Over the past several months, the worst humanitarian crisis in the world has placed more than 13.3 million people across the Horn of Africa at risk – a greater number than the populations of New York and Los Angeles combined.  Quickly becoming incomprehensible, the emergency has its roots in a devastating combination of famine, war and drought.
Last month, I announced the FWD campaign to raise awareness across America about this worsening situation.

Smokey Bear has appeared almost everywhere – from print Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to television and radio to several comic book series.

I’m pleased to share a new video from our partners the Greater North Women’s Voices for Peace Network (GNWVPN) in Uganda, and the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice. Our partnership with these organizations is part of our larger campaign aimed at ending gender-based violence in the context of armed conflict.

As I shared in an earlier post, Global Networks Unite on Forced Evictions, WITNESS, our partner the Habitat International Coalition and 6 other networks working on housing and land rights have organized World Habitat Days – six weeks (16 September – 31 October)

I manage our U.S. partnerships at WITNESS. This year I’ve had an important opportunity to combine my passions for human rights and the environment while working to produce films with youth across the country and support an unprecedented legal effort.

Today marks the first day of a six week period of focus on housing issues around the world called World Habitat Days.

This September, we’re funding our first ever drilling rig. We want to take a minute to explain how this is a departure from what we usually do — fund programs to construct or rehabilitate individual water projects.

Do you know what most people do when they realize they’re in danger of losing their home to foreclosure?
Nothing.
Surprising? Perhaps. But understandable when you think about it.
It’s just too humiliating. Too painful. Too complicated. Too scary.
As the bills pile up and the pressure keeps growing, people just…stop.
Our job was to get them going again.

Everyone remembers with great clarity where they were when they learned of the terror attacks of 9/11. I was in a meeting in the basement of a hotel in Washington D.C., having taken the 7:30 a.m. shuttle from New York that morning. What followed the shock and overwhelming sadness was a tremendous desire to return to New York City to be with my loved ones and colleagues, to do whatever could be done to help. With the city in lockdown, it wasn’t until 9 a.m.

You may have noticed we haven’t been blogging much lately. And today, on our fifth birthday, you’ll understand why: we just spent the last week and a half shooting, producing and uploading 250 videos to send individually to some of our fundraisers and supporters. Whew! It was a crazy, exciting, funny and beautiful project.
Watch the story of our fifth birthday celebration: