Dear Avaazers,
The last few months have been intense. But millions of us in this movement have risen BEAUTIFULLY to this moment, and impacted the world in profound ways. Here's how --
|  | 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. | |  | Our investigation pushed Facebook to send fact-checks to EVERYONE who'd interacted with harmful Covid-19 misinformation - Facebook even publicly thanked us! | |  | 2.3 million of us answered the UN Chief's call for a global ceasefire, and he publicly expressed his "deep gratitude" to us before taking the call to the UN Security Council. And just this week, the ceasefire resolution was adopted! | |  | 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. | | | 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, defended fair access to Covid-19 treatments, and helped win billions in debt relief for the poorest countries to help fight Covid... | | | 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, 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 Mashas', 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
| "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 show 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, and on the day we went public they announced that they would start alerting ALL users who had engaged with harmful Covid-19 misinformation, and direct them to the WHO websites with fact-checked corrections. This is the first time EVER that Faceboothek has done that! They even publicly thanked Avaaz for helping to develop this approach! While they need to do so much more, we can all feel immensely proud of how... [read more]
With determination,
Fadi
| "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 covid-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 world peace to tackle Covid - 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 open to sending his call to 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 office 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
| "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
| "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] | "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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