PLEASE SIGN
Protect the FGM Ban, Protect the Girls!
AVAAZ
To members of the National Assembly of The Gambia:
Female genital mutilation serves no medical purpose and leaves its victims scarred for life – mentally and physically. The Gambia took a bold step forward by banning the practice in 2015. We urge you to keep the ban in place. Protect young girls. Keep them whole.
Sign and share the Avaaz petition
Stop forcing women and girls into sex for water!
AVAAZ
To the Government of Kenya and all world leaders:
We are horrified that forcing women and girls into paying for water with sex is legal in many parts of the world. We demand you to ban this horrific practice — immediately! Everyone deserves to have safe access to necessities like food and water.
Sign and share the Avaaz global petition
Seize Russian Assets, Help Ukraine Rebuild!
AVAAZ
To global leaders;
As citizens of Europe and the world, we are horrified at the scale of the devastation in Ukraine as the result of Putin’s illegal war of aggression. We call on you to maintain your commitment to the people of Ukraine as the war enters its third year, and to do everything in your power to assure the transfer of the billions in frozen Russian state assets to Ukraine, where they are so desperately needed.
Sign and share the Avaaz global petition
Gaza’s last hope!
AVAAZ
To global leaders:
As citizens from across the world we are horrified at the violence facing the Palestinian people, and deeply concerned about warnings of genocide from governments and UN experts. We call on you to urgently file a declaration of intervention on the South African-led lawsuit at the International Court of Justice in order to support the case, including provisional measures to stop the war.
Sign and share the Avaaz global petition
I stand with Afghan Women: #AllOrNone
Change.org
We urge academic institutions, human rights organizations and defenders, and women’s rights advocates not to leave Afghan women alone in this crisis and their resistance. Afghan women are being killed, arrested, and tortured just for asking for their fundamental rights and for standing against the inhumane actions of the Taliban since the collapse of the former Afghan government.
Sign and share the change.org petition
Open Call for an Immediate Ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Israel to Prevent a Humanitarian Catastrophe and Further Loss of Innocent Lives
Change.org
We have witnessed unfathomable death and destruction in the Gaza Strip and Israel. Thousands of people have been killed, injured, displaced, and nearly two hundred remain held hostage, including children and elderly…
Sign and share the change.org petition
Open Call for an Immediate Ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Israel
oxfam.org
The UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General and all world leaders with influence must take immediate action to ensure a ceasefire comes into effect. It remains our only option to avert further loss of civilian life and humanitarian catastrophe. Anything less will forever be a stain on our collective conscience….
Sign and share the Oxfam petition
Sauvons les enfants ukrainiens déportés en Russie !
#BringBackUkrainianKids
Change.org
…Nous appelons nos compatriotes et tous les citoyens d’Europe et du monde à interpeller d’urgence, dans toute l’Europe, nos chefs d’État et de gouvernement : il faut sauver les enfants ukrainiens enlevés et déportés en Russie!
Sign and share the Change European petition
Save the Ukrainian children deported to Russia!
#BringBackUkrainianKids
Change.org
…several hundred thousand Ukrainian children, including nearly 20,000 unaccompanied minors identified by Kyiv to date (May 2023), are currently being held on Russian territory, with no guarantees or external controls on their living conditions…
Sign and share the Change European petition
UKRAINE – WAR IS MADNESS!
Change.org
Stop war in Ukraine:
This is unacceptable madness. The very idea that we must go back to a war in Europe is a real madness.
All those in charge of the European Union and international politics are called to act with determination to stop the crisis in Ukraine from leading to a new war that would have devastating consequences for the whole world. It would be a very dangerous historical regression….
Sign and share the Change global petition
We can’t abandon Ukraine’s stolen children
Avaaz
To governments across the world:
As citizens and parents around the world, we are horrified that thousands of Ukrainian children are being taken by Putin and his officials for re-education and adoption in Russia…
Sign and share the Avaaz global petition.
Iran: End the Brutal Crackdown!
Avaaz
To world governments:
We call on you to help stop the brutal crackdown against women, children and peaceful protesters in Iran. Help free those unlawfully detained, stop the death sentences, and set up an independent UN mechanism to investigate and end impunity for grave crimes in Iran. Global pressure works and must include targeted sanctions on Iranian officials and institutions responsible for the violence and human rights violations.
Sign and share the Avaaz global petition.
“Women, Life, Freedom!” Protect the Protest in Iran
Amnesty International
“Please be our voice… We are standing firm in the streets. We are risking our lives on the street [protesting], please please stand up for us.” Protester from Esfahan, Iran
Sign and share Amnesty’s global petition.
STAND WITH AFGHAN GIRLS
Avaaz
Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala Yousafzai and women’s rights advocates Zarqa Yaftali and Shaharzad Akbar just called on leaders to urgently get millions of Afghan girls back in school. Let’s all join them — sign the open letter now:
To the Taliban and leaders around the world:
” One month ago, the Taliban shut school gates for millions of Afghan girls — robbing them of not just an education but also their futures.
Afghanistan is now the only country in the world that forbids girls’ education. Leaders everywhere must take urgent, decisive action to get every Afghan girl back in school….
Sign and share the global petition.
Protect the freedom and safety of Afghan women and girls
Change.org
The lives and freedoms of women and girls are in the balance as the Taliban takes power in Afghanistan. Under Taliban rules, women and girls are banned from studying, working, showing their skin in public, accessing healthcare, being involved in politics or speaking publicly. Sexual violence and forced marriage to Taliban fighters is common. …
Sign and share this UK petition.
Iran: Stop Using the Death Penalty Against Protesters
Middle East Matters
Islamic Republic authorities have detained tens of thousands of protesters during recent anti-government demonstrations that sparked after the killing of Mahsa Zhina Amini in police custody for having an “improper” hijab. Since September 16, Iranians across the country have been protesting against the government. Authorities have responded with a violent and deadly crackdown. Thousands have faced arbitrary detention and torture. …
Sign and share Middle East Matters’ petition
Finland Stands with the Women of Iran
change.org
We call on Finnish leaders in the government and society to publicly stand with the people of Iran…
Sign and share this Finland petition.
PLEASE GIVE
Women for Women International
WE ARE DEVASTATED BY THE INCREASING NUMBER OF LIVES LOST AND THE SUFFERING OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE CONFLICT.
By donating, you can help address the unmet needs of women in the West Bank, where violence is rapidly escalating and families face increasingly limited access to health and medical facilities, clean water and essential food items.
Your gift today will help to provide cash assistance, hygiene kits, trauma-informed counselling and basic needs such as milk, food and nappies.
Call for Support
Appeal from the United Nations Population Fund
As war escalates in Ukraine, UNFPA warns of the impacts on women and girls.
UNFPA is deeply concerned about the escalation of war in Ukraine, and the humanitarian needs will dramatically escalate.
We have been working in Ukraine for decades, expanding access to reproductive health services to some of the hardest-to-reach people. We will stay and scale up the delivery of life-saving services to people in need across the country.
Our staff are on the ground ready to deliver essential medicines, supplies and services to ensure that reproductive health care is sustained.
We need your urgent help today to reach more women and girls in Ukraine.
UNFPA: Donate to Ukrainian women and girls
BACKGROUND
Belarus linked to forcible transfer of Ukrainian children: Study
Yale researchers say more than 2,400 children have been deported from Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Aljazeera, Nov 17, 2023
Russia accused of war crimes over Ukrainian children
CBC News, Feb 22, 2023
Russia has put at least 6,000 Ukrainian children in camps, according to a U.S.-funded report from Yale University. The report says the children are enduring pro-Russian re-education. Some are being adopted out to Russian families with fanfare from Russian officials, while others are allegedly receiving military training. Meanwhile, Ukrainian mothers have been making long and treacherous journeys in an attempt to retrieve their children….
Revolt of the Year: The Iranian Women Uprising
The Islamic Republic’s theocratic elite are on the ropes
by Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, New Republic, Dec 29, 2022
It takes a special kind of coward to kill a child and steal the body. To execute someone, and only tell their family afterward. To shoot at people chanting the word “freedom,” and shut off the internet in hopes that no one will find out. In the last three months, the Islamic Republic of Iran has done all of this and more.
RESOURCES
World Refugee and Migration Council
Look here to learn more about actions being taken by Canada.
Header image credit: OZAN KOSE//Getty Images