Posted on March 15, 2011
Our thoughts are with the people of Japan in the aftermath of last week’s earthquake and tsunami. The earthquake—a 9.0 on the Richter scale—is considered the world’s 5th largest in over a century and triggered a massive tsunami that hit the Japanese coast.
We would like to remind you that compassion can be turned into action. We are not powerless bystanders; we belong to a global development community, rich in resources that can be used to aid the victims in this disaster. These resources range from personal finances, to networking connections, to organizational expertise. We encourage you consider how you might fit into the response already being undertaken by Washington-based organizations to assist areas affected by the earthquake.
If you are responding to this crisis, we want to hear about it!
If you are a member organization and are providing disaster relief, we would love to help promote your efforts. Please email megan@globalwa.org with a brief description of your response. After we review it, it will be added to this list.
We applaud these members for their quick action:
Peace Winds America’s mission is “to build capacity, increase collaboration, and empower local communities in the Asia Pacific in order to improve preparedness and provide a more integrated, efficient, and effective disaster response.”
Response: Peace Winds America and sister organization Peace Winds Japan are providing aid in response to the earthquake. Peace Winds Japan has 20 years of experience in disaster response and is one of the largest disaster response organizations in the country.
Mercy Corps “exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.”
Response: Mercy Corps is collaborating with longtime partner organization Peace Winds America to respond to this disaster.
World Vision is “a Christian relief, development and advocacy organization dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.”
Response: World Vision has a long history of disaster response, including work in Haiti last year. An assessment team is on the ground, coordinating relief efforts for last week’s earthquake. Visit their press page for the latest news and updates.
Microsoft “is committed to serving the public good through innovative technologies and partnerships that contribute to economic growth and social opportunity and by delivering on our business responsibilities of growth and value to customers, shareholders, and employees.”
Response: Microsoft is making an initial commitment of $2 million to disaster relief in Japan and has already started offering support, software, and other technical assistance to help get operations running again.
RenegAID “is dedicated to improving people’s ability to reestablish themselves in catastrophic disasters.”
Response: RenegAID is working with Spokane Falls Community College’s Japanese Club to put together an effective response. RenegAID will fund all administration costs so that 100% of their donations go to the survivors.
Additionally, RenegAID’s Ready-to-Go Bike project for catastrophic disaster response is ready to implement. If any organization or individual is interested in working with them on this project, please contact Eunice Stime at 509-595-8777.
JP Morgan Chase‘s “philanthropic goal is to be the catalyst to meaningful, positive, and sustainable change within our highest need neighborhoods and communities across the globe.”
Response: JP Morgan Chase has committed $5 million to relief and recovery efforts in Japan and has also implemented an employee matching program to encourage employees to give as well. The firm has over 1,000 employees in Japan and has invited them to use JP Morgan Chase facilities as a shelter if needed.
Other responses from Washington organizations and businesses:
Mobile Giving Foundation “was founded in 2007 by veterans of the wireless industry who wanted to harness the immense power of wireless communications to empower non-profit organizations.”
Response: Give to tsunami relief by text message through The Mobile Giving Foundation! Please view their news alert to find out how to give quickly and easily to your charity of choice, using your mobile phone!
Medical Teams International’s missions is “To demonstrate the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict and poverty around the world.”
Response: Medical Teams International is working with three partners: Japan International Food for the Hungry, Friends with the Voiceless, Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. These partners are conducting assessments and working directly with local churches to provide relief to victims.
Boeing
Response: Boeing has committed $2 million to relief efforts, which will come from employee contributions and the company’s charitable trust. Boeing contributions will go directly to the Red Cross.
Starbucks
Response: Starbucks and Starbucks Coffee Japan have committed $1.2 million to the Red Cross to help the relief efforts.
Amgen
Response: Amgen is donating $1 million to Direct Relief International and International Medical Corps to be used for survivors’ health services and basic needs.
Weyerhaeuser
Response: The Weyerhaeuser Foundation is contributing $500,000 to the Red Cross for the relief effort.
Cascade Designs
Response: Cascade Designs has donated mattresses, water reservoirs and dry storage bags to Operation USA, which are being shipped to Japan to meet the basic needs of disaster survivors.
Resources:
Kids and activism: A recent blog from The Social Change Collaboratory provides guidance and tools for organizing a fundraising campaign for children who might want to respond to the disaster.
List of Charities: The Chronicle of Philanthropy has a great compilation of U.S. charities and companies that are responding to the quake.
Text your donation: Did you know that you can text your donation to many of the major charities? You can do this through:
Verizon Customers and Employees: Verizon is offering its customers free calling to Japan until April 10th and allowing Verizon customers to text a $10 donation to many of the major charities providing emergency assistance. Verizon will also match employee donations to The Red Cross, World Vision, and Save the Children, up to $1,000 per employee.
The Japan-America Society of the State of Washington: A great place to check back for updates and ways to get involved.
Seattle Japan Relief: “a collaboration of Japanese American and Japan related cultural, educational, and civic organizations standing together to promote relief and recovery following the devastating earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan.”
World Vision’s Japan Press Kit: Useful information, press releases and resources with information on the quake and updates on World Vision’s response.
Donations to Date: The Chronicle on Philanthropy is tracking donations received for the earthquake by organization.
Grantmakers who want to give to the relief effort: The Council On Foundation’s International Grantmaking site is providng resources and information for grantmakers looking to give to the relief effort in Japan.
The American Red Cross: is supporting the Japanese Red Cross, which is on the ground providing healthcare, supplies, and other assistance to disaster victims.
Thank you all for your concern and your efforts!
Posted on March 8, 2011
Today is International Women’s Day. We join our colleagues in the development field in celebrating the achievements of women, and recognizing the important work being done by development and human rights organizations to empower women worldwide. Research has shown that investing in women and girls is one of the most important components of community development. As women are educated and empowered, they are better able to be change-makers in their families and communities.
Global Washington’s mission is to help our members work collectively to build a more equitable and prosperous world. We would like to recognize some of the important work being done for women and girls by organizations, companies, foundations, and academic institutions that are based in the state of Washingon.
Please consider supporting the missions of these fantastic organizations!
PATH: Path focuses on health equity for women, among the world’s most vulnerable—and influential—populations.
The basic protection of vaccines for women and children around the world.
Path’s work helps women take charge of their own protection
http://www.path.org/woman-initiated-protection.php
PATH has formed a new product development partnership to advance the Woman’s Condom and expand affordable protection options for women. Under a new four-year, €5.1 million award from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PATH is coordinating with the Shanghai Dahua Medical Apparatus Company (Dahua), CONRAD, and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD) on a project called Protection Options for Women (POW).
http://www.path.org/news/an110214-womans-condom.php
World Vision: Recognizing women as critical partners in development, World vision’s trained staff actively and sensitively works to equip and encourage women around the world.
http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/about/press-development-girls?Open&pos=lft_txt_Women-and-Girls
GAPPS: Works on the premise that “Women are at the economic heart of the developing world. And to do all this work, they need to be healthy.”
2015 Global Action Agenda ( GAA ) on Preterm Birth & Stillbirth, was created by GAPPS at their international conference a year ago. The primary goal of this GAA is to forge a collaborative effort toward achieving common goals to prevent preterm birth and stillbirth, and to improve related maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes.
http://www.gapps.org/global_action_agenda/
Grameen Foundation: Supports local microfinance institutions and help poor women gain access to information and capital that enables them to create micro businesses and improve their lives.
Highline Community College: Women’s Programs at Highline Community College is proud to be celebrating over 30 years of service. Over the years they have developed many successful partnerships with community agencies to benefit the students of Highline including: co-location of community partners in Women’s Programs including cross-referrals, shared services, and life skills training programs.
http://www.highline.edu/stuserv/womensprograms/index.html
Landesa: Land ownership and secure access to land transforms women and girls from victims to change makers. The Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights initiatives do this on a large scale, making women and girls powerful and effective tools in the fight against global poverty.
Their Current Initiatives:
In India: The Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights partners with state governments and local NGOs to help poor women in four states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal).
In China: With the help of partners, the Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights is advising on a nationwide survey to learn how current land laws are affecting women’s land rights. This survey, across five provinces, is the first of its kind in China and will give us a better picture of female farmers’ needs and the challenges they face.
In Uganda: They are working in partnership with two local NGOs to help women and girls displaced by more than 20 years of civil war, design a program that provides the women with secure land rights.
Secure land rights will help improve the food security, health, and income of these marginalized women and girls, helping them to become self-reliant and reducing their vulnerability to contracting and spreading HIV/AIDS. In this innovative program, the displaced women are playing an active role in designing a solution to their own predicament.
Landesa has Global Fellowship Program for women: They encourage lawyers and other professionals from around the world to pursue a career in women’s land rights and provide training.
Landesa has E-Library on Women’s Property Rights: They are building a database of formal laws related to women’s land rights from every country in the world. The database will also include research on customary law related to women’s land rights. This helps legal practitioners and women’s advocates create more effective and suitable programming.
http://www.landesa.org/women-and-land/current-projects/
Oiko Credit: Oikocredit places a special empahsis on empowering women in teh developing world. Microfinance provides an unprecedented opportunity for women to take control of their own destinies. One of their important projects is Saadhana – women empowerment at the grassroots. Microfinance institution Saddhana operates through women’s centers in deprived districts of Andhra Pradesh.
http://www.oikocredit.org/socialperformance/en/project-examples/saadhana-women-empowerment-at-the-grassroots
http://www.oikocredit.org/en/who-we-are/empowering-women
Rwanda Girls Initiative: Aims to provide a high quality secondary school education for girls in Rwanda, supporting the ‘whole girl’ through a boarding school environment.
Rwanda Girls Initiative has been awarded a grant of $15,000 from the Seattle International Foundation Global Program. This grant will support our investment in training and developing Rwandan teachers and administrators for the Gashora Girls Academy.
http://www.rwandagirlsinitiative.org/article/article_detail/44
Technology & Social Change Group (TASCHA): Immigrant women, e-skills and employability in Europe
http://tascha.uw.edu/2011/02/another-immigrant-women-video/
Bridges to Understanding: Uses digital technology and the art of storytelling to empower and unite youth worldwide, enhance cross-cultural understanding and build global citizenship.
One of their successful stories is “ Dowry is a Girl’s life.”
http://www.bridges2understanding.org/project_videos/VimeoGallery_public/BridgesIndia_Dowry.html
Crooked Trails : Works with Friends of Maiti Nepal on behalf of Nepali girls and young women who have been trafficked into sexual slavery in Indian brothels. (ANURADHA KOIRALA of Maiti Nepal won the 2010 CNN HEROES AWARD )
http://crookedtrails.com/partners.php
FUSEIQ: They use technology to connect people and bring communities together. Their aim is “A better web, a better world.”
Since 2007 FUSEIQ has been working on the project with Girls Scouts of Western Washington to create a new site to represent the new entity Girls Scouts of Western Washington (GSWW).
The new site serves as a key information resource as well as an effective marketing tool. The Content Management System has improved the organizations efficiency and use of their resources. This has allowed GWWL to focus on their mission to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.
Fuse continues to work with GSWW and will soon be creating a custom shopping cart system that will allow users to purchase “goods” for the Girl Scouts, as well as making direct donations.
http://www.fuseiq.com/our-work/girl-scouts-western-washington
Global Team for Local Initiatives: Runs grind-learn-earn project for women of Hamar tribe in remote southwest Ethiopia.One of the staples of a Hamar woman’s day is grinding grain – pulverizing maize between two stones. It is physically demanding work, done in temperatures over 100 degrees, and it takes three to four hours to grind enough grain to feed her family for the day.
Last winter, the Ethiopian government gave the neighboring communities of Wassemu and Dore a diesel powered grinding mill. There was only one problem: the women did not know how to use the mill properly and, within the first 24 hours, it broke.
Enter GTLI – and the Wassemu women’s coop. For over a year the women’s coop had been eager to start a business. Unable to grow enough food, they yearned for a way to buy it. But isolated from the modern world, they lacked both skills and market opportunities.Suddenly, the broken grinding mill presented an opportunity.
With a grant from Bainbridge Island (WA) Rotary and Rotary District 5020, GTLI repaired the mill – and taught the Wassemu women’s coop how to run it as a business.
Today, the coop charges 7¢ to grind, in a just few minutes, what used to take three to four hours. With the money they earn, they employ four people – two women and two men – and buy spare parts and diesel to keep the mill going. These are the first jobs in the Hamar community; the community’s first sustainable business.
The new, “extra” hours give the women time to learn reading, writing, math and recordkeeping – skills that will enable them to start other small businesses
Now the neighboring Hamar communities all want their own “grind – learn – earn” opportunity.
http://gtli.us/stories-from-the-field-1/small-project-big-results
Heal Africa: HEAL Africa’s hospital and community development work address the root causes of illness and poverty for the people of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some of the Heal Africa Programs for women are : a) Heal Rape Survivors
b) Stand up together
c) Gender justice that supports empowerment
d) Safe motherhood and Micro-insurance- motherhood prenatal care
http://www.healafrica.org/
Mercy Corps: One of the important projects of Mercy Corps for women is Empower Women In India Through Literacy.
They teach hundreds of Indian women to read and write, boosting their self-esteem and empowering them to open bank accounts, start small businesses and participate fully in their households and communities. So far they have met their $50,000 goal for this project — but every additional dollar we raise will help even more women learn to read and write!
http://www.mercycorps.org/projects/indialiteracy
New Course: They are currently working with partners in five countries to bring resources that empower women, and conserve critical ecosystems. Botswana, Tanzania, Republic of Congo, Democratic republic of Congo,Madagascar.
http://www.anewcourse.org/Our_Work/Current_Projects.aspx
Pre Vent : Their mission is promoting and supporting maternal, neonatal and child global health programs through partnerships for education, prevention and innovation.
Pre- Vent has technical partnership with Merlin to promote the training and retention of local women as healthcare workers in rural areas of Africa.
http://www.pre-vent.org/partnersandprograms.html
Pre-vent in partnership with HAPCSO promotes education and preventive measures to reduce the rate of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS at the community health level and their satellite offices.
http://www.pre-vent.org/partnersandprograms.html
Pre-Vent works towards improving maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) through innovative programs of education and prevention to achieve the following Millennium Development Goals:
MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women.
MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
MDG 5: Reduce maternal mortality.
MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other major diseases.
http://www.pre-vent.org/mission.html
Programs under consideration: a) Training of community midwives in Obstetrical Surgery to perform essential and emergency Cesarean Sections at rural based community health facilities. This can reduce maternal and infant mortality dramatically. This program is under consideration for technical support in Sub-Saharan Africa.
b) Training of Registered Nurses to become Family Nurse Practitioners and serve their local community-based health care facilities. This program is in it’s planning stages in Guatemala and emphasizes teaching of women and young girls in topics such as sanitation, clean water, nutrition, pre-conception counseling, healthy pregnancy, and healthy newborn as well as the established curriculum for family nurse practitioners.
http://www.pre-vent.org/mission.html
Results: REF has initiated two major projects that ally with organizations in numerous countries: The ACTION Project and the Microcredit Summit Campaign.
The Microcredit Summit Campaign is working to ensure that 175 million of the world’s poorest families, especially the women of those families, are receiving credit for self-employment and other financial and business services, and that 100 million families rise above the US$1 a day threshold by 2015.
http://www.results.org/about/major_projects/
Richard’s Rwanda is a group of Seattle students who are working together to support Rwandan girls’ education. They provide financial support to low-income girls in the rural area of Nyamata to enable them to complete their primary education and 6 years of secondary school.
Their Accomplishments:
· Raised nearly $80,000 to support girls in Rwanda to finish their primary and secondary education;
· Awarded a $25,000 matching grant from Paul Allen Foundation;
· Annual fund-raising events by Seattle students;
· Expansion from original chapter at Seattle Girls’ School to six additional high school chapters;
· Developed a partnership with a local Rwandan girls’ school FAWE (Forum African Women Educationalist Girls School) to establish their own chapter of Richard’s Rwanda IPMUHWE to provide mentoring to low-income girls in the impoverished rural area of Namata; The program has officially been incorporated as part of a community service program for the FAWE School. (See below for more details).
· June 2010 twelve founding members of RRI (from various member Seattle high schools) traveled to Rwanda to teach English literacy to impoverished high girls in the rural district of Nyamata and strengthen collaboration with their peers at FAWE. They had such a successful experience that a cross-cultural trip is now an annual program. They will offer a trip to Rwanda every summer for the Seattle members of Richard’s Rwanda-IMPUHWE to teach English and connect in person with the girls in Nyamata.
http://www.richardsrwanda.org/?page_id=71
http://www.richardsrwanda.org/
Uplift International: Their mission is to advocate and promote health rights for vulnerable women.
Uplift International and Aim for human rights have been working with six civil society organizations (CSOs) from different parts of Indonesia for the last year on a project that helps promote women’s health rights.
http://upliftinternational.org/2010/07/advocating-and-promoting-health-rights-for-vulnerable-women/
Washington Women’s Foundation
Engages women in the power of collective giving. Through informed and strategic grant making, their members expand women’s knowledge, invest in the life of the community and demonstrate leadership through effective philanthropy.
http://www.wawomensfoundation.org/
Women’s Enterprises International
Women’s Enterprises International is dedicated to creating opportunities that equip women in developing countries to overcome poverty and transform their lives and communities. They do this by partnering with indigenous women’s groups in development projects that provide solutions to three systemic causes of poverty; lack of access to water, lack of access to business capital and limited access to education for girls.
-Compiled by Anamika P. Ved, Global Washington volunteer
Posted on March 2, 2011
The United Kingdom’s recent announcement to continue giving grant to “India” –rated as having one of the world’s fastest growing economies- has triggered a debate on the current model of development assistance. Over the past few years a large number of once-poor countries and major recipients of foreign aid have reached middle-income country status, which is set by the World Bank at $1,000 per person per year.
As per World Bank’s annual reclassification of countries carried out in July 2010, Senegal, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen are five more developing countries that officially lost their “poor” status and acquired middle-income country (MIC) status.
Other growing MICs include Ghana, Cameron, Angola, and Sudan. This rising trend bears testimony to the fact that the problem of global poverty has changed and is no longer confined to “poor countries.” New Institute of Development Services (IDS) research shows that there is a new “bottom billion” of the 960million poor people or 72 per cent of the world’s poor who live not in poor countries but in MICs. This is a dramatic change from just two decades ago, when 93 per cent of poor people lived in low-income countries (LICs).
What does this changing state of global poverty mean to the donors? Should international agencies with a focus on poverty reduction recalibrate their engagement in MIC’s?
In, Poor Countries Or Poor People, Ravi Kanbur argues that the development cooperation literature identifies three arguments for continued assistance:
1) Pockets of Poverty: Assistance is called for by poverty no matter where it occurs–whether in poor countries or in non-poor countries. It is poor people who matter fundamentally, and poor countries matter only indirectly, as a leading indicator of where the poor might live. And it is of course this indicator that might be brought into question in the new global patterns of poverty.
2) Spillover Effects: Poverty in MICs may lead to cross-border negative externalities to other countries, especially LICs and the poor who live in them. There are many examples of such spillovers, including global warming and other environmental externalities, financial crises and their spillover effects, the spread of infectious diseases, and migration.
3) Knowledge Transfer: By engaging with MICs, aid agencies gain knowledge that can then be useful to reduce poverty in poorer countries, such as implementing social safety nets. These provide minimum levels of social protection or guard against economic and other shocks with cash payments, or food or other measures, given directly to the poor.
Global poverty is no longer construed as a problem afflicting only the world’s “poor countries.” This fact makes it imperative for the new and old donors to rethink their approaches and strategies. Donors should design aid policies in context of the changing concepts of global poverty and decide on the aid objectives, allocations and instruments to meet this “new geography of global poverty.”
Laurence Chandy and Geoffrey Gertz at the Brookings Institution believe that by 2015 the proportion of the world’s poor in MICs will still be 55%, which implies that many of the MICs still need aid.
However, while making aid decisions, donors should take into account the fact that MICs are diverse groups and require more detailed sub-categories. Thus we have emerging powers like India and Indonesia, where the aid is not enough compared to the size of the economies; they still have substantial pockets of poverty. Similarly countries like Pakistan and Nigeria are fragile MICs and the aid again is small compared to the size of their economies. Then there are stagnant, non -fragile MICs and also fast growing poor countries such as Ghana.
The essence of the development assistance is to realize the objective of reducing global poverty and this can be done only if donors continue to work in the MICs, because that is where most of the poor live.
Finally as Richard Miller says in his book, Globalizing Justice: The Ethics of Poverty and Power, there may be a moral obligation to give development assistance to MICs, because they are still part of global power relations (for example in trade and finance patterns) that may disadvantage them to some extent until those global relationships change.
For more information, please see
http://www.ids.ac.uk/go/idsproject/the-new-bottom-billion
http://www.ids.ac.uk/go/idspublication/poor-countries-or-poor-people-development-assistance-and-the-new-geography-of-global-poverty
http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2011/01_global_poverty_chandy.aspx