Avaaz

I am a proud member of the Avaaz network and have taken action on urgent global issues -- signing petitions and sending messages, our community is growing like wildfire (more than 50,000 people a week!) and we've made an unmistakable difference.
It is heartwarming to learn that likeminded souls working together can make a big difference.

Some of the recent success stories include:

Save the oceans was a huge win! The UK announced its plan to double the total global area of protected ocean with a massive new conservation zone bigger than Germany and Italy combined. In the public comment period before the decision, Avaaz members contributed more than 85% of the responses, urging a ban on commercial fishing and support for the island peoples' rights. It's a huge victory, and the Foreign Ministry cited the "over 221,000 responses co-ordinated by Avaaz... from 223 countries" in its announcement.

Elephants - with elephants at risk, 500,000 of us worldwide empowered the African Elephant Coalition with our support -- and, after a nail-biting close vote and final push with partners on the ground, won protection for elephants at a UN Endangered Species session. The head of the Species Survival Network said “the petition, no doubt, made a difference and helped achieve the right result for elephants everywhere."



Uganda - in an unprecedented show of public opposition to the proposed law that would sentence gay Ugandans to death, Avaaz worked with church leaders and human rights activists to deliver a 450,000-strong petition to the Speaker of Uganda's parliament in an hour-long meeting and a press conference that made headlines around the country and the world.

Parliament had been expected to begin debate in February -- but in the face of local and global pressure, Parliament still hasn't begun formal discussion. Some say the bill may be left to die in committee, potentially a quiet but extraordinary victory for human rights. Avaaz continues to work closely with allies to monitor the bill -- and stands ready to take action once more if it regains momentum.

Brazil anti-corruption - took a giant leap against political corruption in Brazil, adding Avaaz members' voices to a national push that will bring to a vote landmark legislation banning individuals convicted of serious crimes from standing for public office.

And much more!

• launched a drive for a million-signature Citizen's Initiative in the EU to ensure genetically modified crop regulation.

• raised almost $700,000 for an intensive, long-term campaign to fight the "rape trade"--the sexual enslavement of women and girls around the world.

• pressed Chevron's CEO to clean up his company's toxic legacy in the Amazon.

• defended human rights and judicial independence in Spain in the face of three controversial lawsuits against judge Baltasar Garzón and a fierce political campaign to destroy his career.

• mobilized support for a just two-state solution in the Middle East and against settlement construction in East Jerusalem.

• stood for civility and genuine debate in Israeli media -- and in U.S. media coverage of Israel and Palestine.

• ... the list goes on!

Through these campaigns, members of the Avaaz network--each of us--have made headlines, shifted policy, and changed lives. But in each of these campaigns, and on many other issues, the work continues.


Avaaz launched in 2007 with a simple, deeply democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want. Since then, we have grown to link millions of people in every country on earth -- connecting to one another and taking action on urgent global issues. Each of us might only be able to offer a few minutes a week, but small actions add up -- and when hundreds of thousands of us, or even millions of us, join our voices together, we can change the world.

In fact, that's what Avaaz means in many languages: voice. (In others, more poetically, it means "song.")

To learn more go to:
www.avaaz.org