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ACTIONS
Support Iraqi Youth and Veterans For America’s War Kids Relief program.
“The coalition is spending billions in Iraq – not a penny has been allocated to the child victims of the war." Use a screening of an IMAP film to raise money for War Kids Relief. Make a donation to the War Kids Relief.
War Kids Relief is a program of Veterans for America that helps the children of Iraq rebound and recover from the disruptive effects of war and give them hope for a better future than the one they would face otherwise. War Kids Relief is guided by three core objectives and project elements. The program will:
• Create a network of safe havens
• Reintegrate kids into the family environment
• Build career and life skills through education
The Current Project of the War Kids Relief program is the Iraq Youth Center Work/Study Program. War Kids Relief will utilize the existing infrastructure of 100 Youth Centers in Iraq’s 18 governorates, the Iraqi Youth Center Work/Study Program will target young people, roughly between the ages of 16-25, with an aim to provide them with education and employment opportunities.
Connect the war in Iraq and the war on social services at home
Find out how much your town or city has spent on the war in Iraq by visiting National Priorities at http://www.costofwar.com. You can also find out what resources you could have had, such as money for teachers and nurses or new school buildings, if this money was not going to war.
At your IMAP screening plan a local action to get the word out about how much money your town or city is contributing to this war and how many soldiers have died. Set up on local street corners with a signs that show this information. Have sign up sheets for people who express interest in getting further involved in local efforts to stop the war. This could be a one-time, weekly, or monthly event.
You can also initiate local campaigns or join existing efforts to save schools, hospitals, libraries, parks, and other public facilities threatened with closure due to lack of federal, state, and local funding.
Tell your Senators to co-sponsor the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act (S.594) limiting the use, sale and transfer of these weapons to protect civilian lives.
US-made cluster bombs have been used in many of the world's deadliest conflicts, including Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the former Yugoslavia. Though intended for the battlefield, these weapons frequently contaminate areas where civilians live, causing death and injury to innocent men, women, and far too many children. Even when conflicts end, unexploded cluster "duds" are often left behind, posing a constant threat for years to come.
Despite the seriousness of this problem, the United States currently has no rules prohibiting the use of these dadly weapons in civilian areas once they are sold to nations outside our borders. The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) needs your help to prioritize the safely of men, women and children in conflict zones in the US congress. Your letters make a huge difference in pressing our policymakers to step forward and protect civilians from the grave dangers of cluster munitions.
Send a letter to your Senator now!
RESOURCES
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Iraq Body Count is an ongoing human security project which maintains and updates the world’s only independent and comprehensive public database of media-reported civilian deaths in Iraq that have resulted from the 2003 military intervention by the USA and its allies. The count includes civilian deaths caused by coalition military action and by military or paramilitary responses to the coalition presence (e.g. insurgent and terrorist attacks).
Learn how to be an Advocate for Victims of War
The Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) has put together a PDF toolkit for Advocating For Victims of War.
Download the toolkit and start advocating.
OUR PARTNERS
Veterans for America (VFA), a program of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation and The Justice Project, is an educational, humanitarian and advocacy organization addressing the causes, conduct and consequences of war.
VFA brings generations of veterans together to build on more than 25 years of experience in protecting America's values. VFA is committed to addressing the needs of our veterans, service members and their families and their larger concerns about the impact of war.
CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities.