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.

Hunger in a World of Plenty

Originally posted on Pursue: Action for a Just World This Food Day, we have a chance to ask the big question about hunger: why does it still exist? Does it occur: Because there is not enough food for everyone? Because of climate change? Because of insufficient infrastructure? The simple answer is that none of these is …

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Reversing Hunger Starts With Us. Now.

It goes without saying that American Jews are pretty into food—especially during the Jewish holidays. Food plays a central and sensory role in our lives and serves as a map of our history. Meals, recipes and the acts of eating and drinking teach us about who we are, where we live and where we come …

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Why Liberia's Government Must Listen to Women

Liberia is in the public spotlight. Leymah Gbowee, a Liberian women’s peace activist and the director of an AJWS grantee organization, along with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, both won the Nobel Peace Prize. We have much to celebrate. But there is still much work to be done. On October 11th, Liberians went to the …

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What's Happening to Women and Girls in East Africa

There’s been considerable coverage of the East Africa famine over the past two weeks. In his NY Times op-ed last Sunday, Nick Kristof wrote about a famine-related subject that, for many people, is an afterthought: the unspeakable violence against women and girls that escalates in the face of food insecurity. Kristof writes: “At the very …

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