News & Updates
-
January 19, 2010
- SUDAN NOW
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2010
Contact:
Susan Morgan – (617) 797-0451 – susan@paxcommunications.org
Eileen Read – (202) 642-0779 – eread@enoughproject.org
Julia Thornton – (650) 587-2030 – jthornton@humanityunited.org
CAMPAIGN HIGHLIGHTS IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF U.S. SUDAN POLICY
Nonprofit groups’ ads urge five U.S. officials to hold Sudanese government accountable
Washington, D.C. – This week, the National Security Council Deputies Committee will meet to review progress of the Obama Administration’s Sudan policy. A group of anti-genocide and human rights organizations collaborating around a campaign called Sudan Now plans to focus a spotlight on the unique importance of these individuals in holding the parties in Sudan accountable for continued violence and their unique opportunity to help prevent a return a full-scale war in the country. Ultimately, the objective of the campaign is to encourage these officials to ensure that the Administration’s Sudan policy is implemented fully in accordance with President Barack Obama’s October 19, 2009 policy review which pledged strict accountability for Sudan’s leaders.
Sudan Now has secured advertising in the Washington Post, Politico, and on Facebook and is also helping to organize a grassroots effort via social media to draw attention to the deputies meeting and its outcome. Facebook ads will be targeted to reach employees at the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S Congress, as well as the fan pages of the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency.
The five U.S. officials responsible for the policy review and that the campaign is targeting include:
· Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor
· Michèle Flournoy, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
· Stuart Levey, Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
· Erica Barks-Ruggles, Deputy to the Permanent Representative of the U.S. to the United Nations
· Jim Steinberg, Deputy Secretary of State
All are members of the National Security Council Deputies Committee, which reviews the Administration’s major foreign policy initiatives to ensure they are being implemented in a timely and effective manner and to consider whether existing policy directives should be revamped or rescinded.
In tandem with Sudan Now’s advertising and social media initiative, a broader group of the world’s leading human rights organizations is today is releasing a strategy paper spelling out the practical benchmarks that will help officials, concerned citizens, and others in the international community assess progress or lack thereof in the Obama Administration’s efforts to forge a lasting peace in Sudan.
“As we approach the elections in April, there has never been a more critical time in Sudan’s history, nor a more acute opportunity for the U.S. to lead a bolder path forward, than right now,” said John Norris, executive director of the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, which helped lead the groups’ efforts to define a common set of benchmarks on Sudan Policy. “We appeal to the five deputies to act now in leading multilateral efforts aimed at holding those who promote violence in Sudan accountable. We also urge them to immediately deploy full-time U.S. diplomatic teams to the region in order to accelerate peace efforts.”
Members of the Sudan Now campaign include Humanity United, the Enough Project at the Center for American Progress, i-ACT, Investors Against Genocide, and Genocide Intervention Network. The campaign is advocating for the Obama Administration to live up to its campaign promises on Sudan and to help lead the international effort to help secure peace once and for all for the people of Sudan. This includes carefully balancing incentives for Sudan’s political leaders with consequences for those who continue to perpetrate violence. “Sustained pressure backed by meaningful and focused consequences is the only tool that has moved Sudanese President al-Bashir and his National Congress Party during the 20 years of its authoritarian rule in Sudan,” said Norris. “This was the approach President Obama advocated as a candidate and this is the course his Administration should follow with a comprehensive policy focused on nationwide peace.”
The situation in Sudan is urgent: Nearly 3 million Darfuris living in camps face the threat of rape and aid cut-offs. The country’s president remains wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, torture and attacks against civilian populations. And a return to full-scale North-South civil war looms as the nation prepares for a vote on independence for Southern Sudan in 2011.
###
Sudan Now is a coalition of anti-genocide advocacy organizations committed to bringing meaningful and lasting peace to Sudan and encouraging strong American leadership and action to achieve this goal. For more information, visit SudanActionNow.com.
Learn more about Sudan Now
-
December 16, 2009
- ATEST
Alliance of anti-slavery groups helps to secure largest ever increase
Media Relations Contact:
Julia Thornton, 650.587.2030 or jthornton@humanityunited.org
REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. — The 2010 federal spending bill, approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama today, provides for a landmark increase in government resources to fight modern-day slavery and human trafficking. The increase of nearly $12 million over last year is one of the largest in recent history, significantly bolstering total U.S. government spending to fight modern-day slavery. Legal nowhere yet present in every country, modern-day slavery and human trafficking present one of the world’s most pressing human rights challenges. There are more slaves on the planet today than at any time in human history—an estimated 27 million.
Leading the effort to secure this historic increase was a coalition of anti-human trafficking and anti-slavery organizations known as the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST). A project of the Silicon Valley-based philanthropic organization Humanity United, ATEST spent the last 12 months conducting comprehensive, coordinated outreach to Congress and federal agencies. ATEST met with congressional committee chairs and staff and, among other efforts, coordinated with the Congressional Caucus on Human Trafficking to help secure support for the increased funding.
As a result of the efforts of ATEST and other leading organizations in the human rights community, unprecedented federal resources will be available in 2010 to expand human trafficking investigations and prosecutions, support trafficking survivors, and foster international cooperation to combat modern-day slavery worldwide. This includes a 25 percent increase in funding ($12.5 million total) toward expanded counseling, protection, housing, and legal assistance to trafficking survivors in the United States. The Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit will receive a 50 percent increase in funding ($5.3 million total). The FY10 Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Conference Report also requires the Department of Justice to have a “Trafficking in Persons” contact in every U.S. Attorney’s Office. Meanwhile, the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (G/TIP) at the State Department will receive a 34 percent increase in funding (more than $6 million total) and the Department of Labor’s International Labor Affairs Bureau will receive a 7-percent increase in funding ($93 million total). Altogether, these funding increases broaden the capacity of U.S. agencies to respond to human trafficking in the United States.
“The U.S. government’s 2010 appropriations package demonstrates Congress’ increased attention to and commitment toward combating human trafficking and modern-day slavery in the United States and abroad,” said Humanity United President and CEO Randy Newcomb. “We applaud the bold, bipartisan leadership of Congress on this issue, President Obama’s courage in taking this critical step toward making human trafficking a top priority at the federal level, and the hard work of all ATEST members in helping to secure this historic increase in federal funding.”
This year was the first in ATEST’s multi-year strategy to raise awareness about human trafficking in federal appropriations discussions and to increase funding for anti-trafficking programs. ATEST was formed in 2007 as a project of Humanity United. It consists of nine member organizations: the Alliance to Stop Slavery and End Trafficking (ASSET), the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), Free the Slaves, the International Justice Mission (IJM), the Not for Sale Campaign, the Polaris Project, the Ricky Martin Foundation, Solidarity Center, and Vital Voices. The coalition appreciates the leadership of Senators Barbara Mikulski (Md.), Richard Shelby (Ala.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Judd Gregg (N.H.), Tom Harkin (Iowa), and Thad Cochran (Miss.); and Representatives Alan Mollohan (W.Va.), Frank Wolf (Va.), Nita Lowey (N.Y.), Kay Granger (Texas), Dave Obey (Wis.), and Todd Tiahrt (Kan.), who worked tirelessly to secure these federal resources to combat this crime against humanity. ATEST also appreciates the bipartisan efforts of the House Human Trafficking Caucus to support anti-trafficking programs and ensure full implementation of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.
###
About Humanity United
Humanity United is a philanthropic organization committed to building a world where mass atrocities and modern-day slavery are no longer possible. By helping to build permanent constituencies to end atrocities and slavery, supporting efforts that empower affected communities, and addressing the root causes of conflict and injustice, Humanity United seeks to help restore human dignity in places where it has been lost and to help create a lasting global peace. To learn more, visit HumanityUnited.org.
-
December 10, 2009
- HUMANITY UNITED NEWS
Randy Newcomb, president and CEO of Humanity United, appeared on the Dec. 9, 2009 episode of CNN’s “Amanpour“—a daily 30-minute news magazine program—to discuss the need for international engagement in Sudan during this critical time in the country’s history. “Nobody can say that we were caught by surprise,” Newcomb told viewers. “It’s a moment in time where the international community can get this one right.”
• Watch the congressional testimony here
• View “Amanpour” here
-
November 30, 2009
- HUMANITY UNITED NEWS
Humanity United Founder and Board Chair Pam Omidyar, and her husband, Pierre, topped Barron’s list of the “25 Best Givers.” The list, developed in collaboration with the Global Philanthropy Group, ranks donors based on their effectiveness.
Read more and see who made the list here.
-
November 03, 2009
- PRESS RELEASE
Media Relations Contact
Mike Boyer or Julia Thornton:
650.587.2030 / jthornton@humanityunited.org
Senior Congressional Aide to Join Humanity United
House Foreign Affairs Chief Counsel David Abramowitz Will Lead D.C. Office
REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. — The philanthropic organization Humanity United announced today that David Abramowitz, a long-time senior professional staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, is the new head of its Washington, D.C. operations.
Abramowitz, who joins the Silicon Valley-based Humanity United as Director of Policy and Government Relations, brings to the organization a distinguished background as a foreign policy professional and human rights advocate. Abramowitz is currently chief counsel for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, where he has been a member of the senior professional staff since 1999. Before joining the Committee, he held positions in the U.S. State Department and with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Abramowitz will assume his responsibilities in Humanity United’s Washington office on November 9.
During his tenure at the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Abramowitz has worked on legislation such as the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Act of 2000, legislation creating the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the reauthorization of U.S. international HIV/AIDS programs. He led efforts in 2008 to pass the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 and shepherded the 2009 Foreign Relations Authorization Act.
In his new role, Abramowitz will help inform Humanity United’s policy-based advocacy activities, lead outreach efforts to the U.S. government, multilateral institutions, and international NGOs, help direct the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST), a coalition of U.S.-based anti-human trafficking organizations organized by Humanity United, and provide strategic counsel and advice to a broad range of grantees, among other activities.
“David has long been a tireless and effective leader on issues such as human trafficking and international justice,” said Randy Newcomb, president and CEO of Humanity United. “We are honored that he has chosen to bring his passion and significant experience to Humanity United.”
“I feel privileged to have served the Congress for 10 great years. Humanity United is an outstanding organization and I look forward to continuing to work on the issues I care deeply about in a new way,” Abramowitz said.
About Humanity United
Humanity United is a philanthropic organization committed to building a world where mass atrocities and modern-day slavery are no longer possible. By helping to build permanent constituencies to end atrocities and slavery, supporting efforts that empower affected communities, and addressing the root causes of conflict and injustice, Humanity United seeks to help restore human dignity in places where it has been lost and to help create a lasting global peace. To learn more, visit HumanityUnited.org.
Learn more about Humanity United
|
