overnight.

Mercy Corps is working in Sudan to help those displaced by the conflict. In addition to providing food and shelter, aid workers continue to focus on preventing disease by improving sanitation conditions, and creating educational opportunities for the thousands of children affected by the crisis. You can support Mercy Corps' efforts in Sudan and help bring hope to families with no place else to turn.

One Month Later: Reflections From Charles F. MacCormack (Save The Children)

New Action

From Save The Children:

January 26, 2005 – Can it really be one month since one of the worst natural disasters in our lifetime occurred?

In every way, the past month has been notable. In Indonesia alone, it is feared that more children have actually died than the 40 percent of the dead originally reported. Yet many surviving children now have food, clean water, medical care, shelter and protection from further harm. Today is a special sign of hope for the future: Working with the Government of Indonesia and UNICEF, Save the Children is supporting the phased-in restart of school. This is a significant step toward restoring normalcy for the surviving children. But the children’s and their communities’ long-term rehabilitation and recovery will take time – up to five years in the worst-affected countries of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India. Save the Children has operated there for decades and has significant capacity to provide short- and long-term humanitarian assistance. For more on our commitment to provide real and lasting change for the children who survived the tsunami, read on.

This unprecedented disaster for children has prompted an unprecedented outpouring from the public. Save the Children takes our stewardship of your extraordinary support very seriously. You can expect us to monitor closely the results from your generosity toward children, report to you on our efforts and maintain the same efficiency and effectiveness that drive 90 percent of our expenditures to program services (on average, based on fiscal year 2004 actual budget). For this and other standards of excellence, Save the Children has received the highest 4-star rating for the third consecutive year from Charity Navigator, a leading independent charity rating agency.

Your generosity shows powerfully that people do care about the rest of the world. Save the Children works in the United Sates and in over 40 countries around the world, including situations of war, disaster and entrenched poverty where children have been eclipsed by the current circumstances in Asia. Please consider reaching out to them with the same generosity and compassion you have shown the surviving tsunami children in Asia.


At about the same time you read this message, I should be arriving at the airport in Banda Aceh. When I talk to the girls and boys in Save the Children’s programs, I will think of you. The truth is, the children and I will think of you for a long time to come. They can count on us because we can count on you.

Thank you.

Charles F. MacCormack
President and CEO

Save the Children: Another way to help tsunami victims

New Action

From Save The Children:

Washington, DC (January 26, 2005) – Commemorating the one month anniversary of the devastating earthquake and tsunamis that killed tens of thousands of children in Asia, Save the Children announced today the creation of a new online initiative at www.savethechildren.org/protection that makes it easy for Americans to support efforts to improve and expand protections for young tsunami victims and children in emergencies and conflict zones all around the world.

Save the Children is calling on the public to support its efforts to pass new federal legislation that will make protection of children a top priority in the first phase of every U.S. emergency response.

“By sending a free email to their members of Congress, the public can help millions of children who are caught in the crossfire of war or struggling to survive a natural disaster,” said Charles MacCormack, president and CEO of Save the Children.

“The American public has already shown its concern for the children of Asia through its generosity, “said MacCormack. “Contacting your member of Congress is another way to take action to help millions of children in crisis.”

The Women and Children in Crisis and Conflict Protection Act would support initiatives to prevent, detect and respond to violence and exploitation against children in emergency and armed conflict situations and set aside additional resources to ensure that children are protected during the initial stages of a humanitarian response. The legislation is set to be introduced in the House by Representatives by Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT) and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY).

“For years the United States has provided food, medical care and shelter to civilians impacted by emergencies,” said MacCormack. “But the United States has not done enough to coordinate efforts to ensure that children are protected and are kept safe in the immediate aftermath of an emergency. New legislation is needed to make child protection a much higher priority,” he said.

“While the world’s attention is riveted on Asia, there are dozens of forgotten emergencies and armed conflicts around the world that are taking a devastating toll on millions of children,” he said.

More information about the legislation and the opportunity to take action can be found at www.savethechildren.org/protection.

Andrew M. Stone

vox: 202-478-6175

fax: 202-223-9579

astone@mrss.com

Adopt a rescued monkey

New Action

From Gear That Gives:

You can Adopt a Red Howler Monkey and make a real difference for this vulnerable species! Since the holiday season, our friends at Fundacion Ecolombia in Colombia have sadly been overwhelmed by monkeys who were stripped from their natural homes and given as gifts...

Now, after the novelty has worn off and their "owners" no longer wish to care for the small primates, they arrive at Fundacion Ecolombia where they will be rehabilitated and if possible, released back into the wild. Click here to learn how you can provide one full week's worth of nourishing food, veterinary care and rehabilitation for a rescued red howler monkey

In memory of Bob Small; Save the monarch butterfly

Well everything seems to be running smoothly so in continuing with our purpose:

New Action

From The Rainforest Site:

The Rainforest Site would like to pay tribute to the memory of Bob Small who passed away late last year. Bob was a longtime conservationist and the founder of Michoacan Restoration Fund that seeks to reforest the winter home of the majestic monarch butterfly.

Bob founded the Fund in 1997 after a trip to Mexico where he met Jose Luis Alvarez, a local nurseryman who was also concerned about the plight of the majestic monarch. From this meeting, the nonprofit Michoacan Reforestation Fund was born.

Their concept for recovery promotes sustainable forestry and reduces tree cutting within the nearby monarch butterfly overwintering sanctuaries. Over the past 30 years, there has been 60% degradation of the forest canopy in the monarch's overwintering areas. Before Bob's death, his tireless work was marked with the planting of over 1.5 million trees towards the restoration of this natural habitat.

In honor of Bob's inspiring vision and passion, The Rainforest Site has planted 1,000 trees in the conservation area. We encourage you can make your own gift of 25 or 50 trees to further this vital project. Please click here to learn how you can plant trees to help make Bob's dream for the monarch a reality.

Greetings and Amnesty Action!

Hello and welcome to World Conscience, an Internet based humanitarian aid and charity giving community. Please take a moment to learn more about us by checking out the "About" information on the right hand side of the page. Then click "About" or click on "more..." to to go our community page. There you will find our complete mission statement along with some of the inital goals and initiatives that our community will be hoping to take on as we grow and as people like you come and join our plight.

Also on the right hand side of the page you will find some useful links. Our LiveJournal community is where this whole thing started and is still going strong there. I plan to keep the LiveJournal community updated but ultimately see the base of operations being here. Also take a look at our Google Discussion Group where announcements and important messages regarding the group will be posted.

And then below that on the right hand side of the page you will find ways to access this site's newsfeeds (compatible with both atom and rss). More information on how to subscribe to our news feed will be forthcoming for those new to the system. For now if you are interested in learning more check out this link for some basic information about exactly what RSS is.

Finally, let's get things started around here. As an example of the Internet humanitarianism made simple an easy this community will be highly engaged in, please take a look at our first action:

New Action:

From Amnesty International-

January 25, 2004

Reform US Policy and Stop Torture

Since the Abu Ghraib photographs, the President has tried to suggest that the US doesn't condone torture, but reports still indicate that detainees are suffering torture or other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in US custody. The use of torture is an affront to human dignity that can never be justified. Please join Amnesty International in urging President Bush to order an independent commission of inquiry and to take effective action to end torture.

Use the upcoming Presidential State of the Union on February 2 to hold events in your area and to take action to expose these abuses and push for reform. Together we can make a difference! Click here to participate:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/stateofhumanrights/

Thank you for your commitment and your tireless work to defend human rights.

And that's it! See how easy that is? And that's the jist of this place. Check us out, read a quick summary of important causes, issues, and problems, and then take action on those matters. That's why it's a good idea to subscribe to our feed. Much more to come soon.

Welcome to World Conscience!

Please come back soon for the fully revelead Internet humanitarian community - World Conscience! In the meantime please use the links on the right hand side of this page to learn more about our organization. Thank you so much for stopping by today.