SUPPORTING THE CAUSE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE Firoze Manji, Fahamu
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
First of all, thanks to all of you for the support you have given Pambazuka News recently – we continue to receive news, information and letters of support from our readers, as well as donations.
Since we last wrote to you, we have:
* Contributed to worldwide mobilisations to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Rwanda Genocide through a special section in Pambazuka News and by producing a special commemorative issue of Pambazuka News
* Armed African parliamentarians with crucial information for the first meeting of the Pan African Parliament in Addis Ababa. Some 260 printed copies of the special issue of Pambazuka were distributed free to every parliamentarian attending that meeting – our thanks to Oxfam for their support for printing and distribution
* Organised a petition to the Africa Union on freedom of expression
* Sounded the warning bells about the massacres in Darfur
* Provided a platform for critical debate and discussion in the region and a means for sharing information
We are about to run a campaign to have the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa ratified by African countries. This campaign is being organised jointly by Equality Now, the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Credo for Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights, Oxfam’s Pan African programme and Fahamu. Fahamu is developing an online petition facility and we are investigating the possibilities of enabling people to sign using SMS/Text messaging technologies.
Pambazuka News is quickly becoming an influential tool for the struggle for social justice in Africa. Pambazuka News has more than 12,000 subscribers and a readership estimated to be at least 60,000 (excluding those who read it online at AllAfrica.com and at Pambazuka.org).
But all of this costs. We need your help.
There are many ways of improving both the service that Pambazuka News provides you as well as the effectiveness of Pambazuka News in promoting the cause of social justice.
So far, we have provided this service for free.
Now, we want to ask you to support us by making a regular donation for your subscription - especially if you aren't based in Africa.
So here’s what we ask: make a donation for your subscription to Africa's best social justice e-service.
* Individual: at least $20 per year (that's less than 50c an issue)
* Institutions: at least $50 per person per year (about a dollar an issue)
* Donor agencies: at least $100 per person per year (about $4 an issue)
We know that some of you are not able to pay. That’s ok.
But there are many of you who can pay. If you don’t pay ... well, you’ll still get Pambazuka for free - of course. But the price you will pay will be the pangs on your conscience each time Pambazuka News arrives in your mailbox!
But we know that many of you who can pay, will pay. For example, we asked Comic Relief to take out subscriptions at the donor agency rate – and they agreed. So thanks to Comic Relief for showing what can be done!
So make your contribution to the cause of social justice: donate now at http://www.securegiving.co.uk/donate_to/fahamu.html
But if you can't pay, there are other ways of helping:
* tell others about Pambazuka News - get them to subscribe
* make sure your local parliamentary and local government representative takes out a subscription to Pambazuka News
* get a free copy of Proposals that make a difference by getting 30 new subscribers to Pambazuka News
We look forward to your continued support.
Firoze Manji Director, Fahamu Co-Editor, Pambazuka News
This week there is no Pambazuka News for you, apart from this letter. The empty space below shows what impact we'll have on the cause of social justice if we don't continue to get your help.
Pambazuka News is published by Fahamu (www.fahamu.org)
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