Tag Archives: Avaaz

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Ingrid’s amazing win

08/30/2013 Nativegrl77

Dear friends,

Ingrid, an Avaaz member, helped save a Norwegian woman from being jailed for being raped in Dubai — she started a petition on Avaaz and the social media storm it created kept pressure up on governments to act. Now the woman is free! And it all started with one simple step: click below to start a campaign on an issue you care about, it’s incredibly quick and easy!

Ingrid, an Avaaz member, has used our site to help save a Norwegian woman from being sent to jail for being raped!
Marte Dalelv was sexually assaulted while visiting Dubai, but when she reported it to the police, she was sentenced to 16 months in prison for “extra-marital sex”! When Ingrid read about Marte’s case, she started a petition on Avaaz calling on the Dubai and Norwegian governments to ensure Marte’s release. The petition and the Facebook page she created exploded on social media and people from all over the world signed the petition and flooded the two governments with messages at addresses that Ingrid posted on her Avaaz petition page.
Within days, Marte was released, and the Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide posted a Twitter message saying: “Marte is released! Thanks to everyone who signed up to help.”
Ingrid’s campaign was covered by major media outlets and clearly ramped up the diplomatic pressure to free Marte and bring her home to her family. And it all started with a simple step of starting a petition on the Avaaz community website. Think of an issue you care about and click here to get started — it’s incredibly quick and easy to start a campaign:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition_d/?cl=3217896089&v=28604
The Prime Minister of Norway said,”There is no doubt that attention from around the world, and the tenacity of the foreign ministry … led to this decision.” In just a few minutes, Ingrid started an amazing campaign that helped win over decision makers in Dubai and Norway.
Starting a campaign only takes a few minutes, but the impact of success can last for years. Plus, if the petition gets enough support on its own, the staff at Avaaz could pick up the campaign, add strategic advice, media help, and even send it to a wider list of members. We’ve got tonnes of tips and advice to help you along the way — all it takes is to get started, share your passion and you can be on your way to winning on any issue – local, national or global.
Ingrid wasn’t convinced that starting an online petition would save Marte – but when she and her organisation Partnership for Change saw the impact of their victory, they realised how powerful this easy model can be to get change. Send this email to the people you know who have great ideas about how to make the world a better place or click on the link to be a part of it:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition_d/?cl=3217896089&v=28604
Many Avaaz campaigns have been started by Avaaz members, from bringing hundreds of workers in Bahrain safely home to India, to allowing partners stay in touch with imprisoned love ones in New Mexico. All these took just a few minutes to get started. Let’s become world-changers together and multiply our impact by the thousands.
With hope and excitement for all we can achieve together,
Alice, Emma, Oli, Carol, Ricken, Luca, Laura and the whole Avaaz team
More Information:
Original campaign: Marte Deborah Dalelv Released (Avaaz Community Petitions) http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Release_Marte_Deborah_Dalelv
Marte Deborah Dalelv Released (Partnership for Change) http://www.pfchange.org/2013/07/22/marte-deborah-dalelv-released/
Norwegian Woman, Sentenced After Reporting Rape in Dubai, Is ‘Pardoned’ (New York Times) http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/norwegian-woman-sentenced-after-reporting-rape-in-dubai-is-pardoned/
Marte Deborah Dalelv, Alleged Norwegian Rape Victim, Pardoned After Being Sentenced To Jail For Sex Outside Marriage (Huffington Post) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/22/marte-deborah-dalelv-pardoned-dubai_n_3633809.html
What A Wonderful World! Get Raped In Dubai And You’ll Serve 16 Months In Prison (Forbes) http://www.forbes.com/sites/eamonnfingleton/2013/07/21/what-a-wonderful-world-get-raped-in-dubai-and-youll-serve-16-months-in-prison/

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

How thirty 11 year-olds changed the world

06/12/2013 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Dear friends,

Thirty 11 year-olds in Hamburg just saved their classmate — all it took was a petition and a few thousand signatures. It all started with a simple step that took 2 minutes. Click below to start the next great campaign to change someone’s life or the world:

A 5th grade class in Hamburg just saved their classmate Gleb from deportation — all it took was a petition and a few thousand signatures.
Gleb fled to Germany to get treatment for Leukaemia. He got an operation that saved his life, started to attend school and quickly became top of his class, but then the government tried to send him back to Russia. His classmates started a petition on the community petition site to their local government officials to stop the deportation.
When the petition took off, their council member started paying attention. And in weeks, Gleb was saved, able to continue the treatment he so desperately needed. His friends saved his future, and it all started with a simple step — click below to start a campaign on an issue you care about or send this email to a friend. You never know who might start the next great campaign to change someone’s life or change the world!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?cl=2929208333&v=25689
With just a few focused minutes, Gleb’s classmates kick-started an amazing campaign that led to an impressive victory. Imagine if all of us committed a little time to start a campaign – there’s no limit to what we can achieve!
Starting a campaign only takes a few minutes, but the impact of success can last for years. Plus, if the petition gets enough support on its own, the staff at Avaaz could pick up the campaign, add strategic advice, media help, and even send it to a wider list of members. We’ve got tonnes of tips and advice to help you along the way — all it takes is to get started, share your passion and you can be on your way to winning on any issue – local, national or global.
Send this email to the people you know who have great ideas about how to make the world a better place or click on the link to be a part of it:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?cl=2929208333&v=25689
Many Avaaz campaigns have been started by Avaaz members, from bringing hundreds of workers in Bahrain safely home to India, to allowing partners stay in touch with imprisoned love ones in New Mexico. All these took just a few minutes to get started. Let’s become world-changers together and multiply our impact by the thousands.
With hope and excitement for all we can achieve together,
Emma, Oli, Dalia, Patri, Laura, Ricken, Luis, Chris and all of the Avaaz team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Emma Ruby-Sachs- Avaaz.org

05/16/2013 Nativegrl77

We win many victories together — like on bees last week. And now any one of us can start a campaign, by ourselves, in minutes. German beekeepers started a petition that got noticed by citizens across the country, then the media, then the government. Start your petition now on any issue that you care about — and it could be shared with thousands:

We win a lot of victories together, but any one of us can get the ball rolling all by ourselves. Remember that huge win we just had on bees?

Well a big part of it was due to a campaign *started* by Avaaz members!
The German vote was crucial to Europe deciding to ban dangerous pesticides. When a group of German beekeepers heard that Germany was likely to vote no, they used our new community tool to start their own petition. Soon over 150,000 people had signed from across the country, their petition had caught the eye of the media and, together with Avaaz staff, they delivered their call to the government!
A day later, Germany switched its vote — helping to pass the Europe-wide ban and save our bees. All it took was a few minutes to start a petition on an issue these amazing beekeepers cared about. And you don’t have to be a beekeeper or an expert or a campaigner to do the same — just click below to get started:
http://avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/
Starting a campaign is quick, but the impact can last for years. And there are no limits on what issue to choose — it could be saving a park from destruction, animals from being mistreated, citizens from corrupt politicians, anything.
Plus, if the petition gets enough support on its own, the staff at Avaaz could pick up the campaign, add strategic advice and even send it to a wider list of members. We’ve got tonnes of tips and advice to help you along the way — all it takes is to get started, share your passion and you can be on your way to winning on any issue – local, national or global.
Forward this email along now to people you know who could also use this tool to change the world — or click here to start an Avaaz petition of your own:
http://avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/
Our amazing community of more than 21 million people has already changed so much. We are transforming the way the world works by bringing people power to decision-making everywhere. Now, by investing in the campaigns that our fellow Avaaz members are all running around the world, we can take our community to the next level.
With hope,
Emma, Alex, Emily, Christoph, Oli, Wen, Caroline and the whole Avaaz team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Break Monsanto’s grip

04/19/2013 Nativegrl77

Dear Avaazers,

Alice Jay – Avaaz.org

One mega-company is gradually taking over our food supply — putting the planet’s food future in serious danger. But we can turn the tide on Monsanto and other companies that push through policies that prioritise their profits over the public good. Pledge now to help stop this dangerous domination of our politics and our food:

One mega-company is gradually taking over our global food supply, poisoning our politics and putting the planet’s food future in serious danger. To stop it we need to expose and break up Monsanto’s worldwide grip.

Monsanto, the chemical giant that gave us poisons like Agent Orange and DDT, has a super-profitable racket. Step 1: Develop pesticides and genetically modified (GM) seeds designed to resist them, patent the seeds, prohibit farmers from replanting their seeds year to year, then send undercover agents out to investigate and sue farmers who don’t comply. Step 2: Spend millions lobbying government officials and contributing to political campaigns, get former Monsanto bigwigs into top government jobs, and then work with them to weaken regulations and push Monsanto goods into markets across the world.

As long as US law allows corporations to spend unlimited sums to influence policy, they can often buy the laws they want. Last year, Monsanto and biotech giants spent a whopping $45m to kill a ballot initiative that would have labelled GMO products just in California, despite 82 percent of Americans wanting to know if they are buying GM. And just this month, the company helped ram through the “Monsanto Protection Act,” that blocks courts from stopping the sale of a product even if they’ve been wrongly approved by the government.

Monsanto’s power in the US gives them a launch pad to dominate across the world. But brave farmers and activists from the EU, to Brazil, to India and Canada are resisting and starting to win.

We’re at a global tipping point. Pledge now to join forces to break Monsanto’s grip on our politics and our food and help stop the corporate capture of our governments. Avaaz will only process the pledges if we get enough to make a real difference:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_nd7/?biEWLbb&v=24254

Monsanto is driving an industrial farming takeover — trampling small farmers and small businesses as vast ‘monoculture’ farms of single crops leech the land of nutrients, diminish genetic diversity, and create dependency on fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals. The irony is, it’s not clear that the decimation of natural, sustainable farming has brought any boom in crop yields. Just more profit for the corporations. Our governments should step in, but Monsanto’s lobbying obstructs them.

Monsanto’s near monopoly is breath-taking, with patent rights over 96% of the GM seeds planted in the US. And despite concerns about health and safety, the same patents allow Monsanto to prevent any farmer or scientist from testing their seeds! Still, a few countries have banned or restricted Monsanto products.

They claim their products cost less, but often farmers are lured into multi-year contracts, then seed prices rise, and they have buy new seed each season and use more herbicides to keep out ‘superweeds’. In India, the situation is so dire that one cotton area has been called ‘the suicide belt’, as tens of thousands of the poorest farmers have taken their lives to escape crippling debt.

But farmers and scientists are also fighting back — and winning. One group in India has helped win three patent battles against the corporations, and in Brazil five million farmers sued Monsanto for unfair collection of royalties, and won a $2 billion payout! Scientists are campaigning for sustainable agriculture models, and just last week 1.5 million of us joined the fight against conventional patents in the EU.

Only a massive, global, united force can stand up to Monsanto and the corporate capture of our governments. Let’s expose this dominance of our democracies, help farmers speak out, challenge unjust laws and patents, and go head to head with the corporate lobbies. Pledge to support action now:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_nd7/?biEWLbb&v=24254

We are running out of time. As we confront massive environmental, climate and food crises, we need sustainable agriculture and innovation, but that is best done by multiple farmers and scientists who know what works best in different ecosystems, rather than one monolith driven by their own profit, taking control our food future.

This corporate Goliath is increasing in power across our world. But if our 21 million strong community stands together, we have a chance. Avaaz members have repeatedly stood up against the world’s biggest bullies, and won. Now it is time for us to go big to save our policies from special interests, protect our food supply, and get justice for poor farmers.

With hope and determination,

Alice, Oli, Joseph, Ricken, Pascal, Chris, Michelle, Emily, and the whole Avaaz team

MORE INFORMATION

Seeds of discontent (Texas Observer):
http://www.texasobserver.org/seeds-of-discontent/

Monsanto sued small farmers to protect seed patents, report says (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/feb/12/monsanto-sues-farmers-seed-patents

Political contribution discloslures (Monsanto):
http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/political-disclosures.aspx

The Real Monsanto Protection Act: How The GMO Giant Corrupts Regulators And Consolidates Its Power (ThinkProgress):
http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/04/10/1832621/monsanto-protection-act-power/

Monsanto Protection Act put GM companies above the federal courts (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/apr/04/monsanto-protection-act-gm

Biodiversity for food and agriculture (UN Food and Agriculture Organization):
http://www.fao.org/sd/EPdirect/EPre0040.htm

Monsanto’s harvest of fear (Vanity Fair):
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805

Wikileaks shows US pushes GM on EU (The Guardian):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/03/wikileaks-us-eu-gm-crops

USDA Greenlights Monsanto’s Utterly Useless New GMO Corn (Mother Jones):
http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2012/01/monsanto-gmo-drought-tolerant-corn

Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research (New York Times):
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/20/business/20crop.html?_r=0

Additional sources (Avaaz):
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_monsanto_sources/

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Syria and brave citizen journalists … by Alice Jay – Avaaz.org

02/08/2012 Nativegrl77

The Assad regime is slaughtering its citizens and tearing cities apart. The UN has failed to stop the killing, and Avaaz has the only network smuggling medical equipment in and information out. Brave Syrian democracy activists have called for our help— click below to watch the video appeal and chip in to save lives:

On Saturday, Syria’s brutal forces killed one of Avaaz’s brave citizen journalists as he pulled people from the rubble of a deadly massacre in Homs. Omar was just 23 and he died as he lived, photographing the regime’s crimes, helping others and sacrificing for freedom.
As you read this, the regime is murdering men, women and children and tearing cities apart. China and Russia just handcuffed international action at the UN and gave Assad license to unleash his murder machine to crush the Syrian Spring once and for all. Omar’s friend just wrote to us — his community is determined, but they are urgently asking for our help: “We’re heartbroken, but his death will not be in vain, we will carry on the fight, but we need your support.”
Let’s be clear — as embassies close, medical agencies withdraw and journalists pull out, Avaaz has the only network that is both smuggling medical equipment and journalists in and images and information out. Avaaz just received a list of urgent needs: medical equipment for doctors in makeshift hospitals; more cameras and computers to keep informing the world; money for power and transport; safe houses for people to take refuge; and continued international action in support. Click here to watch a video appeal and chip in now — if 20,000 of us donate now, we can get help to the besieged towns before the next attack:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/smuggle_hope_into_syria_i/?vl
For months, Omar, a civil engineering student, photographed Syrian forces brutally killing peaceful protesters and sent the images out to the global media through Avaaz. After the regime kicked the international media out, Omar was one of more than 400 activists who risked their lives to work with Avaaz to break the news blackout and help 18 of the world’s leading journalists from foreign news outlets into the locked-down country. It’s likely that the images you have seen on your TV or photographs in your newspaper came from this courageous team.
But that is just a part of what the Avaaz project has done. Thanks to the generous support of members across the world, Avaaz is providing a rare lifeline of strategic and critical support to the democracy movement in Syria. When activists told us medicines were running out, we set up a smuggling network to deliver over $1.8 million worth of medical equipment into the country, saving thousands of lives. When the Syrian National Council was struggling to present a credible leadership alternative to the world, we organized meetings in the UN, Russia and across Europe to support their efforts.
Day after day, these heroes have turned out to protest, facing down tanks with no support from international governments. But what happens in the next two weeks will be decisive. This is the pinnacle of the Arab Spring and the global struggle against brutal despots. Together we can secure a lifeblood to the resistance and walk with the brave Syrian people on their journey to freedom. Click to make a life-saving donation now:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/smuggle_hope_into_syria_i/?vl
This year people power in the Middle East has taught the world an important lesson — together we are stronger than the fiercest dictator, and stronger than the most ruthless army. On the streets of Syria, Avaaz is a beloved partner in the struggle for freedom. As one opposition leader put it, “the Syrian people have gained strength from knowing that the world, through the Avaaz community, stands with them.” Together, we have made the impossible, possible and with our help Assad’s regime will come to end.
With hope and determination,
Alice, Ian, Antonia, Emma, Ricken, Morgan, Mouhamad, Wissam, Sam, Bissan, Will and the entire Avaaz team
More information:
A Doctor’s Cry for Help as Homs Victims Pour In to a Medical Center [Warning: This is a graphic video not suitable for sensitive viewers] http://www.overstream.net/view.php?oid=r3tmevemrqn0
At Least 200 Reported Killed in Syrian City of Homs (Washington Post) http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/protesters-turn-out-across-syria-but-capital-is-quiet/2012/02/03/gIQAQOqNnQ_story.html
Homs: Bloody Winter in Syria’s Revolution Capital (CNN) http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/16/world/meast/syria-homs-profile/index.html
Anger After Russia, China Block UN Action on Syria (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/05/us-syria-idUSTRE80S08620120205?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=71
Syria Crackdown: Homs Bombarded, Dozens Killed (Huffington Post/Reuters) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/06/syria-crackdown-homs_n_1256699.html