ACTION ALERT: The Humanitarian Crisis in Afghanistan
Jeff Meer / Humanity and Inclusion
KABUL, Afghanisstan (August 30, 2021) — While the world watched in horror, we were working diligently to ensure the safety of our 260-person Afghan team, many of whom are women and people with disabilities. Our teams are also navigating the emerging issues that may affect the communities we’ve served for 34 years.
Afghanistan is now contaminated by explosive remnants of war and landmines at a level that is among the worst in the world — which means, humanitarian needs are immense. And in a country where 80 percent of adults live with disability, and more than 2.5 million adults experience a severe disability that significantly impacts their daily activities and interactions, the rehabilitation services our teams provide play a vital role in helping people maintain their independence.
After only a few days of interruption, our teams are steadily resuming activities with community members who know and trust our decades-long work, and people displaced by conflict, in four provinces: Herat, Kunduz, Kandahar and Nimroz. We are taking all precautions to ensure that these operations are in accordance with our organization’s values of neutrality, impartiality and independence, so programs remain inclusive, particularly for women — both on our staff and of the communities we serve.
Humanity & Inclusion has been serving the people of Afghanistan since 1987. Nine years later, we built the only rehabilitation center in the southern part of the country. Today, the center in Kandahar, which also includes a workshop for making artificial limbs and braces, sees close to 300 patients each week.
Some of our patients travel hours on end — more than 300 miles — to reach this center.
In isolated areas without full-service health facilities, our mobile teams provide at-home rehabilitation services, as well as psychosocial support. They teach local people, especially children, how to spot, avoid, and report the weapons littering their schoolyards and fields. All of this while battling the effects of Covid-19. Last year, with the help of our donors, life-changing resources directly impacted the lives of more than 160,000 people across the country.
We need you.
With gratitude,
Jeff Meer is the Executive Director of Humanity & Inclusion US
ACTION ALERT: Report on US Using Sanctions to Wage War
Webinar: Sunday, September 12: 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET.
Register Here
US Sanctions Africa and Latin America
North American Solidarity Activists Speak Out
For 29 Years, the UN General Assembly Has Called
for End to Cuba Embargo and 184 Nations Have Called for
an End to Sanctions. Only the US and Israel Have Rejected the Call.
(September 1, 2021) — Sanctions are a form of war. They are directed against the people from countries that will not follow the dictates of the US.
The goal is to make the lives of the people in these countries intolerable so they will oppose their governments and support the US regime-change agendas in their countries.
In their most severe form, as is being imposed on Cuba, Venezuela, and other countries, sanctions deny these countries food, medicine, and trade and cause great suffering for the people of the sanctioned countries.
Instead of reversing Trump’s unilateral coercive measures, Biden has extended the sanctions, which are illegal under international law.
Coming on Sept 13: Report on
“The Impact and Consequences of US Sanctions:
How US Sanctions are killing civilians,
hindering the global fight against Covid,
and hurting the US economy”
60+ Years of US Sanctions
Preview of the SanctionsKill.org September 13 Report
(September 13, 2021) — The US policy of economically undermining independent countries has persisted for 60+ years.
In 1960, a State Department memorandum declared: “Every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba…. denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”
In 1970, when Dr Salvador Allende was elected in Chile and before he was even inaugurated, President Richard Nixon instructed the Central Intelligence Agency to “Make the [Chilean] economy scream”.
In 2018, US Ambassador to Venezuela, William Brownfield, said “the best solution would be to accelerate the collapse, even if it produces suffering
for months or years.”
Today, 39 nations or territories are under direct or indirect US sanctions. As indicated in the quotes above, this is economic warfare for political ends.
Will Biden Change Sanctions Policy?
On January 21, the Biden administration mandated a review of US sanctions “to evaluate whether they are unduly hindering responses to the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Biden administration leaders expressed a second concern: “The goal of sanctions should not be to punish ordinary citizens for the actions of their leaders.”
Finally, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed concern that sanctions are undermining “the US’s leadership role in the global financial system.”
For the past several months, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo has been leading a review of US sanctions.
Currently it seems they are NOT changing policy. In the past three months, MORE sanctions have been imposed on Nicaragua, Syria, Cuba and Iran.
An Independent Review
A coalition of social justice and human rights organizations called “Sanctions Kill” has conducted an independent review of the impact and consequences of US sanctions.
The report is based on a poll of people from Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Zimbabwe plus fact finding on the ground in Syria and official reports and independent research.
Key Questions
The report raises important questions:
* Why don’t more Americans know about the impact of US sanctions?
* Could US officials face criminal & civil liability?
* Are US Unilateral Sanctions in fact illegal and in violation of the United Nations Charter?
* Why is this policy continuing? What should be done?
Key Findings
* 71% of world nations believe that US sanctions violate international law and the UN Charter.
* Sanctions harm US farmers and companies who seek mutually beneficial trade with target countries.
* There has been a virtual media blackout of the impact of sanctions and world-wide criticism.
* Many thousands of civilians have died as a direct or indirect consequence of US sanctions.
* Humanitarian exemptions, intended to allow food and medicines, have not worked.
* Sanctions are spurring countries to sell US securities and seek alternatives to the US dominated financial system.
The report will be released on Sept 13, 2021.
To receive a free pdf copy of the report, send your email to info@SanctionsKill.org
