AJWS Blog

The AJWS community has a lot to say about what's happening in the world. Read our insights about the struggle for justice and human rights around the globe — and meet the activists on the frontlines of the fight to build a better world.

Introducing Better Beans: Fair Trade, Kosher Coffee and Chocolate!

Good news for all you justice-seeking java-lovers and chocoholics! AJWS has teamed up with Equal Exchange and formed Better Beans – a new initiative to sell and distribute fairly traded, kosher coffee and chocolate. Better Beans products allow congregations, community organizations and individuals to order high-quality coffee and chocolate while supporting farmers and community cooperatives …

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Getting Food Off the Shelves and Into Somali IDPs’ Bellies

In Mogadishu, store shelves are full of food but the bellies of civilians are not. An article in IRN today reported that the Somali government has asked the UN World Food Programme (WFP) to release food stocks in Mogadishu for distribution to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are chronically hungry. Somalia …

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Malnutrition Worsens in the DRC, Ministry of Health Responds

Years of conflict and instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have taken quite a toll on the national population, particularly on nutrition. Experts believe the basic structural causes of malnutrition have been aggravated by high food prices and the global financial crisis which has shaken the mining industry in the west and southeast …

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Recommendations for Haitian-Led Reconstruction and Development

This past Wednesday at the long-awaited Haiti Donor Meeting, countries and international organizations pledged nearly $10 billion to rebuild Haiti after January’s earthquake. But the question of how this money will be spent and who, exactly, will benefit remains in question. Thanks in large part to the extraordinary work of AJWS Policy Associate and “From …

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Why Free Rice Went Wrong

Since the earthquake, the international community has rallied around Haiti with aid, relief and reconstruction operations, not to mention plenty of good will. But some of this good will has proven to be misguided, especially as it relates to food aid. Emerging reports are verifying what civil society groups have been saying for years: the …

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