Demand justice for victims of toxic gas leak in India
Thirty years ago, between 7,000 and 10,000 people died within three days of a toxic gas leak in Bhopal, central India.
What happened?
On the night of December 2, 1984 a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India leaked methyl isocynate gas and other chemicals creating a dense toxic cloud over the region and killing more than 8,000 people in just the first few days, mainly from cardiac and respiratory arrest. Since then, 20,000 people lost their lives in Bhopal, India after a chemical gas spill from a pesticide factory. More than 40 tons of methyl isocyante (MIC) gas created a dense cloud over a resident population of more than half a million people. People woke in their homes to fits of coughing, their lungs filling with fluid.
The chemical factory responsible for this disaster belonged to Union Carbide, which negotiated a settlement with the Indian Government in 1989 for $470 million – a total of only $370 to $533 per victim – a sum too small to pay for most medical bills. Many survivors still suffer serious long-term health problems due to the effects of gas exposure – particularly women. What’s more, contamination from chemicals left at the abandoned factory site continues to a pose a serious health risk for the local community.
Thirty years on, Rampyari, Safreen and the people of Bhopal are still seeking justice. Survivors of the gas leak have not received adequate compensation to cover the full extent of their injuries. Many have been driven deeper into poverty. The polluted factory site has not been cleaned up. And the companies involved have not been held to account.
How can we help?
Together we can demand justice and urge the Indian government to clean up the factory site and ensure the companies responsible are held to account. Amnesty International is putting together a petition to send to Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India. In it we can ask the government to initiate a full environmental clean-up of the UCIL factory site and provide medical assistance for those affected, as well as hold the companies involved to account by ensuring they: pay adequate compensation to victims of the gas leak; comply with outstanding criminal proceedings; and cover the costs of the clean-up operation.
Supporting Amnesty International
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families. The Wishing Well recognises the importance of the act of giving. We recognise the significance of the participation of community members and all donations are most appreciated.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Money donated to The Wishing Well enables traumatised children access to healing therapies. Please see our website for more information:
You can help
Sign the petition and demand justice for the people of Bhopal, India:
https://campaigns.amnesty.org/actions/write-for-rights-bhopal
Help stop the world’s worst loan
What’s happening?
India’s coal king is bidding for a $1 billion bank loan to turn one of the world’s ecological treasures into a major shipping lane. The State Bank of India or SBI, in a baffling move signed a Memorandum of Understanding with India’s power giant Adani, potentially opening up a line of credit of up to 1 Billion USD. The loan would be used to develop the Galilee Basin, Australia’s largest coal endowed site. The project, when developed, could export 60million tonnes of coal a year and ship it through the ecologically fragile Great Barrier Reef. Worse, the exported coal is expected to create new carbon emissions — an estimated 3.7 billion tons worth of greenhouse gas — that will hasten climate change and destroy the reef in the long-term.
The move is being criticised and scrutinised by many people across civil society and even the financial sector. Unfortunately, both the Abbott Government in Australia and the Modi Government in India are keen to turn a blind eye to this.
What can be done?
In Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is already under siege from environmental pressures. The natural wonder is the largest structure created by living organisms on earth, with coral formations spanning an area the combined size of Britain and Ireland. More than 1,500 species of fish, a third of the world’s soft coral, and thousands of other species live there. In the past 30 years, the reef has already lost half of its coral.
Public pressure has already changed other banks’ minds, so add your name now to say no to the world’s worst loan.
Supporting Avaaz
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families. The Wishing Well recognises the importance of the act of giving. We recognise the significance of the participation of community members and all donations are most appreciated.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Money donated to The Wishing Well enables traumatised children access to healing therapies. Please see our website for more information:
How you can help
When Avaaz hit a million signatures, they will prep a definitive dossier showing the financial and environmental problems of this project, and then deliver it to Chairwoman Bhattacharya with legal letters and a media blitz.
Sign now and help stop the world’s worst bank loan:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/india_great_barrier_reef_loc/
You can help fund the Philippines typhoon emergency response
Typhoon Haiyan and Typhoon Hagupit
Thousands of people have been displaced by Typhoon Hagupit that struck the Philippines recently. The typhoon destroyed nearly 16,500 houses and damaged more than 33,100 on the island of Samar before making its way slowly across the country. The national disaster agency said nine people were killed as the storm churned across the central islands and the southern tip of the main island of Luzon. The Red Cross has confirmed 22 deaths and they are checking reports that nearly 40 people died. Over a million people fled to shelters ahead of the storm as authorities avoided a repeat of the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Haiyan last year, in which more than 7,350 people were killed and almost 4.1 million people were forced from their homes.
Oxfam is sending out emergency supplies to the region and you can join in the efforts to help the people displaced by the storm.
Oxfam’s efforts
When Typhoon Haiyan hit, Oxfam deployed an emergency team within three days of the typhoon making landfall. Their focus was on preventing the spread of disease by providing clean water, toilets and hygiene essentials. Oxfam teams addressed the immediate shelter needs of affected communities by providing essential items such as mosquito nets and tarpaulins and assisted families facing relocation.
Oxfam’s International Crisis Fund ensures that they are able to respond quickly and efficiently, to help those most in need when a natural or a man-made emergency occurs around the globe. Oxfam’s teams are currently responding to several emergencies, including Typhoon Hagupit in The Philippines.
Supporting Oxfam
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families. The Wishing Well recognises the importance of the act of giving. We recognise the significance of the participation of community members and all donations are most appreciated.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Money donated to The Wishing Well enables traumatised children access to healing therapies. Please see our website for more information:
How you can help
Oxfam has stockpiles of household water kits, that help ensure families have access to safe drinking water, and hygiene kits, comprised of basic sanitation items like anti-bacterial soap. These simple items save lives in the aftermath of disaster.
You can support Oxfam’s response to this and other humanitarian crises worldwide by donating to their International Crisis Fund:
https://www.oxfam.org.au/my/donate/international-crisis-fund
Help stop Hungary’s rape promotion program
Rape promotion program
Hungary’s police just released a national ad that blames women for being raped and it’s going viral across the country. The video campaign blames women for rape because they drink, dance and dress provocatively. It’s going viral, but we can help women speaking out across the country to get the ad banned.
Hungary’s police get their funds from EU governments. If we build a mega call to halt Hungary’s funding until it’s police stops promoting rape, it could be a powerful way to get the video pulled.
It’s hard enough for sexual assault victims to seek help from officials, but now the very police supposed to protect Hungary’s women are literally telling them rape is their fault. The video, after showing images of young women drinking, getting dressed to go out, dancing in strange provocative poses and then drinking at a club right before one of them is attacked, ends with the slogan: “You are responsible, you can do something about it!”
It was produced by the Baranya County Police Headquarters but approved by the National Council for crime prevention, and despite the national outcry, nothing has been done and the video is still being promoted nationally. Each and every time any person is victimised by the people sent to protect them, it’s up to us to draw a line in the sand and show the world that millions stand behind them.
Supporting Avaaz
The Wishing Well was established in 2010 to offer children in out-of-home care, such as foster care and residential care, a range of healing and treatment options usually not accessible as a free therapy in mainstream health.
The Wishing Well raises funds to enable children and young people to access developmentally-appropriate and trauma-informed treatments shown to be highly effective in dealing with severe trauma and neglect. These therapies respond to the unique needs of each child and young person.
The Wishing Well is a not-for-profit incorporated charity organisation, established and managed by people seeking to improve outcomes for children and young people in out-of-home care and their families. The Wishing Well recognises the importance of the act of giving. We recognise the significance of the participation of community members and all donations are most appreciated.
The Wishing Well operates ethically, effectively and empathically with a view to achieving quality outcomes and a satisfying working environment, and as such we support organisations that encompass similar ideals.
The Wishing Well gratefully receives donations, funding and resources through bequests, corporate partnerships, fundraising events, grants, online donations and other fund raising activities. Money donated to The Wishing Well enables traumatised children access to healing therapies. Please see our website for more information:
How you can help
Avaaz heads a petition to be sent to the police’s main funders, who can cancel the ad and push Hungary to protect women, not promote rape.
“We call on you to use your leverage to ensure the people of Hungary do not form misconceptions of rape as well as rape victims, and work towards creating policies which protect, not harm women.”
Click below to sign the petition:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/end_hungarys_rape_promotion_2/?bpCBYeb&v=49427
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