A Call
To Action

Throughout history, the world has provided moments for ordinary people to become extraordinary heroes.This is that moment for our generation.
We do not currently live in a righteous world, where justice and morals prevail. No, we live in a world in which basic human rights are denied and neglected daily. We live in a world in which humans dehumanize other humans, and no one seems to bat an eye. True, most of the bad and the ugly in this world is cleverly disguised under umbrellas of much more politically correct terminology.
“War against Terror,” “Ethnic Cleansing,” “Arms Trades” are much more acceptable than the truths they breed and conceal.
Poverty, armed conflict, violence against women, child soldiers, torture, rape, genocides, forced displacement,and war are all on the vast list of human rights violations occurring around the globe in nearly every country in staggering accounts.
And the accounts are truly staggering. This year, 1.7 million children will die because governments have failed to reduce poverty levels: an equation equal to one child every three seconds. Not a minuscule number when you are counting human lives. Armed conflict in places such as Darfur breed violations such as unlawful killing of civilians, torture of men, women and children, forced displacement, starvation, illegal abduction and use of child soldiers, and fear are all on the list.
In other countries, Iraq being one of the documented cases, security and homeland soldiers are carrying out

produces little known facts and well-hidden wrongs. Few people know that violence against women will kill more people this year than armed conflict will. Children around the world will be abducted, beaten and forced to act as soldiers for paramilitaries and other government-armed forces. Worse still, countries such as Pakistan, China, and Sudan will actually execute children who were forced to commit violent acts. Young women and girls in the poorer countries will be raped and displaced from their families. Enforced disappearances are common worldwide
Journalists and others who speak out for human rights are taken as prisoners of conscience and held without contact to the outside world. Oftentimes, these prisoners are not released and their fate remains unknown.
In poverty stricken countries such as Africa, millions of lives will be lost to curable perpetrators such as malaria and starvation.
To the enlightened, the irony in the current situation is stark: instead of money going to kill people, imagine if it instead went to save them? What a different world this would be.
Gandhi pointed out this same irony, which we have yet to realize: “The difference between what we do, and what we are capable of doing would solve most of the world’s problems.” It is time to change what we are doing, and start showing what we are capable of doing.
We have left the task of creating a better world to our leaders, yet little has been done. To the contrary, our leaders have led us to war, failed to reduce poverty levels, and in many countries are the ones violating the rights of their citizens. The time has come for the next generation of world leaders and citizens to stand up and shift the tide of change. The devastation and violations are occurring only because these victims have no voice to demand change.
But we do. We are not a powerless generation, and will not be made to be one. We need to harness our power, and let the world know that we will not stand to live in a world which allows its humans to suffer and become dehumanized.
Human Rights are the fundamental freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of their nationality, race, gender, orientation, or political affiliation, and include civil, political, and economic rights. No human being should be subjected to living in fear, to being tortured, murdered, or suffer through curable diseases or starvation. The task may seem large and too big for any one person to change. But there is hope, and there are ways.
Based on the belief that all humans are born free and equal in dignity and rights, Amnesty International works to protect these freedoms and rights worldwide.
Amnesty International is a worldwide non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to create a world which respects and values each human life. Their 2.2 million members worldwide work to confront governments that are guilty of crimes against humanity and to hold them accountable for their actions, demanding change. Amnesty International acts as the voice and defense to the millions of people who cannot do so themselves. Results from their efforts are very real and already these efforts have made small victories in the fight for human rights. Amnesty International provides a light in a dark world.
The choice is ours, and the choice is simple. Continue to look the other way, or answer the call. The environment is ripe for change, and victims are crying out for help. The world has once again provided an opportunity for all ordinary people to find their power and become extraordinary heroes. This is your world. This is your opportunity. This is your call to action.