Dear friends,
It's unbelievable --
we're beating the biggest Goliaths of our time, forces no one thought it was possible to take down! In just the last weeks we helped win:
- a u-turn on Brazil's corrupt President's plan to destroy a swath of Amazon forest the size of Denmark!
- a court order stopping Donald Trump from destroying internet privacy
- a UN investigation into the atrocities in Yemen despite vicious Saudi Arabian opposition
- a major government review of climate-change denier Rupert Murdoch's bid to dominate UK media
These are fights no one thought were winnable. More than once they told us not to try, that the people in charge were too big and powerful. And yet...we've done it!
Our movement is writing a new David and Goliath story -- one where millions of Davids, armed with our faith in the power of people's voices, change the course of history one campaign at a time...
You've got to hear these stories of what we are achieving together right now:
Saving an area the size of Denmark in the Amazon Forest!
When President Temer of Brazil tried to sell off a rich stretch of forest the size of Denmark to mining interests,
nearly 2 million Avaazers joined the appeals of indigenous activists, celebrities and MPs, and forced the president to reverse his decision. We even took our call to New York, orchestrating a major media scandal just before Temer opened a key UN summit. A Brazilian lawmaker called it "the biggest attack on the Amazon of the last 50 years" -- and we blocked it!
Avaaz staff, indigenous leaders, and NGOs deliver the massive petition to the Brazilian Congress. Stopping Trump's internet takeover
When Trump's administration demanded the personal details of millions worldwide who'd visited an anti-Trump site,
Avaaz went to court with other groups to defend our privacy. First, the government backed off, then the judge went further, severely limiting the government's powers, and setting an important precedent for future cases!
Avaaz Senior Campaigner Nick Kimbrell outside the courthouse with Avaaz's petition and legal brief. Seeking justice for Yemen
Saudi Arabia has been bombing Yemen with impunity for years, killing children and destroying the country. When a UN vote to investigate these crimes was neck and neck,
Avaaz weighed in fast with members flooding key governments with messages, showing them people were watching -- and it worked. France and Canada stood their ground, and Saudi Arabia caved. Now, finally, justice is possible!
The UN Assembly voting to investigate human rights abuses in Yemen after a massive Avaaz campaign. Becoming the "fly in the ointment" for Murdoch's bid for Sky!
Rupert
Murdoch thought it would be smooth sailing to buy Europe's largest broadcaster, Sky, and take over the UK's media. But we proved him wrong! First, Avaaz brought victims of his US sexual and racial harassment scandals to the attention of British regulators, causing a giant media stir. Then, when he got provisional approval, our lawyers
moved to sue the regulator for its shoddy investigation declaring the Murdochs "fit and proper" media owners. Now Murdoch's bid is set to undergo another six months (at least) of investigation!
This is no longer a done deal -- and according to
this incredible Bloomberg piece, our community is the
"fly in the ointment" that's spoiling Murdoch's party.
Avaaz staff expose the Fox News sex scandals in front of Parliament square. $1.6 million for Rohingya rescue and relief!
When Burma's military began massacring the Rohingya people, and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee to Bangladesh,
Avaazers jumped in, raising over $1.6 million for trusted partners in days! They quickly hired rescue boats to bring terrified families to safety, delivered 110 tonnes of rice to thousands inside Burma, constructed latrines and wells for clean water, and right now they are providing essential shelter and relief.
At the same time over a million of us demanded our governments end support to the military, and the
Avaaz team delivered our voices directly to leaders at the UN in New York. The UK agreed to suspend ties, and the US withdrew a bill to increase military aid!
An image of children in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, from Avaaz-funded aid group Partners for Relief and Development. Pushing back the far-right in Germany
After Germany's extreme right-wing AfD party won 13% of votes in September's election,
we launched the most viral open letter in Germany ever, sending a clear message that the majority of Germans don't support their agenda. 490,000 people signed in hours telling the AfD "We are the 87 percent who did not vote for you!", and media all over the country spread the story of our rallying cry!!
Our letter to AfD got nearly half a million signatures and tons of media attention! Kicking hate out of the EU parliament
When MEP Korwin-Mikke said that women should earn less because they "are weaker, smaller and less intelligent", we didn't waste a minute calling for his suspension! Nearly one million Europeans joined the call,
MEPs delivered it into Parliament, and the sexist MEP received unprecedented sanctions! 
Sexist MEP Korwin-Mikke received unprecedented sanctions after almost 1 million Avaazers joined the call. Phew! And that's just what's happened in the last weeks... There's so much more to come. And it's changing the way I think about the world.
I often feel small in the face of the crises facing our people in this moment. I wonder how I'm going to explain this time to my young daughter, hoping beyond hope for a beautiful story of the triumph of human spirit over hatred, division, violence, cholera and climate change. Writing this report on the victories we've managed in just the past months I'm starting to believe that kind of story might actually become true.
For me, my little girl, and the entire next generation, thank you for everything you're doing to take on the scariest forces in our world. It's working. We're winning.
With hope,
Emma and the rest of the Avaaz team.
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