Our partners in health: Avaaz.org, a powerful voice to world leaders

Like never before, new technology and the internet have allowed people to connect and mobilize in support of Haiti’s earthquake survivors. From viral videos to text message donations to social networking sites, a new internet-driven movement of concerned citizens is helping keep the focus on Haiti over one month after the disaster.

One such initiative is Avaaz.org, which has rallied its members in support of the work of Partners In Health (PIH) and other local organizations working to provide life-saving food, shelter and medical care for thousands of people. In the last month, more than 19,000 of its members have donated over $1.3 million USD for relief and recovery in Haiti. 

The support directed to PIH and Zanmi Lasante (ZL, our sister organization in Haiti) from Avaaz has allowed us to do a number of things, such as supporting local medical staff, including training and hiring community health workers; providing surgical and post-operative care to earthquake survivors; coordinating mobile clinic teams to provide health services to those in marginalized communities in Port-au-Prince and increasing capacity for long-term rehabilitation and care.

Watch a video of how Avaaz’s support has directly helped relief efforts on the ground in Haiti:

“I would really like to thank Avaaz, who really supported us through this moment,” said Dr. Maxi Raymonville, ZL Director of Women’s Health. “That’s the only way we can provide this help [and] these kind of services to patients.”

Avaaz, which means “voice” in many Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European languages, was co-founded by Res Publica, a global civic advocacy group, and Moveon.org, an online community that pioneered internet advocacy in the United States. This global web movement has a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want.  The Avaaz community is served by a small team of global campaigners working in many countries to identify and develop opportunities for members to take action. After the earthquake in Haiti, Avaaz identified a small group of organizations to support in recovery efforts.  PIH/ZL was one of the organizations selected.

In addition to the donations made to earthquake relief, 450,000 Avaaz members submitted a petition to the G7 Finance Ministers to cancel Haiti’s debt.  On February 8, in response to the global outcry by individuals around the world, the G7 announced that it would move forward with the cancellation. This commitment represents over $1 billion in debt relief for Haiti.

“We need to rebuild the country and we hope that with the solidarity that [Avaaz is] giving to us we will continue and help rebuild Haiti,” said Marie-Flore Chipps, ZL Director of Nutrition, Education, Water, and Literacy Initiatives.