Washington, D.C. – American Jewish World Service (AJWS), the leading Jewish international development and human rights organization, applauds U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for making history by appointing veteran diplomat Randy Berry as the first Special Envoy for the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) persons.
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Answering the call from Liberian Nobel Peace Prize winner, Leymah Gbowee, AJWS is providing funds to trusted non-medical Liberian activists and community leaders working to educate their communities and stop the spread of Ebola.
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Child Marriage isn’t just a women’s issue—it’s a human rights issue. I walked into AJWS’s DC Action Team meeting in December to find a conference room with a delightful array of cheeses, crackers and fruit. There were pitchers of water on the table, hot coffee and tea. The chairs were nice and everything seemed comfortable, but I …
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New York, NY – American Jewish World Service (AJWS), the leading international Jewish human rights organization and a funder of 26 human rights organizations in Mexico, today issued a strong demand for Mexican authorities to resume their investigation into the disappearance and possible murder of 43 student activists, who went missing in Iguala, Guerrero State, in September 2014 on their way to a protest against government violence.
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This week, my AJWS Los Angeles Global Justice Fellowship cohort and I are preparing to depart for India to meet with local human rights activists working to overcome poverty and injustice in their own communities. I have been reminded these past few days (especially in the countdown to our departure from LAX) that I am experiencing a …
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Originally published in PBS Newshour. On Jan. 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake reduced the impoverished island country of Haiti to rubble, leaving 220,000 dead, another 300,000 injured, and more than a million homeless. Many of those who survived also lost limbs to falling walls and debris from buildings that weren’t constructed to withstand seismic waves. According to …
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Originally published in The Washington Post. Five years ago this month, a terrible earthquake struck my country. I was in the capital city, Port-au-Prince, when suddenly the earth shook and buildings around me and across the city collapsed—taking with them hundreds of thousands of lives and the hopes of my nation. The world stood with …
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As 2014 comes to an end, we’re reflecting on a year with both progress and setbacks for human rights around the globe. Read our round-up of our top 10 human rights events in 2014. 1. Ebola devastates West Africa As undoubtedly the largest public health crisis in 2014, the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has …
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Chanukah 5775: Rededicating Ourselves to Helping Others By Congressman Eliot Engel Chanukah is one of the Jewish people’s most beloved holidays. We light the menorah, sing songs and eat delicious food. It’s a celebration of life and Jewish survival. And, like most holidays that commemorate a struggle against oppression, it is also a time of collective …
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NEW YORK, NY — “As we work as Jewish global citizens every day to combat human rights abuses around the world, we cannot be blind to the moral and structural failings of our own society.
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