Nongovernmental Organizations at UMVUN 2016
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Mercy Corps {NGO Letter}
“Alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. 1979: The organization is founded as Save the Refugees Fund, a task force organized by Dan O’Neill in response to the plight of Cambodian refugees fleeing the famine, war and genocide of the “killing fields.” The fledgling organization raises $1 million to provide lifesaving aid to hundreds of thousands of people in Cambodia and helps focus America’s attention on the humanitarian crisis… 2015: Mercy Corps is working in more than 40 countries to help people recover from disasters, build stronger communities and find their own solutions to poverty…”
https://www.mercycorps.org/about-us/our-missionThe Clinton Health Access Initiative {NGO Letter}
“The Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. (CHAI) was founded in 2002 with a transformational goal: help save the lives of millions of people living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world by dramatically scaling up antiretroviral treatment. When CHAI was founded, many viewed this goal as unreasonable because health systems in poor countries were too weak and prices of relevant drugs and diagnostic tests were too high. CHAI played a leadership role, working alongside governments and other partners, to lower the costs of treatment and help build the in-country systems necessary to provide lifesaving treatment to millions of people. Since then, CHAI has pursued several similarly ambitious goals, from scaling up pediatric AIDS treatment in order to achieve equity with adults in a time frame few thought possible, to rapidly accelerating the rollout of new vaccines. CHAI has achieved many of its most important successes when seeking to fundamentally change the way the world approaches an issue and pushing the boundaries of what is considered feasible in global health. CHAI’s focus is transformational work that creates a fundamental change in the way actors approach and realize goals. To do this, the degree of impact of a CHAI program must be dramatic, the scale must be at the national or global level, the breadth must change the way others approach the problem, and the sustainability must allow for CHAI’s eventual exit without erosion of impact. Today, CHAI operates in 33 countries across the developing world and more than 70 countries are able to access CHAI-negotiated price reductions, vaccines, medical devices, and diagnostics.”
http://www.clintonhealthaccess.org/about/Amnesty International {NGO Letter}
“Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who take injustice personally. We are campaigning for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. We investigate and expose the facts, whenever and wherever abuses happen.” “We lobby governments, and other powerful groups such as companies. Making sure they keep their promises and respect international law. By telling the powerful stories of the people we work with, we mobilize millions of supporters around the world to campaign for change and to stand in defence of activists on the frontline. We support people to claim their rights through education and training.”
Doctors Without Borders {NGO Letter}
Doctors Without Borders, according to their website provides medical aid where it is needed most. Independent. Neutral. Impartial.
“Our medical teams in the field provide services that range from basic vaccination campaigns, to maternal and pediatric care, to fighting neglected diseases, to complex surgery. Doctors Without Borders also advocates for affordable, high-quality medicines for the world's poorest people. “
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict {NGO Letter}
“GPPAC consists of hundreds of civil society organisations from around the world and what unites them all is a dedication to conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Beyond that, GPPAC's network members have many different approaches and priorities. The network's work must be guided by a strategic plan providing a framework under which all GPPAC activities fit, but which leaves enough room for members' own perspectives and choices. To ensure this, GPPAC embarked on a strategic planning process for the 2016-2020 period that was as inclusive and participatory as possible, inviting all members to give their input individually through surveys and collectively as regional networks. In the strategic plan 2016-2020, GPPAC adopted a framework with three core strategies.
Under the Enabling Collaboration strategy, GPPAC seeks to improve collaboration within its own network; between civil society actors beyond the network; between civil society, (inter)governmental and non-state actors; and between (inter)governmental actors." http://www.gppac.net/
International Committee of the Red Cross {NGO Letter}
“Established in 1863, the ICRC operates worldwide, helping people affected by conflict and armed violence and promoting the laws that protect victims of war. An independent and neutral organization, its mandate stems essentially from the Geneva Conventions of 1949. We are based in Geneva, Switzerland, and employ some 14,500 people in more than 80 countries.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance.”
Islamic Relief Worldwide {NGO Letter}
“Islamic Relief Worldwide was established in 1984 by Dr Hany El-Banna and fellow students from the University of Birmingham in the UK in response to the famine in Africa. In 1985, Islamic Relief’s began its first project – sponsoring a chicken farm in Sudan. That same year, its founders hired a small office in Mosely, in Birmingham, and from there raised £100,000 for the famine response. Islamic Relief grew at a rapid rate, and over the next five years, started working in Mozambique, Iran, Pakistan, Malawi, Iraq, and Afghanistan, among others, responding to emergencies and distributing clothes, food, offering health support and beginning the long-term project that is now our One-to-One Orphan Sponsorship programmed. Today, by the grace of God, Islamic Relief is a truly global organization, working in more than 40 countries providing emergency aid, carrying out long-term development, and campaigning for change.”
http://www.islamic-relief.orgUNICEF {NGO Letter}
“UNICEF believes: All children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfill their potential - to the benefit of a better world. That means equal access to services and care that can make all the difference in children’s lives. It means working to achieve gender fairness and equality. UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere.
In all of its work, UNICEF takes a life-cycle based approach, recognizing the particular importance of early childhood development and adolescence. UNICEF programmes focus on the most disadvantaged children, including those living in fragile contexts, those with disabilities, those who are affected by rapid urbanization and those affected by environmental degradation.”