Join with Amnesty International to protect women human rights defenders in Afghanistan
What’s happening?
With increasing insecurity across Afghanistan, women human rights defenders are under threat more than ever before.
“Every day when I leave home I think that I will not return alive and my children are scared as I am about a possible Taliban attack on me.” – Shah Bibi, Director of the Department of Women’s Affairs in Laghman province.
Her two predecessors – Najia Sediqi and Hanifa Safi – were killed within the six months of each other in 2012. The pattern of abuse against women human rights defenders is matched by the systematic failure by the authorities to protect them and bring perpetrators to justice. The institutionalised indifference to their plight has resulted in a culture of impunity where perpetrators can literally get away with murder. Defenders not only face threats and attacks from the Taliban, but also from powerful and conservative elements in society including members of the government and authorities, and even family members, who perceive their work as defying cultural, religious and socials norms concerning the role of women in society.
Amnesty International’s efforts
In the last year alone, Amnesty International has recorded an alarming number of threats and attacks against Afghan women human rights defenders – both women and men who champion the rights of women and girls. And the risks to defenders in the north of the country increased considerably when the Taliban recaptured Kunduz province and surrounding areas in late September. There the Taliban carried out house-to-house searches, looking for women human rights defenders allegedly named on their “hit list”. Many managed to flee the city, while others who remained behind went into hiding in fear of being killed by the Taliban.
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:
How you can help
Join with Amnesty International and send your message to President Ghani. Together, we can persuade the Afghan government to take measures to protect women human rights defenders.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/get-involved/take-action/protect-afghan-women-human-rights-defenders/
Join with Avaaz to help save the bees
What’s happening?
Bees are vanishing. These industrious creatures that bring us almost one out of every three bites of our food are collapsing in a rain of toxic pesticides. Billions of bees are dying, threatening our crops and food. Massive public pressure has helped convince the European Union to ban poisonous pesticides, but we can’t stop there – these killers are used all over the world, and bees are in serious trouble.
- We need bees for the stability of our food supply. Bees are responsible for pollinating 70 out of the world’s top 100 food crops.
- The EU has already banned neonicotinoids because of their danger to bees. How can the US government justify the continued use of chemicals that governments and scientists around the world have found to play a major role in the colony collapse of our bees?
- In high doses neonicotinoids cause swift death by paralysis. But multiple peer-reviewed studies show that exposure to a low dose can harm bees’ critical navigation, memory and motor functions. The EPA must act wisely and suspend these dangerous chemicals entirely.
Avaaz’s efforts
Bees don’t just make honey — they are a giant, humble workforce, pollinating 75% of growing plants. The US government could take action to ban these bee-killing poisons, and along with Avaaz, we can help.
Sign the emergency petition now– let’s build a giant global buzz calling for the US to outlaw these killer chemicals, before the bees are extinct.
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
The US could move to ban the toxic pesticides that are killing them off but right now, chemical companies are furiously lobbying US authorities to stop action.
Submit a comment to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and help save the bees:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees_global_2016sam/?slideshow
Join with Oxfam to help keep children safe from hunger
What’s happening?
In Zambia, where about 75% of people live below the poverty line, every day women like Barbara risk their lives collecting water from a river infested with crocodiles to tend to crops that feed their children.
“If you are unlucky, you can be eaten by the crocodiles in the river. I know a lot of people who have been killed … we are scared we might die, but there’s no other way to get water… we are hungry … we go to sleep hungry. There is nothing I can do …” — Barbara.
Oxfam’s efforts
In Barbara’s village, Oxfam are training a group of 20 women in banana farming who are achieving extraordinary results. Now, they have vital income for food, clean water and an education for their children.
“Oxfam provided a water pump and training. When we first harvested bananas, I was extremely excited. I spent the money on a celebration with my children. We bought food. Now, I get the benefits from the work I put in. I can send my children to school and food is not an issue.” — Irene.
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
Donate today and you’ll help provide more women like Barbara with training, irrigation and solar-powered electric fencing to plant their own banana crop; and help keep their children safe from deadly hunger now and in the future.
$60 could help provide important business training, which will teach women farmers like Barbara how to wash and clean their bananas, record and track finances and manage their plantations resources effectively.
$120 could go towards training women on how to keep the water pumps on their plantation clean and working, providing a reliable source of water for their community’s bananas.
$300 could provide women with tree saplings enabling them to setup a thriving banana plantation which will help their whole community flourish.
https://www.oxfam.org.au/my/donate/keep-children-safe-from-deadly-hunger
Join with Avaaz and help stop the deadly Ivory trade
What’s happening?
The ivory trade is pushing elephants to the edge of extinction, and Yahoo is making a killing from trinket sales in Japan. The company sold an estimated 12 tonnes of elephant tusks and fashioned pieces of ivory on its Japanese auction site between 2012 and 2014, prompting the activist network Avaaz to launch a petition that has attracted more than one million signatures.
100 elephants are being massacred a day, and their emotional intelligence means they understand the horror of what is happening to them.
Avaaz’s efforts
Referring to the trade as Yahoo’s “bloody secret”, the petition calls on the chief executive of the company, Marissa Mayer, and Japanese head, Manabu Miyasaka, to “urgently stop all ivory sales from sites/platforms in Japan and all other markets”.
Several big brands like Google and Amazon are refusing to sell ivory. Yahoo is one of the few major online markets left. But we could influence that decision. Right now Yahoo is losing some of its best employees, and the CEO is offering millions to convince people to stay. If we threaten to lift the lid on Yahoo’s bloody secret, she could lose staff even faster, and may reconsider the costs of this cruel trade.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has accused Japan of undermining international efforts to protect Africa’s elephants by failing to crack down on illegal registration practices.
“Traders talked freely about how to evade or defraud the system and clearly had no reason to believe the government of Japan would ever look very carefully at their activities,” the report said.
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
Sign now and help Avaaz stop the deadly ivory trade. Send your message to Yahoo Japan:
“As global citizens, we are appalled that you allow ivory to be sold on your site/platform, fuelling elephant extinction. Major brands like Google and Amazon now responsibly refuse to take part in this bloody trade. We call on you to urgently stop all ivory sales from sites/platforms in Japan and all other markets.”
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/yahoo_ivory_loc_rb/
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