March 30, 2016

Avaaz pauses to celebrate its successes

editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

When you work in human rights media, it's not very often that you receive an email packed with good news.

But this week global activist organisation Avaaz sent out an email that began:

"If you ever doubt that our efforts together are worth it, or if you're just needing a bit of hope and light in your day, read on."

The email listed an impressive list of the organisation's 2016 achievements so far, all backed by small individual donations - Avaaz does not accept corporate, government or large donor funding.

Achievements included: stopping whale fin slaughter in Iceland, standing up to Saudi war crimes by bringing the message to the European Parliament, and blocking Monsanto from producing its most profitable poison when 1.5 million Avaazers signed a petition which helped collapse the EU commission's vote.

Avaaz is putting pressure on six major companies to stop profiting from the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. So far three of the six have pulled out.

And 40,000 Avaaz community members have donated to reunite Syrian refugee kids with their families - an activity that requires lawyers to find them, provide legal support, and get them to safety. "Dozens of children are already being helped. And just this past week, three boys arrived in London and were reunited with their families for the first time in months!"

In a rousing call to action, Avaaz's founder Ricken Patel writes: "What we're doing matters, we're winning, and we're winning in a way that is building the kind of world we dream of for our children. There is much to do, but this is a moment for gratitude for the 43 million scrumptiously wonderful people in this beautiful movement. What a joy it is to do this together."

You can join Avaaz's community at avaaz.org.