Dear Avaazers,
The last few months have been
intense. But amidst all the adversity,
millions of us in this movement have risen
beautifully and impacted the world in profound
ways. Here's how --
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Our
biggest fundraiser EVER raised enough to provide
tens of millions of meals and medical
supplies for some of the world's most
vulnerable people. |
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Our
investigation pushed Facebook to send fact
checks to EVERYONE who'd interacted with
harmful Covid-19 misinformation - Facebook even
publicly thanked us! |
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2.3
million of us answered the UN Chief's call for a
global ceasefire, he repeatedly cited our
support and expressed his "deep gratitude"
before taking the call to the UN Security
Council. And just last week, a ceasefire
resolution was adopted! |
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Hundreds
of thousands of us pledged actions to flatten
the curve, started thousands of local groups
to help out in our communities, and
responded when the crisis hit by launching a
campaign on our site every 45
seconds. |
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And
so much more... We helped inspire European
leaders to take us out of this crisis with a
Green Recovery Deal, hit back against
Trump's decision to pull out of the WHO, fought
for fair access to Covid-19 treatments,
and helped win billions in debt relief
for the poorest countries to help fight Covid...
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It's
a time we'll never forget. Just months ago,
who could have imagined that billions of us
would stay home for weeks, and do billions of
acts of kindness to protect one another from a
deadly virus?
This pandemic is far from
over, but these stories, built brick by brick
by the actions of millions of people, offer
hope that we can make it through this crisis
and anything else we will face. Together.
May they be a reminder, that in our
darkest days, we can shine our brightest.
130,000 of us raised enough to
fund millions of meals and emergency help for
communities in
need  It was early April when the UN warned
that the world faced a famine of 'biblical
proportions’. At Avaaz, almost every day brought
new heartbreaking requests from every corner of
the globe. I felt helpless.
So we put
out a call for help - and this community
answered … with our biggest fundraiser EVER!
Over 130,000 of us donated, providing food and
medical aid to forgotten communities in India
and Pakistan; supporting indigenous families
like Masha's, who's enjoying that juicy mango
above, as well as giving emergency aid to
displaced people in Syria and the Rohingya
refugees in Bangladesh. And this is just the
start -- while you're reading this, we’re
helping friends in Haiti, Yemen, South Africa,
Uganda, Peru, and… [read
more]
With hope
Marigona
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“I
cannot thank Avaaz enough for helping us in the
hour of greatest need. You have helped save
lives. Thanks to you, many of us feel hopeful
again about a brighter future.”
Muhammad Sabir, Pakhiwas Welfare
Society,
Pakistan | | |
Our investigation into viral
Covid-19 misinformation pushed Facebook to send
fact checks to
millions 
It was early in the crisis when
we saw the first lies about coronavirus going
viral. Days later, close friends and family
started sharing false health advice. We began an
investigation, and within weeks released a
bombshell report showing Facebook was an
epicenter of misinformation, and urging them to
act.
We shared our findings with
Facebook before launching it. On the day we went
public, they announced that they would alert ALL
users who had engaged with harmful Covid-19
misinformation, and direct them to fact-checked
corrections on the WHO website. This is the
first time Facebook has EVER done that! They
even publicly thanked Avaaz for helping to
develop their approach. While they need to do so
much more, we can all feel immensely proud of
how... [read
more]
With
determination,
Fadi
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"Thing
is, it wasn’t the globe’s most powerful tech
regulator that forced Facebook to acknowledge
flaws in its policy -- it was campaign group
Avaaz..."
POLITICO | | |
We teamed up with top doctors to
take our call directly to Mark
Zuckerberg  As the crisis developed, doctors on
the frontlines told us horror stories of
patients drinking bleach to cure themselves, or
dying in front of their eyes because they had
thought the virus was just another flu, and came
into hospital too late.
So we teamed up
with top doctors around the world and placed an
open letter in the New York Times calling on
social media CEOs to “stop giving oxygen to
Covid-19 misinformation”. Insiders told us that
it was put directly on the desks of top social
media executives.
Media across the world
reported on the open letter, and the doctors
were interviewed by the BBC, MSNBC and many
more. British MPs even heard some of their
testimonies right before grilling executives
from Facebook, Twitter and Google... [read
more]
In gratitude,
Andy
2.3 million of us backed the UN
Chief’s call for a global ceasefire - and the
Security Council just adopted it!
 I was about to sign off for the
weekend, but then I read UN Chief António
Guterres’ bold call for a global ceasefire so
the world could unite to fight the virus. "The
fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war",
he said. I got goosebumps. The UN chief was
interested in sharing his call with Avaazers --
and the response was overwhelming. Over 2.3
million of us signed!
Guterres publicly
expressed his "deep gratitude" to us before
taking the call to the powerful UN Security
Council and called on world leaders to silence
the guns. His team repeatedly cited our petition
in its advocacy and media as evidence of public
support. Many others raised their voices -- from
the Pope, to Malala, to Leonardo DiCaprio. And
finally, after months of negotiations, the
Security Council adopted a resolution for a
global ceasefire. For the first time in history!
[read
more]
With goosebumps,
Risalat
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"A
heartfelt thank you to the more than two million
people worldwide who have raised your voice in
support of the UN appeal for a global ceasefire
amid #COVID19"
António Guterres, UN
Secretary
General | | |
We helped secure debt relief for
some of the world's poorest countries
 It was a Monday morning at the
end of March. We feared a new wave of
coronavirus would be even deadlier in countries
with fewer resources and weaker health systems.
Hearing that G20 leaders would be meeting in
days, we moved fast. Overnight we drafted a
campaign, calling on them to cancel the debt of
the world's poorest countries, so governments
could spend that money to contain the virus.
With groups like Jubilee Debt Campaign,
we made sure the voices of global citizens were
heard. And, just before G20 Finance Ministers
met, we splashed our call across a full-page ad
in The Economist. Days later, the G20 decided to
offer to suspend all bilateral debt for 77 of
the world's poorest countries for the entire
year, amounting to an estimated $12 billion...
[read
more]
With gratitude,
Sarah
Over 1 million Avaazers defended
fair access to Covid-19 vaccines and treatments
worldwide 
One evening the news broke that
Donald Trump was pulling funding from the WHO...
at the height of the pandemic! Over 1 million
Avaazers hit back against his decision, and
urged world leaders for fair universal access to
vaccines and treatments for everyone!
As
key governments negotiated their first joint
health declaration since the pandemic hit, we
placed a hard-hitting newspaper ad calling out
Trump's tactics to put patents over patients. We
ran polling showing that 8 in 10 Americans want
a fair distribution of vaccines, and at the end
of the meeting most governments agreed to ensure
universal access... [read
more]
With hope,
Marie
We're inspiring Europe to lead
the world out of this crisis with a powerful
Green Recovery
Deal! 
One morning during confinement, I
realised that the moment to end the lockdown in
our minds had come -- what if we turned the
Covid-19 crisis around, and actually used it to
fuel the clean and safe future we all dream of?
So when EU leaders met to discuss
Europe’s economic recovery, we drafted an open
letter that was signed over 1 million times --
and placed a series of media ads -- calling on
three powerful women to champion a Green
Recovery: including the President of the
Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
We
pushed key countries to support it -- and just
weeks ago, Ursula von der Leyen proposed an
ambitious recovery package that included
billions for climate action and efforts to build
a greener economic future... [read
more]
With a smile,
Pascal
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“Thank
you...Initiatives like yours provide extra
motivation to push forward, building a better
Europe: fairer, more resilient and sustainable.
Together we can do it”
Ursula von der
Leyen, President of the European
Commission | | |
We organised in our communities
to spread acts of
kindness
At
the moment the crisis hit, Avaaz members around
the world set up local solidarity groups to
support the most vulnerable, and launched a new
community campaign every 45 seconds. More than
ever before!
Seeing so many of us take
responsibility at a time of dire need has left
me in awe, and so here's a small taste of how
Avaazers have been shining humanity’s brightest
light during some of the darkest days :)
With love,
Spyro
- 🇵🇹 Eloisa launched a network of women in
Peniche to sew thousands of masks for
frontline workers and vulnerable families.
Yep, that's them above!
- 🇬🇲 Hagi’s village in The Gambia has no
running water, so he offered handwash buckets
and soap outside his store to fight
Covid-19
- 🇦🇹 🇩🇪🇨🇭 Katja started a petition to
reunite families who were separated by
quarantine laws across Europe. When a Swiss
Olympic medallist endorsed her campaign, it took
off in the media and authorities allowed
families to reunite
[read
more]
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"Something
beautiful is emerging from this challenging
situation. We're seeing, not only locally but
globally, that although we're physically
distant, we’re more connected than ever."
Eile, Avaaz member
Ireland | | |
These are
some of the beautiful stories we'll have the
privilege of telling our children and
grandchildren one day, about this time when the
world stood still.
Even more, each of us
has a story to tell about this moment -- of
choosing hope over despair, love over division,
kindness over indifference. And we'd like to
hear yours :) Click below to share your own
story, whatever has moved you, or inspired
you, or given you hope in these unprecedented
times.
With so much
gratitude to be part of this inspiring global
community,
Christoph, Ricken, Marie,
Luis, Patri, Risalat, Spyro, Nana, Fadi, Pascal,
Antonia, Bert, Francesco, Fey, Raul, Nataliya,
Laura and the rest of the Avaaz team
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