Urging rapid passage of legislation aimed at providing debt relief to the world’s most impoverished countries, Ruth W. Messinger, President of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), is joining a group of Congress members and other leading activists in a fast today and will be speaking at an October 16 Jubilee USA prayer breakfast on Capitol Hill.

American Jewish World Service (AJWS) has pledged $2.2 million over three years to the Education Partnership for Children in Conflict Regions, a $148 million, 19-organization consortium co-announced by President Bill Clinton and actress Angelina Jolie at last week’s annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative.

Speaking from a press teleconference in Kigali, Rwanda, AJWS President Ruth Messinger implored activists to continue the fight for Darfur. “We’ve made a mockery of the idea of ‘never again,’ living through Armenia, the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Kosovo, South Sudan and now Darfur. It’s time to stop this genocide and to end genocide for all time.”

This week Texas and Hawaii become the sixteenth and seventeenth states, respectively, to pass legislation ensuring that state pension fund investments are withdrawn from corporations that support the Sudanese government and fund its genocidal campaign in Darfur.

NEW YORK, June 15, 2007 — Over 1,000 people gathered in New York City on Wednesday, June 13, to honor American Jewish World Service and former President Bill Clinton. The inspiring event, “Partners in Global Justice: An Evening with Former President William Jefferson Clinton,” was an opportunity to celebrate AJWS’ commitment to pursuing global justice …

NEW YORK, June 11, 2007 – Statement from Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, in support of Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s announcement that New York State will participate in targeted divestment from companies invested in Sudan:“Today New York State took a critical step to ensure that the public sector’s pension funds, one of the …

NEW YORK, June 1, 2007 – Zipporah Sein, the director of AJWS grantee Karen Women’s Organization in Burma, has won the Perdita Huston Human Rights Award in recognition of her leadership in helping the oppressed women of Burma achieve equality, education and other basic human rights. This prestigious award recognizes the life and work of …

NEW YORK, May 29, 2007 – A response from Ruth Messinger, president of American Jewish World Service, in reaction to President Bush’s statement today on sanctions against the government of Sudan:President Bush today acknowledged the horrendous ongoing genocide in Darfur, focused a spotlight on President Bashir as the perpetrator of this evil against his own …

NEW YORK, March 28, 2007 – American Jewish World Service, one of the fastest growing Jewish organizations in the United States, is pleased to announce the appointment of Rabbi Lee T. Bycel as Executive Director of the AJWS Western Region. This is a newly created position and reflects the growth of AJWS on the West …

NEW YORK, March 5, 2007 – In honor of International Women’s Day on March 8, a number of American Jewish World Service grantees from around the world are in New York City to speak on women’s issues at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW). Representing a diverse spectrum of approaches and …