Updates from 3 organisations supported by the BHA and H4BW:
Jubilee Debt campaign can double your donation – this week only
This Thursday, Friday and Saturday your donation to the Jubilee Debt Campaign can be doubled FOR FREE, with the Big Give Christmas Challenge.You’ll have three chances to have your donation doubled at:
– 10am on Thursday 4 December
– 10am on Friday 5 December
– 10am on Saturday 6 December
Crucially, there are limited funds available for doubling, so if there’s one thing to remember from this email, it’s this: donate as close as possible to 10am for the best chance of getting your donation doubled.
The JDC is aiming to raise £10,000 over the three days, which can be doubled to an amazing £20,000. This would make an enormous difference to our work to break the chains of debt. We’re raising funds for our campaign to avert a new debt crisis in the global South. A new boom in lending to the developing world is under way, with countries like Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia on track for a new debt crisis if nothing is done to address it. The campaign is focusing on highlighting the scale of the threat, and our manifesto to avert it, in the run-up to the General Election next May.
You will need a debit or credit card and a working internet connection. If you haven’t donated online before, the Big Give has a simple guide to making online donations for the first time. See http://jubileedebt.org.uk/blog/big-give-christmas-challenge-2 for more information.
Slavery in the UK
You may have read shocking recent reports about slavery here in the UK (for example http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-30255084), timed for the second reading of The Modern Slavery Bill in the House of Lords on 17 November and debate in the Lords Committee from 1 December. Anti-Slavery International has been advocating for the reform of laws on slavery to provide a clear and consistent tool to address the issue in the UK and welcomed the Modern Slavery Bill as an opportunity to introduce modern, robust legislation that could help address slavery and its underlying causes. As the Bill passes through the Parliament, Anti-Slavery International and the Anti-Trafficking Monitoring Group (ATMG), the Transparency in Supply Chains coalition and other coalitions have been proposing amendments to strengthen the it. Find out more about the progress of the Bill as well as Anti-Slavery’s other work at http://www.antislavery.org/english/.
The Climate Coalition prepares for 2015
The “For the Love of…” campaign continues while TCC plans for spring 2015 are developing fast. TCC will be launching “Show the Love” on Valentines Day 2014, using an image of a green heart as a challenge and alternative to the familiar corporatised red one. TCC ambitions for the day including getting famous people to wear green hearts on their sleeves and state publicly something they love (and could lose to climate change), dedicated poems, songs, and public art, shareable online tools and displays from grassroots organisations such as churches, schools and environmental groups – and, we hope, humanist groups.
More info will come our way in due course, but please keep Saturday February 14th free if you can as that will be the focus for events and actions.
And one new campaign to think about?
The Good Country Party is a new international organisation that seems to support the causes that H4BW was formed to support. It also has lots of interesting data comparing various countries’ records on human rights, happiness, the environment… The UK does reasonably well, the USA does rather badly, and there are many unexpected results – definitely worth looking at.
Lets hope 2015 will be a better year for the global issues that Humanists for a Better World promotes.