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.
Today is the first anniversary of the worst earthquake to hit Nepal in more than eight decades. The 7.8 magnitude temblor—which was followed by countless aftershocks and a second powerful 7.3 magnitude quake two weeks later—killed nearly 9,000 people, injured more than 22,000 and displaced more than 188,000 in the small South Asian nation already …
AJWS is in it for the long haul in Nepal, where recovery from the April 25, 2015, earthquake has been slow, to say the least. AJWS and other international donors have collectively sent billions of dollars to the recovering country, which was already one of the poorest in the world before it hit headlines. But an unprepared and inefficient government, massive fuel shortages and political conflicts have complicated and delayed the delivery of aid and services.
As the Liberia outbreak began to ebb in early 2015, AJWS recognized an emerging, urgent need to assist the thousands of people who have been deeply traumatized by Ebola—especially survivors and those who lost loved ones.
Being a Jewish advocate for human rights is especially poignant for me on April 19th, the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. This was the largest act of Jewish resistance in the face of German-occupied Poland during World War II. The uprising began 73 years ago today when Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto decided to …
We are literally witnessing history being made in Burma. I was in Burma last week with a small team—an award-winning photojournalist, a wonderful colleague from American Jewish World Service (AJWS)’s communications team, and our local consultant and our translator—to document the ongoing, hard-fought work of some of the advocates for women, ethnic minorities and human rights whom …
