Avaaz.org

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Avaaz
Logo of Avaaz
Founded 2007
Location international
Origins New York
Key people Ricken Patel (the founder), 52 employees and several freelancers
Area served worldwide
Focus progressive NGO
Method petition, demonstrations, supporting independent press in conflict areas
Members 13.000.000+
Website www.avaaz.org

Avaaz.org is a global civic organization launched in January 2007[1] that promotes activism on issues such as climate change, human rights, corruption, poverty, and conflict.[1] Its stated mission is to "close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want." The organization operates in 14 languages, and states that it has over thirteen million members in 193 countries.[1]

Contents

[edit] Etymology and origin

The name Avaaz (Persian: آواز) was derived from the Persian word for 'voice' (also 'sound' or 'song'), which has also been borrowed into Hindi/Urdu, Punjabi, Marathi, Sindhi and Turkish.

Avaaz.org was co-founded by Res Publica, a "community of public sector professionals dedicated to promoting good governance, civic virtue and deliberative democracy",[2] and MoveOn.org, a George Soros-funded[3], American non-profit progressive public policy advocacy group.[4][5] It was also supported by Service Employees International Union, a founding partner, and GetUp!, an Australian non-profit campaigning organization.

Avaaz's individual co-founders include Ricken Patel, Tom Pravda, former Virginia congressman Tom Perriello, MoveOn Executive Director Eli Pariser, Australian progressive entrepreneur David Madden, Jeremy Heimans (co-founders of Purpose.com), and Andrea Woodhouse[4] The board consists of Ricken Patel (president), Tom Pravda (secretary), Eli Pariser (board chairman), and Ben Brandzel (treasurer).[6]

Avaaz's founding President and Executive Director is the Canadian-British Ricken Patel.[5] Patel was born in Edmonton, Canada. His mother is Russian-English and his father is an Indian born South Africa. He attended school on a Native American Reservation where he was bullied. He studied PPE (Politics, Philosophy, Economics) at Balliol College,Oxford University and joined in during tuition fee protests in 1998. He received a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University, where he was a part of the protests demanding a living wage for the school's workers. He worked for the International Crisis Group around the world, including in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Sudan and Afghanistan, where he says "he learnt how to bring rebel forces to the negotiation table, to monitor elections (covertly), to restore public faith in once corrupt political systems and to spot when foreign forces were being manipulated." He returned to the US and volunteered for MoveOn.org, where he learned how to use online tools for activism. [7]

[edit] Funding and organization

"Since 2009, Avaaz has not taken donations from foundations or corporations, nor has it accepted payments of more than $5,000 (£3,100). Instead, it relies simply on the generosity of individual members, who have now raised over $20m (£12.4m)."[8] In 2011 it had around 50 staff.[8]

Avaaz is managed by a team of campaigners working from over 30 countries, including offices in New York, Rio, Delhi, Madrid, and Sydney. They communicate with members via email, and employ campaigning tactics including online public petitions, videos, and email-your-leader tools. In some cases Avaaz also uses advertisements and commissions legal advice to clarify how best to take a campaign forward,[8] and stages "sit-ins, rallies, phone-ins and media friendly stunts".[7] Examples of stunts include "taking a herd of cardboard pigs to the doors of the World Health Organisation to demand an investigation into the link between swine flu and giant pig farms and creating a three-mile human chain handshake from the Dalai Lama to the doors of the Chinese Embassy in London to request dialogue between the parties."[7]

Suggestions for campaigns come from members, supplemented by guidance from teams of specialists. Once a suggestion has been taken up as having potential, tester emails are sent to 10,000 Avaaz members; if the emails receive a sufficient response, the campaign is opened up to all Avaaz members.[8] Director Ricken Patel said in 2011 "We have no ideology per se. Our mission is to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want. Idealists of the world unite!"[9] Avaaz has indeed united practical idealists from around the world.[7] In 2010 The Economist suggested that "the way Avaaz bunches unlikely causes together may be an asset in a world where campaigns, like race and class, can still segregate people, not reconcile them."[10]

[edit] Campaigns

At the 2007 G8 conference, Avaaz.org protested against the "U.S. administration [for its] 'wrecking tactics' and failure to agree to specific, binding global goals" when it came to the mitigation of global warming. At the event, Avaaz.org presented a petition signed by 355,000 people from 193 countries that supported its position.[11][12] Avaaz is also a co-organizer of the Global Day of Action for Burma along with Burma Campaign UK and Amnesty International. It has registered more than 750,000 signatures to a petition to the Chinese President Hu Jintao and the UN Security Council, urging them to "oppose a violent crackdown on the demonstrators" and "support genuine reconciliation and democracy".[13] Avaaz delivered this petition to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown on October 15, 2007.[14][15]

In March 2008, Avaaz launched a global petition to Chinese President Hu Jintao on Tibet, calling for "restraint and respect for human rights" and the opening of "meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama."[16] This petition passed 1 million signatures in seven days, and has now reached more than 1.4 million signatures, making it among the largest and fastest-growing online petitions in history. The petition was delivered in protests and events at Chinese consulates and embassies around the world on March 31, 2008.[17]

Some claim that Avaaz's focus on online petitions and email campaigns may encourage laziness, transforming potential activism into 'clicktivism'.[8][18]

The Avaaz video "Stop the Clash of Civilizations", created with Agit-Pop Communications, won the YouTube 2007 Award in the "Political" category. It was, at one time, the all-time second most discussed video in the YouTube "News and Politics" section.[19] The video was also the winner of the 2nd Annual DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards[20] and the Popular Winner for Best Awareness-Raising Video in the 2007 Progressive Source Awards.[21]

As listed on the Avaaz.org website, some past and current campaigns include:

[edit] 2009

On 21 September 2009, Avaaz.org staged a 'global wake-up call' to press world leaders to take action on climate.[22]

On 12 December 2009, Avaaz.org organized 3241 candle-lit vigils in 139 countries, again to press those attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 to reach a "Real Deal",[23] and took out advertising space in the Financial Times' "Green New Deal" supplement to call world leaders to "fund the fight to save the world."[24]

In January 2009, Avaaz.org was also running the following campaigns:

[edit] 2010

In March 2010, Avaaz.org launched the petition Stand Up for Democracy! - stand with Baltasar Garzon (Baltasar Garzon is a Spanish judge).[25]

In May 2010 Avaaz.org joined with 38 Degrees and Take Back Parliament to launch a campaign to reform the first-past-the-post electoral system.[26]

In June 2010, Avaaz.org launched a petition calling for an investigation into the Israeli interception of a Gaza aid flotilla and the end of the Gaza blockade. It initially aimed to receive 200,000 signatories but this was met within 24 hours; a new target of 300,000 was again met within 24 hours, and a third was set at 500,000 signatories.[27]

Avaaz.org is active in campaigning to save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani from imminent execution in Iran.[28][29]

Avaaz has also created an online petition to block the creation of Sun TV News Channel in Canada, which it fears will be like its equivalent south of the border, Fox News.[30] The petition has tens of thousands of signatures, including prominent Canadian activists such as Margaret Atwood.[31]

In September 2010 Avaaz launched an online petition against "a draconian and unconstitutional new secrecy Bill" and a Media Tribunal proposed by the African National Congress in South Africa that would muzzle the media and let security agencies operate without accountability. It added that the secrecy measures in the "Protection of Information" Bill and the "Media Appeals Tribunal" proposal threaten press freedom enshrined in the South African Constitution and will block the media from acting in the public interest to expose corruption and abuse of power.[32]

On December 8, 2010, Avaaz launched a gigantic petition supporting WikiLeaks. The primary aim was to stop the crackdown.[33]

[edit] 2011

Save the bees: an online petition launched in January 2011 to push the US and EU to join the ban of the neonicotinoid pesticides manufactured by Bayer which are highly toxic to honey bees.[34]

Stop conflict chocolate: a campaign to prevent civil war in the Ivory Coast by sending emails to 'leading companies' of the cocoa industry, asking them to stop dealing with Laurent Gbagbo.[35]

Solidarity with the people of Egypt: an online petition launched in January 2011 to express solidarity with the people of Egypt during the 2011 Egyptian protests, in which the Egyptian people sought to peacefully remove the dictatorial regime of President Hosni Mubarak, in order to establish democracy.[36]

Appeal to United Nations Security Council delegates, European Foreign Ministers, and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to impose specific actions to stop and prosecute the violence against civilians in the 2011 Libyan civil war[37] and appeal to United Nations Security Council to create a no-fly zone over Libya.[38]

Petition to stop Rupert Murdoch gaining control over BSkyB or any more of the United Kingdom mass media.[39]

Appeal to Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Turkish government to help release Iman al-Obeidi and investigate her case.[40]

Campaign on behalf of the US army private, Bradley Manning, who is accused of leaking confidential material to Wikileaks. Avaaz describes Manning as subject to "brutal torture" in a US military prison.[41]

Petition to Prime Minister of India, in support of Anna Hazare, who started fasting to urge the government for strict law against corruption.[42]

"End the War on Drugs!" Petition to end the War on Drugs, May 26, 2011.[43]

Campaign to end discrimination in Bahrain:[44] successful campaign to cancel the 2011 Bahrain Grand Prix.[45]

Appeal to the leaders of France, Spain, Germany, the UK and the High Representative of the EU and all UN member states, to endorse the bid for recognition of the State of Palestine and the reaffirmation of the rights of the Palestinian people, July 22, 2011. As of September 22, 2011, over one million people have signed this petition. [46]

[edit] Controversy

See also: Ezra_Levant#George_Soros

In 2008, Canadian conservative minister John Baird labeled Avaaz a "shadowy foreign organization" tied to billionaire philanthropist George Soros.[47]

Another conservative Canadian, Ezra Levant,[48] tried to make a link between Soros and Avaaz.org as an indirect supporter through MoveOn but the article was later retracted as baseless and an apology was offered to Soros.[49][50][51][52]

Avaaz has been involved in the rebellion in Syria that started in 2011. It has sent hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of communication equipment such as satellite phones and internet connections known as BGANs to anti-government forces in Syria. Additionally, Avaaz has sent in trainers to help teach the use of such technology. Avaaz smuggled 34 international journalists into war zones in Syria, including the French photographer Remi Ochlik who died during the battles in Homs.[53] In Syria, Avaaz set up a cell of about 200 activists to provide what they call video footage, which has been used by the international media.[54]

In Bolivia, Avaaz attacked the Bolivian government's plan to build a highway through Isiboro Secure National Park and Indigeneous Territory. Avaaz was criticized for misrepresenting developments in Bolivia and for ignoring the benefits that such a highway could bring to Bolivia and its peoples. [55]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "About Us". http://www.avaaz.org/en/about.php. 
  2. ^ "Res Publica: Bürger machen Politik". http://therespublica.org/. 
  3. ^ www.ngo-monitor.org/article/avaaz
  4. ^ a b About Us at the Wayback Machine (archived January 10, 2008)
  5. ^ a b "Wakey-wakey". The Economist. 2007-02-15. http://www.economist.com/node/8703047/print?story_id=8703047. 
  6. ^ "Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax". fdncenter.org. 2010-11-08. http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990_pdf_archive/205/205050267/205050267_200912_990O.pdf. 
  7. ^ a b c d Sarah Bentley (2011-02-09). "The Times profile of Avaaz and Ricken Patel". The Times. http://www.scribd.com/doc/48808533/The-Times-profile-of-Avaaz-and-Ricken-Patel-Feb-9-2011. 
  8. ^ a b c d e Patrick Kingsley (2011-07-20). "Avaaz: activism or 'slacktivism'?". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/20/avaaz-activism-slactivism-clicktivism. 
  9. ^ Ed Pilkington (2011-04-25). "Avaaz – the online activist network that is targeting Rupert Murdoch's bid". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/apr/24/avaaz-activist-network-rupert-murdoch. 
  10. ^ "A town crier in the global village". The Economist. 2010-09-02. http://www.economist.com/node/16943875?story_id=16943875. 
  11. ^ "Bush faces global warming protest wave". UPI. 2007-06-14. http://www.upi.com/Business_News/Security-Industry/2007/06/14/Bush-faces-global-warming-protest-wave/UPI-80941181831224/. 
  12. ^ "Bali: People Power Confronts Climate Change". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/bali_report_back/. 
  13. ^ "Stand with the Burmese Protesters". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/. 
  14. ^ Paul Hilder (2007-10-21). "People power can win". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2007/oct/21/peoplepowercanwin. 
  15. ^ [Archived January 18, 2008 at the Wayback Machine "PM urges EU sanctions against Burma"]. Press Association, The Guardian. 2007-10-15. Archived January 18, 2008 at the Wayback Machine. 
  16. ^ "Stand with Tibet - Support the Dalai Lama". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/tibet_end_the_violence. 
  17. ^ "Join the Global Day of Action for Tibet!". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/tibet_action/. 
  18. ^ Evgeny Morozov (2009-05-19). "Foreign Policy: Brave New World Of Slacktivism". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104302141. 
  19. ^ Avaaz.org (2007-03-05). "Stop the Clash of Civilizations". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWyJJQbFago. 
  20. ^ Holly Ross (2008-01-14). "2nd Annual DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards at the NTC Announced". http://www.nten.org/node/3800. 
  21. ^ "Stop the clash of civilizations". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_the_clash/. 
  22. ^ "September 21st Global Wake-Up Call". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/sept21_hosts/. 
  23. ^ "The World Wants a Real Deal". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/real_deal_map/. 
  24. ^ "The CliMatrix: COP15 ad in the Financial Times". cedc.org. 2009-12-11. https://cedc.org/design/climatrix-cop15-ad-financial-times. 
  25. ^ stand_with_garzon "Stand Up for Democracy!". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_garzon/ stand_with_garzon. 
  26. ^ "100,000 For Fair Votes Now!". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/fair_votes_now/. 
  27. ^ "Gaza: investigate the raid, end the blockade". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/gaza_flotilla/. 
  28. ^ "Brazil And Turkey: Save Sakineh!". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_sakinehs_life/. 
  29. ^ "Sakineh: Her Life is in Your Hands (ads in Brazil and Turkey)". cedc.org. 2010-08-09. https://cedc.org/design/sakineh-her-life-your-hands-ads-brazil-and-turkey. 
  30. ^ "Canada: Stop "Fox News North"". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/no_fox_news_canada/. 
  31. ^ Jane Taber (2010-09-01). "Margaret Atwood takes on ‘Fox News North’". The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/margaret-atwood-takes-on-fox-news-north/article1692853/. 
  32. ^ "South Africa: Democracy At Risk". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/protect_south_africas_democracy/. 
  33. ^ "WikiLeaks: Stop the crackdown". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/wikileaks_petition/. 
  34. ^ "Global Bee Emergency - Act Now!". Avaaz.org. http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_bees/. 
  35. ^ "Ivory Coast: Stop Conflict Chocolate". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/ivory_coast_chocolate. 
  36. ^ "Stand With The People Of Egypt". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/democracy_for_egypt/. 
  37. ^ "Libya: Stop the Crackdown". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/libya_stop_the_crackdown_eu. 
  38. ^ "UNSC: Libya No-Fly Zone". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/libya_no_fly_zone_3/. 
  39. ^ "UK: Stop Rupert Murdoch". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stop_rupert_murdoch_3. 
  40. ^ "Turkey to Libya: Free Iman!". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/free_iman_al_obeidi/. 
  41. ^ "Stop Wikileaks Torture". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/bradley_manning_2/. 
  42. ^ "Stand with Anna Hazare". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_anna_hazare/. 
  43. ^ Portia Crowe (2011-06-02). "Decriminalising Drugs Moves into the Mainstream". Inter Press Service. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55908. 
  44. ^ Zaid Jilani (2011-06-02). "Human Rights Campaigners Call On Red Bull, Formula 1 To Pull Out Of Bahrain Grand Prix After Crackdown". ThinkProgress. http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/06/02/234337/formula-1-bahrain/. 
  45. ^ "Bahrain's F1 Grand Prix given green light". Channel 4. 2011-06-03. http://www.channel4.com/news/bahrains-f1-grand-prix-given-green-light. 
  46. ^ "Palestine: the world's next nation". Avaaz.org. https://secure.avaaz.org/en/independence_for_palestine_en/. 
  47. ^ Kevin Libin (2010-09-20). "Kevin Libin: The third party no one talks about". National Post. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/09/20/kevin-libin-the-third-party-no-one-talks-about/. 
  48. ^ Steven Chase (2010-09-17). "Billionaire Soros threatening to sue Sun Media". The Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/billionaire-soros-threatening-to-sue-sun-media/article1711183/. 
  49. ^ Brian Lilley, QMI Agency Parliamentary Bureau (2010-09-01). "Anti-Sun TV News campaign in U.S.". Toronto Sun. http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2010/09/01/15216861.html. "Avaaz is backed by MoveOn.org a lobby group that has taken millions of dollars from currency speculator George Soros." 
  50. ^ Etan Vlessing (2010-10-07). "George Soros accused in Sun TV News debate". Nielsen Business Media. https://secure.nielsenbusinessmedia.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i97370d68f17e6f276362dde0b17b9b22. 
  51. ^ kadyomalley (2008-10-06). "Avaaz.ca vs. Baird: The Shadowy Foreign Organization strikes back!". http://www2.macleans.ca/tag/george-soros-controls-the-world/. 
  52. ^ "Retraction and apology to George Soros". Toronto Sun. 2010-09-18. http://www.torontosun.com/comment/2010/09/17/15388356.html. 
  53. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/02/avaaz-activist-group-syria
  54. ^ http://www.france24.com/en/20120302-campaign-group-avaaz-plays-key-syria-role
  55. ^ http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/48950

[edit] External links

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