In The News

September 18, 2018

18 Foundations Call for Increasing Investments in Forests and Land to Fight Climate Change

International Institute for Sustainable Development

At the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS), a group of 18 philanthropic organizations signed a joint statement that calls for urgently increasing investments in conserving forests and lands to support their role in the fight against climate change. The organizations underscore the importance of conserving the world’s forests and lands for the benefit of people …

September 16, 2018

Peace Is Not Enough

New York Times

Between 1989 and 2003, Liberia was somewhat synonymous with war. Stoking the existing tension among ethnic groups, military factions with power-hungry leaders unleashed an era of bitter internal conflict, coups d’état and uprisings during this period. Around 250,000 people died, and many more fled the country. When it was over, Liberia’s economic and political system …

September 13, 2018

‘This Is Life or Death for Us’: Mexico’s Farm Movement Rejects New NAFTA Agreement

Common Dreams

The smooth ride to a new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) may have just hit the bumpy roads of rural Mexico. On Tuesday, leaders of Mexico’s farm movement strongly condemned the new agreement announced between the United States and Mexico, calling on the new president they supported in recent elections to get involved and …

September 13, 2018

Trump administration expresses little concern after Guatemalan president closes anti-corruption commission

Los Angeles Times

A robust anti-corruption agency, seen as a model for Latin America, was created 12 years ago in Guatemala with strong U.S. support, and notched up an enviable record. The International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala has prosecuted and jailed a former president, vice president and hundreds of corrupt police officials, politicians and businessmen.

September 11, 2018

AJWS endorses global campaign to save the forests

San Diego Jewish News

Nine of the world’s leading philanthropic foundations announced their intent to commit at least $459 million through 2022 to the protection, restoration and expansion of forests and lands worldwide and the recognition of indigenous peoples’ and traditional communities’ collective land rights and resource management. These are powerful and under-appreciated climate solutions and must be urgent …

August 30, 2018

Grassroots leaders provide the best hope to a troubled world

The Economist

Winston Churchill famously claimed that of all human qualities, courage was the most esteemed, because it guaranteed all others. He was right. Courage—moral courage—is the companion of great leadership. No politician could ever be viewed as exceptional unless he or she had it in spades. And historically there would have been no social progress if …

August 29, 2018

To Change the World, Let Refugee Women Lead

NewsDeeply

This week, as the world marks one year since the beginning of the Rohingya exodus – one of the most critical refugee crises of our times – images of helpless refugee women are likely to abound. Too often, in an effort to raise funds or move the public into action, we paint refugee women as powerless, …

August 24, 2018

Delegation of Jewish Leaders Visit Detention and Migrant Centers, Bear Witness to Crisis at U.S.-Mexico Border

Jewish Funders Network

On August 21 and August 22, a delegation of more than 40 leaders representing national Jewish organizations from across the U.S. will convene in San Diego, Calif., and cross the border to Tijuana, Mexico, to bear witness to the victims of the migrant crisis.

August 23, 2018

You Should Know… Rory Katz

Baltimore Jewish Times

There aren’t many places that Rory Katz, 31, hasn’t been. Katz, a fifth-year student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, currently serves as the rabbi at Chevrei Tzedek in Baltimore, but she’s spent extensive time in Philadelphia, Chicago, New York, Israel and Nepal, working for synagogues, schools and social justice organizations.

August 22, 2018

Jewish delegation witnesses ‘heartbreaking’ situation at border detention centers and courthouse

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

A delegation of Jewish leaders from 17 organizations is visiting detention and migrant facilities on the U.S.-Mexico border. The 27-person delegation visited detention centers in San Diego on Tuesday and is traveling to asylum-seeker shelters in Tijuana, Mexico, on Wednesday. The trip, which is being organized by the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish refugee aid group …