Deforestation and Poverty

The Rainforest Alliance is working with Indigenous people in order to protect our depleting forests.

  Watch this video to find out more.

 The Rainforest Foundation helps protect the incredibly rich biological diversity of the rainforest and the cultural integrity of the peoples whose lives and livelihoods are inextricably linked to those forests. By working with indigenous communities to gain control of their ancestral lands we have helped protect 28 million acres of rainforest. Tropical rainforests are increasingly threatened—an area the size of Manhattan is disappearing every hour. This forest loss is pushing millions of indigenous peoples into extreme poverty, contributing to global climate change, and causing unprecedented extinction of species. As deforestation pressures continue to intensify, assisting indigenous peoples to remain stewards of their ancestral lands is the most effective way to protect the rainforest and secure their livelihoods and culture.

Combat Brutality in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sign Today!

For over 16 years our sisters, mothers, and daughters in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been brutalized, raped and killed by men in uniform.  My own daughter was indiscriminately singled out and attacked this summer. 

This chaos and suffering we’ve come to know intimately is fueled by the greed of unprincipled men and nations over the DRC's rich mineral wealth and other resources. Our bodies are used as weapons of war between one faction and another, or to enslave and control a population over mining and energy interests. Millions have been senselessly killed and millions more have died due to the conditions forced upon them.

It is time for this barbarity to end. We started a petition on Change.org calling on President Obama to appoint a U.S. Presidential Envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo immediately to end the violence and find a path to lasting peace. In other global crises like in the Sudan, Burma and North Korea, the U.S. appointed envoys who engaged in diplomacy at the highest levels, and it worked. Only with the appointment of an envoy can the U.S. put real pressure on the men behind the violence in the DRC, including the foreign governments that are funding many of the rebel groups. Click here to sign our petition now.

In our country, a woman is 134 times more likely to be raped than in the U.S. This kind of trauma could break us -- but it hasn't. Since July, we have been organizing hundreds of women to tell their stories and build a global sisterhood to bring peace to the DRC. We have used the internet to forge alliances with women around the world, including Nobel Peace laureates. 

We call ourselves Maman Shujaa in Swahili -- "Hero Women". And after seeing how Change.org petitions were used successfully by women activists from Burma and Saudi Arabia, we started our petition on Change.org to not only call on President Obama, but alsoall the women leaders in the White House to join us in finding a lasting solution for peace in the DRC. We want women like Presidential Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice and First Lady Michelle Obama to join us as Hero Women for the DRC. 

With their help and the appointment of a U.S. Presidential Envoy, we Hero Women can have a voice in the high level diplomacy needed to end the violence in the DRC and start building peace.

Click here to sign our petition now, calling on President Obama and the women leaders of the White House to secure the appointment of a U.S. Presidential Envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo now.

Thank you.

Neema Namadamu and the Maman Shujaa, 

Democratic Republic of Congo

Congressman Duncan's Response to Protecting Foreign Aid

Dear Ms. Voorhees:

 Thank you for contacting me about foreign aid. I always appreciate hearing from those whom I represent in the Congress. I agree with you about helping the world's less fortunate. I read recently that half the world's people live on less than $2.00 a day; it is a life most people in East Tennessee cannot imagine, and we are blessed beyond belief to live in the United States. As a Country with so much, it is our moral obligation to help those in need. The United States is already the largest contributor of foreign aid and supporter of the United Nations in the world by far. We not only give mega billions every year to other countries through our tax dollars, but many Americans also selflessly give from their own pockets to charities. I believe we must continue to help people in other countries in a way that is responsible to our own citizens. Our economy is seeing hard times, and in the coming years our Nation will be forced to make some tough decisions. We are more than $16 trillion in debt (roughly $140,000 for every taxpayer) right now, with near trillion-dollar annual deficits expected for the next several years. If you factor in future unfunded programs like Social Security and Medicare, our National debt soars to more than $70 trillion. That figure is dangerous and staggering, and Congress can no longer continue to spend without restraint. Although there will have to be spending reductions in the coming years to account for this massive debt, we must still remember our moral obligation to the world's poor and help out during humanitarian crises. At the same time, we must also remember that the United States cannot solve all the World's problems on its own. Foreign policy columnist Georgie Anne Geyer said it best a few months after the Iraqi war started many years ago that "Americans will inevitably come to a point where they have to choose between a government that provides services at home or one that seeks empire across the globe." I will be carefully monitoring any effort by Congress to address foreign aid. I appreciate your thoughts on the matter and will certainly keep them in mind if and when the issue comes to the Floor of the House of Representatives. Once again, thank you for contacting me about this important issue. If there is any other way I can be of assistance to you, your friends or family in the future, please do not hesitate to let me know.

 With kindest regards,

I am Yours truly,

 JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR. Member of Congress

Why You Should Speak Out for International Aid

Concern over the fiscal cliff and our increasing national debt has more Americans interested in budget decisions being made in Congress. Congressional leaders will undoubtedly be juggling pressure from various groups to preserve and slash spending. In the shadow of our public economic concern are millions of people who will suffer if international foreign aid spending is reduced. Currently, less than one percent of our budget goes to foreign aid. Even with such a minuscule amount of budget spending, government aid programs have made massive strides in helping to downsize global poverty. Currently, three million lives are saved each year from USAID immunization programs. In contrast, three billion people around the world are living on less than $2.50 a day. People are dying all around the world from preventable diseases and lack of clean water. According to FAO, it would cost $30 billion per year to end world hunger. How much is that compared to the U.S. Military Budget? $530 billion is spent annually on our U.S. military budget. America has the capability to drastically downsize poverty. Downsizing poverty is not only morally sensible but also makes economic sense. Forty-three of the top 50 consumer nations of American agriculture products were once U.S. foreign aid recipients. Developing nations are seen as one of the largest untapped consumer markets, and one way to help bolster our economy is to invest in these future consumers of American goods. For these reasons, I am asking you to help me by contacting your congressional leaders today to fight for poverty reducing aid.

 Find your congressional leaders here.