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World Conscience

Thursday, April 21, 2005

Put your faith in action by saving a child's life

New Action:

From The Rainforest Site and World Vision:




Receive World Vision's brand new Faith in Action Study Bible free —
and help care for children devastated by disasters like the Asia tsunami!


Dear Friend,

The deadly tsunami in south Asia, violent conflict in Sudan, drought and famine in Kenya, and other emergencies around the world have left millions homeless, hungry, and in need.

Situations like these are particularly dangerous for children, many of whom are orphaned, homeless, or traumatized. They are easy prey — kidnapped, sexually abused, and sold into brothels.

World Vision is working to rescue, care for, and protect these children, but we desperately need your help today.

The best way to help is by becoming a World Vision Child Crisis Partner today, with a monthly gift of $15, $25 or $35. Your monthly support will help innocent victims of child trafficking and abuse by providing:
  • Safe shelter
  • Counseling
  • Medical care
  • Nutritious food
  • Loving care and protection from exploitation and abuse.
Click here to give your first monthly gift online now.



To thank you for your gift, we'll send you a free copy of our brand new Faith in Action Study Bible.

As a Child Crisis Partner, you will also receive a photo and story of a child you're helping each month, plus regular reports on what your gifts are accomplishing.

Children's lives are at stake! So please become a Child Crisis Partner today .

God bless you!


Rich Stearns
President, World Vision U.S.

P.S. Please visit our Web site for more about our Child Crisis Partner program, or to join today. If you're unable to make a monthly pledge, please send a gift today to help rescue children from exploitation and abuse. Thank you for helping save children's lives!






Be Part of The Third Wave

New Action:

From Mercy Corps:





The Third Wave

The First Wave brought historic tragedy. The Second Wave helped restore hope. The Third Wave will help rebuild communities and lives. And it starts with you ...

Mercy Corps introduces a new way to learn about and help fund long-term rebuilding efforts to aid tsunami survivors. Margaret Larson, a former news anchor for Seattle's KING-5 TV and Dateline NBC correspondent, provides the voice for The Third Wave, an online interactive feature.

Through it, you can learn about some of the projects Mercy Corps will be undertaking in the region, such as farms, small business loans, schools, fishing boats and health services.

Various donation levels are offered, so you can contribute a portion of a small business loan for $35, or organize friends and neighbors to raise $11,500 to rebuild a school.

Your support for projects such as these helps ensure a lasting, sustainable recovery for coastal communities devastated by last December's Indian Ocean tsunami. Already, Mercy Corps aid has reached nearly 400,000 people. But the devastation is immense. Reconstruction cost estimates range as high as $12 billion, of which about $7-8 billion has been raised worldwide.

In addition to our ongoing efforts in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and India - the three nations hit hardest by the destructive waves - Mercy Corps has launched a program to assist the Bender Beyla district in eastern Somalia, where the tsunami washed out homes and destroyed the local fishing industry.

Across the tsunami-affected region, Mercy Corps is committed to a substantial, long-term recovery. Please visit www.mercycorps.org/thirdwave today and see how you can join our efforts.





Help us stop the killing in Darfur, Sudan

New Action:

From Amnesty USA:



Where were you when you first learned about the genocide in Rwanda that claimed nearly a million innocent lives? I am guessing that most of you remember the horror of a slaughter taking place under our noses, barely a decade ago.

Perhaps you saw Hotel Rwanda recently – which once again brought the magnitude of the tragedy home to us. And remember how determined we were that this would never be allowed to happen again.

And yet, scarcely 1,000 miles due north of the Rwandan killing fields, it is happening – and we must do all in our power to stop it.

The Darfur region of Sudan, an area the size of Texas, has been the scene of unspeakable crimes against humanity – towns razed, women raped and murdered as their children watch on, millions driven to exile, and hundreds of thousands of families slaughtered.

Please act now – help us stop the killing by making an emergency donation to our Darfur mobilization.

Perpetrators of the Darfur atrocities are nomadic militias called janjawid – literally, “evil men on horseback.” Amnesty has documented ongoing support, including transfers of guns and other weapons and even aerial bombing, by the Sudanese government.

Amnesty and other human rights organizations have been working day and night to arouse public outrage and pressure the UN and key governments to take action. Earlier this month, in fact, after a major international pressure campaign led in part by Amnesty, the U.S. government relented and allowed the UN Security Council to refer cases of human rights abuse in Darfur to the new International Criminal Court (ICC). The current Administration has opposed the ICC in the past, purely on ideological grounds.

But the deaths continue – and we must do more.

The Sudanese government has responded to the UN by vowing to defy it – including a flat refusal to turn over any of its citizens to the ICC for prosecution. Meanwhile, action on Sudan is being hampered by global business as usual. Russia continues to sell arms to the Sudanese government, many of which find their way to the Darfur killing fields. China has been especially slow to react, in part to protect its lucrative oil contracts with Khartoum.

And while the community of nations dither, the violence continues -- with more and more civilians being killed or driven from their homes and villages in Darfur, despite the government’s promises to maintain a ceasefire.

As Americans and human rights activists we cannot let this unspeakable violence continue without doing everything in our power to stop it.

Please act now – help us stop the killing by making an emergency donation to our Darfur mobilization.

Sincerely,

Bill Schulz
Amnesty International USA






Protect Those Who Speak out Against Violations in Chechnya

New Action:

From Defender Alert Network:



Russian Human Rights Group Faces Closure under
Counterterror Law


The Chechen Committee for National Salvation (CCNS), a Russian human rights organization, once again faces closure under a counterterrorism law passed soon after September 11, 2001. On April 27, 2005, the organization's chairman, Ruslan Badalov, will go to court to face accusations that CCNS violated the law "On Countering Extremism" by issuing press releases describing government violations of human rights.

In October 2004, a Nazran, Ingushetia court dismissed government claims of extremist content in CCNS press releases. The government prosecutor appealed, and in February 2005 the Supreme Court of Ingushetia held hearings while Badalov was attending his mother's funeral. Neither Badalov nor his lawyer were notified. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower court and sent the case back for new hearings. If the materials are found to be extremist, Badalov could face criminal prosecution.

Human rights defenders who speak out against abuses by the Russian government in the context of the conflict in Chechnya face increasingly direct pressure from the authorities. You can help protect the right of human rights workers and organizations to monitor and report on violations by opposing the misuse of counterterrorism laws to silence them.


Click Here to Take Action: http://action.humanrightsfirst.org/campaign/badalov/ii86xu64q7wm65w

Click here for more information on Ruslan Badalov







Wednesday, April 20, 2005

You made it happen!

New Initiative:

From The One Campaign:



Dear Friend:

"ONE by ONE They step forward." As Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz uttered those simple phrases on MTV, ABC and Christian Broadcast Network earlier this month, a new chapter was opened in the fight against global AIDS and extreme poverty as more than 100 million Americans were introduced to ONE! If you haven't had a chance to see the full 60 second version of the video, make it ONE hundred million and ONE

Watch the full ONE spot here!

History is being made by YOU! Across America, people have responded, as ONE to the emergency of AIDS and extreme poverty - in the past four weeks alone, more than 200,000 Americans have joined, more than doubling the size of ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History!

Like you, Jamie Foxx believes that together, ONE by ONE, "we can start to make poverty history."

Watch the ONE spot now!

Learn the facts, share your knowledge, and teach others that it is possible to create a world where extreme poverty is a thing of the past. Visit ONE.ORG to learn about the challenges facing our world today. As ONE, we can make the difference.

ONE by ONE, we will continue to make history; help keep our momentum building by emailing your friends and family and ask them to join The ONE Campaign. If each ONE of us shows this video to even ONE friend and they sign the declaration at ONE.ORG, we will double in size again!

Thank you,

The ONE Campaign Team