“I am now supporting Cruelty Free International with its campaign to seek a global ban to ensure that animals do not suffer for the sake of beauty anywhere in the world..." Sir Paul McCartney has said.

An EU-wide ban on animal tested cosmetics was implemented in March, 2013...

The ban includes an end to the sale of all new cosmetics that are animal tested.

BUAV and Cruelty Free International have been at the forefront of the European campaign, along with other animal welfare charities that are increasingly cooperating on national and international lines to bring their campaigns to fruition...

Campaigners want to end the suffering caused to animals - including rabbits - that are frequently used in tests for shampoos and toiletries...

Along with the BUAV the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) was involved in the campaign in Europe, comprising non-profit animal welfare organisations from across the continent...

However, despite the European success, sales of animal tested cosmetics are still permitted in other countries...

Now ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney is backing animal welfare charity BUAV and its campaign organisation: Cruelty Free International's appeal for a worldwide ban on cosmetics tests on animals...

Over 80 per of the world still allows cosmetics testing on animals, even major countries like the USA, Australia, Japan and India.

Other Cruelty Free International supporters include Ricky Gervais, Joss Stone, and Peter Dinklage...

Cruelty Free International’s appeal is for governments and their regulators to implement a ban on the testing of animals for all cosmetics products and ingredients...

The area has suffered severe drought in recent years and has struggled to recover, with high food prices and low agriculture production helping to trap millions of people in poverty...

The UN says over ten million people will struggle for food this year and more than a million children are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition, requiring medical treatment...

International agencies report the numbers of people finding it difficult to survive across the Sahel region is growing...

The military conflict, terrorism and political instability in Mali has contributed to the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the region... with hundreds of thousands of refugees forced to flee their homes...

Since last year in Mali the Red Cross alone has provided food and other aid to over 800,000 people affected by the conflict...

This week fresh commitments for aid have been made by the international community...

The EU has earmarked €12 million for Mali to meet food and health needs with food aid contributions supported through the Red Cross and the World Food Programme...

€30 million is being pledged by the EU for the Sahel to help tackle its food and nutrition crisis, including food aid to Chad...

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has also this week pledged 240 million euros to boost the Malian economy...

The USA government has committed 32 million USD to Mali as part of the international community’s commitment of €3.25 billion to support a recovery plan for Mali, including programmes to build up civic society...

The commitments were made at at an international donors’ conference in Belgium, with other governments also promising emergency and development aid...

Britain’s £128 million relief package includes help for at least 350,000 people in Mali over the next three years...

Funds include investment in agriculture programmes to develop new and sustainable sources of food and income...

UK International Development Secretary Justine Greening, speaking at the meeting, also called for more long-term investment in the Sahel to help create stability for the region...

As well as emergency relief, international organisations continue to appeal for improved investment to create long–term solutions for the Sahel... which are thought to be more cost-effective than emergency aid...

A study in Kenya and Ethiopia released by the DFID showed that compared to delayed responses, resilience-building programmes provide a much better humanitarian return, costing over $1 billion less on average per year...

I.e. building resilience against drought and instability in the Sahel over the long-term could translate to more lives being rescued from poverty, suffering and ill-health...

The WHO World Health Statistics 2013 report shows a narrowing of the gap between countries with the best and worst health status in the past two decades...

The global health findings highlight the impact of spending on international development and efforts by international governments in partnership with non-profit organisations and also the private sector...

The WHO data also provides further evidence that concerted investment in programmes focused around Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can and do solve some of the world’s major health and inequality issues...

MDGs involve targets seeking to alleviate poverty and hunger, including tackling child mortality and improving maternal health...

MDGs were agreed in 2000 by the United Nations with major targets set for 2015...

In September 2013 UN member states will assess progress and agree on a new platform to take the international efforts forward...

WHO’s report highlights how efforts to meet MDGs have reduced health gaps between the richest and poorest countries including progress on reducing child and maternal deaths, advancing nutrition and HIV care, as well as tackling major diseases tuberculosis and malaria...

“Intensive efforts to achieve the MDGs have clearly improved health for people all over the world...” says Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General...

Countries in the bottom 25 per cent category of health status have made major health progress...

For example, the absolute gap in child mortality between the top and bottom countries was reduced from 171 deaths per 1000 live births in 1990 - to 107 deaths per 1000 live births in 2011...

Countries including Bangladesh, Nepal and Rwanda, that were among those in 1990 with the world’s highest child mortality rates have improved child survival rates so much that they now do not belong to this group...

Other progress includes the gap between countries with the highest and lowest rates of new HIV infections narrowing from 360 to 261 people per 100,000 population between 1990 and 2011...

Other major achievements include tuberculosis deaths decreasing by more than 40 per cent since 1990 with continued progress predicted...

Progress is uneven though and there is still more work to be done with major obstacles including the lack of medicines in the public sector for many low and mid-income countries...

NGOs are appealing for investment to meet global MDG targets that include efforts to achieve a two-thirds reduction in 1990 levels of child mortality by 2015...

Thousands of children die every day in developing countries due to easily preventable diseases...

WHO data shows how aid and investment in programmes alleviating poverty in the third world saves lives and also empowers those in poverty to make a better future for themselves...

Making medicines available and affordable and developing healthcare programmes is just one area, along with similar efforts to improve education, economic and social development - that NGO charities and their partners are working to achieve...

The cosmopolitan area of South London is famed for its creative landmarks and rich melting pot of the arts, including on its doorstep the National Theatre (a registered charity)...

The area made famous in song by artists such as the Kinks and Abba, is hosting its festival this year from June 27 to July 2, with events mainly taking place at St John’s Church, Waterloo and its grounds...

The 2013 festival, that includes premiere performances of classical music, is raising funds for two chosen charities, Poppy Factory and War Child...

Poppy Factory is a UK charity that helps wounded, sick and injured ex-service men and women find work...

The Poppy Factory is also known for its work making poppies for The Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal, a major UK fundraiser supporting service people, ex-service people and their families...

War Child protects children living in war zones, and its current appeals include support for child victims of the war in Syria...

The charity helps to create safe havens for children caught up in warfare, as well as providing counselling and other forms of support...

Waterloo and its landmark bridge was famously named after the 19th Century Battle of Waterloo... The theme of the area's annual arts and community festival covers the impact of war on communities...

Events lined up include the National Theatre performing 'Unknown Warriors' a programme of readings from plays, letters, poems and blogs, on the new realities of war...

Musical performers at the festival include the Kreutzer Quartet, the Southbank Sinfonia plus a cappella group Fever Pitch whilst day and evening events include art workshops and exhibitions, guided walks and a family fun fete...

Also for 2013 the festival is running competitions to compose a musical score and encourage local creative talents...

Unique for 2013 a short film has been commissioned, filmed in the area, for which either a score can be composed electronically or for a clarinet quintet...

The composition shortlisted entries will be played live alongside the film footage at the festival...

The CSR charity programme hopes to improve this situation via skills and resource sharing from the organisations two specialist sectors, including innovative approaches focused on the development of new healthcare treatments...

The pilot programmes in Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya plan to expand vaccine coverage, and hope to save the lives of a million poor children...

Through fundraising and charitable donations GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) says it is committing at least £15 million to Save the Children for the project...

The partnership involves the establishment of a joint Research and Development (R&D) panel... and intends to accelerate the availability of children’s medicines...

Significant initiatives in the pipeline include the release of a child friendly powder form of an antibiotic that can be used to help fight pneumonia; as well as the development of a new low-cost nutritional product to help combat child malnutrition...

One of the innovative projects planned is the transformation of an antiseptic ‘chlorhexidine’ used in mouthwash, into a potentially life-saving gel for cleansing the umbilical cord stump of newborn babies...

If successful it is hoped the partnership will provide a template for similar development models that can be scaled up in other countries, including across Africa, Asia and Latin America...

Save the Children Chief Executive, Justin Forsyth, describes the five year plan as “ground breaking” involving both organisations “working in genuinely new ways to save the lives of a million children...”

This includes most obviously tapping into the continent’s solar energy resources but also harnessing hydroelectric power from African river systems, as well as wind and geothermal energy, etc...

Currently there is a long way to go in terms of building renewable energy output.

But there are signs of a growing interest in developing renewable energy systems that highlights the potential for the future...

With the right support and investment in renewable energy, it could act as a significant catalyst for economic development, as well as building a defence against climate change...

For instance, according to the UN study 'Patents and clean energy technologies in Africa' hydropower, the most common renewable energy system, is estimated to be used at only 4.3 per cent of Africa's total capacity...

There are over 500 small hydropower plants (less than 10 MW) in use...

However, patent activity for renewable technologies reflects the potential for growth...

The report reveals for adaptation technologies, technologies in development to prepare for or mitigate against climate change - the African share in worldwide inventive activity is low at 0.26 per cent...

But the level of patent protection sought in African countries is increasing quickly at an average of 17 per cent per annum...

And whilst less than one per cent of all patent applications relating to clean energy technology have been filed in Africa, data does show that there is a relatively high level of inventive activity in Africa, mainly energy storage and hydrogen, fuel cell technologies and renewable energy...

While the global growth rate on overall inventive activity is 5 per cent, in Africa the growth rate overall is 9 per cent - but it is 59 per cent for mitigation technologies.

African nations have the opportunity of harnessing enormous natural renewable resources, with the right investment, and also avoiding over reliance on fossil fuels...

The results could be a meeting of energy needs and a boost to developing countries economies around clean, climate friendly energy solutions...

The figures suggest that social impact and philanthropy organisations, including impact investors backing clean tech entrepreneurs; as well as NGOs and development charities funding renewable energy solutions have a vital part to play...

International charities investing in renewable energy solutions to protect the environment and aid development in Africa include charity: water, Oxfam and others - including Practical Action that helps create and support local sustainable energy solutions like micro-hydropower and solar power projects...

Foundation charities that support sustainable energy solutions in Africa include the Bellona Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and Energy4All Foundation.

INFORSE-Africa is an umbrella network of African NGOs working on sustainable energy solutions to protect the environment and tackle poverty, that includes the African Wind Energy Association (AWEA) in South Africa and dozens of similar sustainability organisations...

Guest celebrities will appear at several of the company’s offices including its US bases in Boston, New York and Los Angeles...

Alongside BTIG traders, celebrities including actor Michael J Fox will be operating the phones and clinching deals for a range of popular charities...

This year the emphasis is on children’s charities that have been selected by the firm’s clients and the guest traders taking part on the day, that also include a number of sports stars...

All commissions go to help the charities chosen including National Down Syndrome Society and All Stars Helping Kids...

Over 150 charity organisations will receive funds as commissions are waived, also including Autism Speaks, March of Dimes and St Jude Children's Research Hospital...

Other celebrities involved are supermodel Petra Němcová and Joe Girardi, manager of the New York Yankees...

Since the annual fundraiser was launched in 2003, BTIG and its charity supporters have raised almost $25 million for charity, helping over 350 organisations...

Is the peregrine falcon set to take up ever more permanent residence in Britain’s towns and cities, akin to the urban fox?

Peregrines have been making their homes on other city buildings in recent years, often encouraged by wildlife charities...

UK charity the Hawk and Owl Trust, that defends birds of prey... is hoping the global attention generated by the falcons at its nesting platform at Norwich, will also lead to more support for programmes in the wild protecting these beautiful creatures...

The charity runs education programmes, as well as conservation initiatives in the countryside, guarding birds of prey from persecution and damage to their natural habitats...

However, it is a family of falcons nesting in an urban area that has really caught the attention of the public of late...

Hawk and Owl Trust Conservation Officer Nigel Middleton describes the birds, that are all currently healthy and feeding well atop Norwich’s 11th Century cathedral, as “a fine example of these magnificent birds of prey embracing life in the heart of our cities...”

The birth of the animals is part of a trend in the UK of peregrines moving into 'urban dwellings'.

The falcons, the fastest birds on the planet capable of speeds of over 200mph, traditionally make their homes on cliffs in the UK but have been increasingly identified breeding in cities in the last few years including other English cities, like Manchester, Derby and Nottingham...

Akin to the urban fox that has found plentiful food supplies and places to make its home and is well established in urban settings, is the peregrine falcon now slowly transforming into an urban animal, with sites to its liking in city environments and plenty of food?

Charities have been supporting falcons in their city nesting sites, and the birds have proved popular with the public...

Falcons are seen by many to have benefits for urban environments...

As well as allowing people to engage with the wonder of nature and marvel at these stunningly beautiful and aerodynamically impressive birds, the falcons can be seen as useful pest controllers, consuming feral pigeons, as well as rats and other rodents as part of their diet...

A nesting pair can also have economic benefits, attracting city visitors eager to see them in flight...

A male and female peregrine appeared at Norwich Cathedral a few years ago so the Hawk and Owl Trust installed a nest platform, 75 metres above street level, in 2011, to help them settle in...

This high rise apartment was the site for the falcons first hatchlings there in 2012 with two young birds successfully hatched.

The charity’s webcam received viewings from over a million people such was the fascination in the falcons...

The arrival of the birds was also significant in conservation terms: falcons had not had a breeding presence in Norfolk for 200 years...

Now the project has delighted conservationists further with four new arrivals this spring...

The birds are particularly attracted to cathedrals which provide suitable ledges and are thought to be drawn to urban environments because street lighting provides extended opportunities to hunt...

The Hawk and Owl Trust was founded in 1969 to help save the peregrine that was then in drastic decline...

The charity now works for the protection and appreciation of all wild birds of prey and their habitats...

Mr West had his legs removed at the age of five, due to a genetic disease that had caused muscle collapse in his legs...

The Free the Children ambassador who inspires others to reach their potential in life, has since carved out a dynamic career as a motivational speaker, author and as a fundraiser and adventurer...

Last year Mr West and two friends successfully climbed Mt Kilimanjaro and raised over half a million USD for charity Free The Children’s development programmes, bringing clean water to impoverished communities around the world...

His current fundraiser is in aid of Free The Children’s We Walk 4Water campaign, supporting clean water projects...

The double amputee is trekking 300 km from Edmonton to Calgary in his wheelchair, and on his hands, to raise money for Free The Children’s water initiative...

The charity's year-long campaign aims to provide 100,000 people in Kenya and around the world with clean water solutions, a vital investment in terms of development goals...

The walk began in Edmonton and has continued through scenic spots including Leduc, Wetaskiwin and Ponoka...

Upcoming destinations on the route include Red Deer, Innisfail and others; with the walk planned to finish in Calgary on Thursday, May 16...

Free The Children is an international charity that encourages young people to be active citizens, both locally and globally...

Its international projects, empowering children, include schools building, clean water and sanitation services, health care and food aid...

In her pledge letter the SPANX apparel founder revealed her interest in investing in “one of the greatest returns on investment...” i.e. women...

The list of notable figures also includes Stephen M Ross the owner of the Miami Dolphins and trustee of the Lincoln Center, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

The other new pledge signatories are Monica and David Gelbaum, Craig and Susan McCaw, Paul E Singer, Mark and Mary Stevens, Tad Taube, Samuel Yin and Lord Ashcroft.

Lord Ashcroft, the self-made billionaire philanthropist, makes the point in his pledge letter that: “some of the best ideas to emerge in the US had their roots in charities and the freedom to innovate that they provided...”

The Giving Pledge that promotes philanthropy in the now, along with active engagement from philanthropists in social impact causes, is taking on an increasingly diverse and global dimension since it was established three years ago and was initially predominantly American in its make-up...

The global initiative created by Warren Buffett and Bill and Melinda Gates has gathered considerable momentum in the last year, increasingly with philanthropists drawn from international backgrounds and diverse business sectors...

The 114 philanthropists now represent ten countries and 23 US states plus the District of Columbia. The 114 pledgers' ages are 28 to 97...

“As the Giving Pledge grows in size and scope we will benefit from broader perspectives and experiences...” explains Melinda Gates, co-founder of the pledge initiative...

Pledge signatories meet throughout the year to share ideas and best practice in order to strengthen the impact of their donations; which are distributed across a wide range of non-profit areas including education, the environment, health, and other social causes...

IT businesses are encouraging their employees and other supporters to sleep out this year at the annual Byte Night on Friday October 4 at locations across the UK, to raise funds for homeless young people...

Byte Night sleep outs are taking place in London, Belfast, Birmingham, Reading and other locations...

Each year individuals and teams from across the IT and business sector sleep out to raise money and also awareness of Action for Children’s work, that focuses a great deal on supporting homeless youngsters...

The charity helps prevent young people from falling into long-term homelessness by providing vital support, including shelter, education and training...

1000 sleepers braved the elements in 2012 as part of the Byte Night initiative, reaching a record-breaking fundraising amount of £950,000... and bringing the overall amount for charity since the event began 16 years ago to £5.2 million...

This year’s event coincides with homeless charities warning of increasing pressures on their services due to the scale of homelessness in the UK...

100,000 young people were estimated to be homeless in the UK last year...

2012 also saw a ten per cent increase in homeless acceptances in the UK, compared with 2011... with London thought to be the worst affected city...

5,678 people slept rough in London during 2011 to 2012, a 43 per cent increase on the previous year...

Sally Hanson, Co-Chair of the Thames Valley Byte Night Board, says: “By simply giving up our beds for just one night, we can make that important difference to children’s lives...”

A Byte Night launch event takes place tonight (May 9) in Reading at the offices of law firm, Boyes Turner.

Byte Night organisers are hoping plenty of volunteers will come forward to support their worthwhile initiative and make a big difference in 2013; not only in terms of fundraising, but also awareness raising about the issue of homelessness that continues to affects thousands of young people each year...

The more the issue of homelessness remains on the agenda the more the vital work of charities working to make a difference is likely to be recognised...

The 300 mile plus ride includes injured active duty and retired military personnel riding hand cycles, recumbent cycles, tandems and more traditional road bicycles across Virginia, taking in some of the stunning scenery and stupendous historical locations abundant in the Blue Ridge state...

The cyclists will ride south through eastern Virginia with overnight stays at Manassas, Fredericksburg, Richmond, Williamsburg and Norfolk before ending up on Virginia Beach on Saturday, June 1...

A one-day 'Honor Ride' takes place at Virginia Beach on Sunday, June 2,

The cycle ride is organised by the non-profit Ride 2 Recovery (R2R), a charity that helps injured veterans mend their physical and spiritual wounds via group and individual cycling...

Ride 2 Recovery is an initiative from the Fitness Challenge Foundation (501c3)...

Physical exercise is a vital cog in the road to recovery in terms of physical and mental well-being and the charity programme whilst supporting a variety of rehabilitation programmes for injured vets, uses cycling as the main element...

“...a way to get back in the game of life,” is how John Wordin, Founder of Ride 2 Recovery, explains it...

The charity also provides personal coaching and physical training programmes, helping individuals to recover from various setbacks including Post-Traumatic Stress disorders and brain injuries...

Cycling is a popular yet powerful therapy exercise that can help many injured personnel move on up with their lives says R2R... it’s shown to help bolster the rehabilitation process...

The general public are invited to join the injured veterans as part of the Memorial Challenge, that is billed as a non-competitive ride, and ride one of three distances – 23, 37 or 72 miles...

The grant will be split between support for the establishment of a memorial in NYC, and also for the development of educational programmes that are linked to the memorial...

The NYC AIDS memorial plan was launched in 2011 and has developed into a fundraising programme that has been supported by a variety of organisations from the public, private and non-profit sector, including the Arcus Foundation, and Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS...

Other organisations receiving new funding from EJAF include AIDS United, that receives $300,000 support for its Access to Care Initiative, that helps provide access to medical care for people living with HIV/AIDS who have little or zero health coverage...

The grant comprises support for efforts to improve HIV medical services in Puerto Rico... an area badly affected by AIDS...


Other innovative programmes receiving support include the HarborPath Common HIV Patient Assistance Program Portal ($250,000)...

The non-profit's web project helps patients overcome bureaucracy by centralising and streamlining the application process for people with HIV/AIDS who are not insured, and have no other access to HIV medication...

Funding is also made available for the SERO Project ($75,000), a non-profit human rights organisation seeking to empower people with HIV... and also the How to Survive a Plague Engagement Campaign ($125,000), an outreach and educational engagement campaign about the documentary film 'How To Survive A Plague' that promotes the positive impact of AIDS activism...

The EJAF was established as a non-profit in 1992 in the United States and a registered charity in the UK in 1993, and has since gone on to become one of the biggest fundraising organisations in the world, supporting innovative AIDS HIV programmes...

Early this year EJAF reached a $300 million fundraising landmark for its HIV programmes, that have included support for non-profit programmes in 55 countries...

Whales and dolphins are frequent visitors to Scottish coastlines, a fact which ties in with current efforts to promote sustainable tourism in Scotland...

Opportunities to see bottlenose dolphins, says the RSPB, are quite common at the Aberdeen Harbour entrance...

The RSPB is managing the project with assistance from fellow charity Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), plus Scottish Natural Heritage and other partners...

The project, whilst showcasing the opportunities for eco-tourism in Scotland, is also a conservation initiative...

Staff and volunteers will be monitoring dolphin numbers at the site to learn more about how to protect them...

WDC, that runs an existing Scottish Shorewatch programme, has trained RSPB staff and volunteers to carry out regular ten minute watches from the historic Torry Battery site...

The wider coastal area also provides common sightings of other dynamic species including white beaked and bottlenose dolphins, and harbour porpoises...

This project runs from May 2 to the end of August, with the RSPB team also offering info to visitors at the harbour at selected times...

Nature travel makes up 20 per cent of global travel according to World Tourism Organisation figures...

Many conservation charities see it as an opportunity to promote the benefits of nature and wildlife conservation, as well as helping to support local sustainable industries...

Whale watching and similar eco-tourist activities are growing in many countries, for instance...

The Icelandic Travel Industry Association (SAF) reports whale watching numbers in Iceland increased by 45,000 in 2012 to 175,000...

Such programmes are being shown to have positive impacts on nature sustainability and community regeneration...

The appeal has been made as new research in Tanzania suggests elephants face extinction there in seven years if current poaching rates continue...

Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI) indicates Tanzania elephants have declined from 109,000 in 2009 to less than 70,000 in 2012.

A government spokesman has described the situation as “a national disaster...”

However, the future of elephants right across Africa is also uncertain unless more is done to combat the growing illegal trade in ivory...

African elephant range states include Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, and dozens of others...

Campaigners are appealing for an upscaling of investment in anti-poaching teams and other wildlife crime-detection systems...

In 2010 at the Conference of the Parties to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), the African Elephant Action Plan was created, an NGO driven partnership approach to battle poaching...

The plan offers solutions to elephant crime but needs adequate funding...

The charity Care for the Wild suggests the equivalent of a few cents/pence per citizen across the G8 nations would make it a reality...

Care for the Wild International says G8 leaders could divert aid equivalent to just 7p a person, a programme that could save all of Africa’s elephants...

The impact of delivering this conservation strategy could also have important benefits in terms of national security as it would be a major blow to international crime syndicates...

Poaching is an enormous organised criminal racket that has links to terrorism and other despicable acts...

The appeal to implement the action plan follows an historic move last month by the UN that has declared poaching a Serious Organised Crime...

Care for the Wild is appealing for the estimated $97 million required to instigate the elephant plan to be set aside by the G8 countries from its aid budget... a fraction of the $90 billion spent by the G8 on aid last year...

“We’re talking a relatively tiny amount not only to save elephants but to help stamp out poaching and its national security impacts...” says Care for the Wild CEO Philip Mansbridge.

African communities could also benefit from the economic and community boost that comes with sustainable conservation policies...

It’s argued that strengthening enforcement capacity in African elephant range sites and delivering better responses to poaching and the illegal trade in ivory could deliver conservation benefits, at a local level, that can also aid development in the countries affected...

The French NGO Reporters Without Borders publishes The Press Freedom Index, an annual ranking of countries based upon its assessment of their press freedoms...

A quick glance tells you all you need to know about the value of a free press and its relationship with quality of life, peace and stability - with Syria, North Korea and Somalia amongst those at the bottom of the table and countries including New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland at the top end...

It’s also a reminder of the dangers and risks that writers, artists and campaigners promoting freedom and civil society face...

In 2013 19 journalists have already been killed due to their activities, including in Pakistan (6) and Syria (5)...

Over 600 journalists have been killed in the last decade, often in non-conflict zones...

Further ghastly proof that the pen has great power and that anti-democracy forces will be ruthless in their attacks on it...

And a reminder that throughout history governments and individuals that banish press freedoms, or seek to close them down via torture or violence, are never operating in the interests of the people...

However, even in societies we regard as free, forms of censorship and assaults on basic human rights such as discourse and free speech can proliferate...

They are arguably just more complex and these attacks on free speech more nuanced and even hidden...

Commercial and political doctrines, monopolies and ownerships of media all contribute to a very difficult media landscape for the citizen to navigate, with information presented as balanced truth often working in the interest of a particular political party or group in society...

Media continues to rapidly evolve of course with social media: Facebook, Twitter etc firmly in the online landscape and also blogs that can spread the word of campaigns, the power of which has been in evidence more than ever in recent years...

So it’s a very fast and complicated digital landscape we live in now, and which is open to all to publish and contribute.

And so all those who take part also have a responsibility to promote the right values and communicate within accepted guidelines, even when being provocative or challenging...

In this hyper post-modern and commercial media landscape; which becomes more about self-indulgence, volume and sensationalism rather than quality in many cases, those publications and individuals that are really offering value and insight and independence have the opportunity to shine through like a bright star...

Freedom of expression is a ‘fundamental right’ and one that provides the conditions for the protection and promotion of all human rights... and one that is protected in the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights...

The theme of this year’s World Press Freedom Day promoted by the UN is Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media and it aims to inspire international action to protect the freedom of media workers to operate...

It also needs to be about informing consumers/citizens to make more informed choices about their choice of media, and to step outside the relentless commercial information cycle from time to time, and its quite often narrow agenda...

And it should also be about how anyone can take up the campaign for freedom of speech, quality of information and human rights...

If more people start to take an interest in and speak out about things that matter then the world can really change for the better...

It’s not just about media workers but everyone operating with a free voice, social campaigners, parents and young people...

Everyone who wants to drive up standards, challenge poverty, defend democracy and promote quality of life for all - they need to engage and speak up, or even shout out, from time to time...

The idea is to get people thinking how they can utilise underused urban spaces, as well as other ideas that can liberate potential and make better use of resources in collaborative ways...

The pioneering approach is part of a growing movement of non-profit organisations and campaigners who see tackling waste as one way of developing more sustainable and healthier economies...

Other sector areas promoting similar ideas in the UK include furniture recycling charities and forums for sharing unwanted goods...

Others include pioneering orgs tackling waste in the food industry such as charities like FareShare and FoodCycle that direct unwanted food to good causes, and the Abundance network that redirects surplus fruit, plus many other areas of similar activity...

The 3Space series of workshops and talks, exhibitions, etc takes place until May 3, with about 50 UK organisations involved celebrating and sharing practical ideas...

Organisations taking part in the festival include Cultivate London, a progressive urban farm network, and the green community regeneration charity: Groundwork...

3Space is an example of a charity that uses the idea of ‘pop up’ spaces commonly used in shop fronts, but working in partnership with landlords it delivers temporary free pop up spaces to social organisations that benefit the community...

With urban office and living space at a premium such an arrangement can provide a welcome boost to community regeneration...

For example, more than one in ten shops are empty and unused in the UK so it makes a lot of sense...

The temporary use of the space can help charities and community groups test the benefits of having a town office or promotional space, and can encourage long-term revitalisation of communities...

The Impact Economy Innovations Fund (IEIF) is managed by the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation and The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF)...

Deadline for the funds is May 31, 2013 with the IEIF supporting about seven to eight proposals from organisations specifically seeking to aid the growth of the impact investing and social enterprise sector in Africa...

Grants are available for up to 12 months with a maximum request of USD 100,000...

“Impact investing is a critical tool in driving our agenda of promoting entrepreneurship for lasting economic and social development in Africa...” says Dr Wiebe Boer, Tony Elumelu Foundation CEO...

Eme Essien Lore, of The Rockefeller Foundation, describes The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) as well as the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (South Africa) as examples of organisations “at the forefront of helping to achieve equitable growth for all...”

TEF, based in Nigeria, is a non-profit philanthropic foundation that celebrates the idea that solutions to Africa’s development challenges lie in the hands of Africans...

The foundation’s model centres around promoting entrepreneurship as a driver of development and prosperity, including assistance with start-up funding, and business development support; as well as campaigning for government investments to help business growth...

The foundation re-invests any returns from impact investments into an endowment for future investment programmes...

In Syria people are being forced to live outside in the open in tents and other temporary accommodation making them more vulnerable to bomb attacks, whilst much of the country’s health infrastructure is in ruins leaving sick people without access to care...

However Oxfam's Chief Executive, Mark Goldring, says providing the proper humanitarian response is difficult due to restrictions on access...

“...too many vulnerable people are not getting the help they have a right to..." he says...

The Syria Needs Analysis Project is an assessment provided by the Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS), a joint initiative of the humanitarian NGOs HelpAge International, Merlin and Norwegian Refugee Council...

The latest report from the Project on Syria shows how as the scale of the violence is growing, humanitarian access to the affected population is decreasing for those international organisations trying to help...

The report identifies a mix of bureaucratic issues and security barriers...

Meanwhile 6.8 million people are in need of support, a third in Aleppo governorate...

There are 1.4 million refugees in neighbouring countries...

Over a million houses are estimated to be damaged or destroyed.

At least 4.25 million people are estimated to be internally displaced.

Major host countries Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq are housing over a million refugees between them...

Oxfam has also released a briefing paper that identifies aid is too slow to reach those in need...

And efforts to help Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries remain underfunded...

"The aid effort on the borders has been slow to get off the ground and now needs to be scaled up significantly...“ says Goldring.

Other charities campaigning for funds for Syria include War Child, UNICEF, the Red Cross, Christian Aid, Tearfund, Save the Children, Action Aid and many others...

“As the needs of Syrians and refugees increase so must the response", says Goldring...

The group who announced their split in April this year, after five years in the limelight, will headline the Rays of Sunshine Concert at The Royal Albert Hall on Saturday July 6... at 3pm...

The concert will be a unique opportunity for their fans to see them play before they head out on a farewell tour...

The annual concert is a regular event for JLS, the fourth time the group have headlined at the charity's benefit concert...

On the announcement, JLS issued a statement supporting Rays of Sunshine and describing their ongoing commitment to the charity...

Tickets go on sale on Wednesday May 1 for the show that also features Rays of Sunshine ambassador Olly Murs, Kimberley Walsh, dance acts Flawless and Ruff Diamond; as well as Angel and Charlie Brown...

2,000 tickets will be given to seriously ill children who have previously received wishes from the charity...

JLS - Aston Merrygold, Jonathan JB Gill, Marvin Humes, and Oritse Williams - have been ambassadors for five years for Rays of Sunshine, the charity that supports seriously ill children via wish-granting, and hospital activities and events...

The Royal Albert Hall, one of London’s most historic concert venues, is also supporting the charity by offering its main auditorium free of charge for the concert...

The venue, a registered charity that is run without public funding, has a longstanding track-record of helping up and coming musicians...

The venue works extensively with schools and other groups including charity partners like Music For Youth...

Colleges and universities in the USA raised $31 billion in donations in 2012, according to numbers from the Council for Aid to Education (CAE), a trend that is predicted to continue...

The Blavatnik Family Foundation $50 million gift to Harvard University is to launch an initiative to help accelerate basic science discoveries that can lead to breakthroughs in terms of disease therapies and cures...

It’s part of Harvard’s strategy to grow an entrepreneurial culture in life sciences...

Support for early stage technologies in development is seen as vital for them to succeed, reach maturity and maximise their benefit...

The Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator plans to spot auspicious technologies, and help them develop and become viable businesses via a collaborative approach...

The donation is also creating a Blavatnik Fellowship for Life Science Entrepreneurship at Harvard Business School (HBS) in conjunction with the Accelerator...

“By partnering with Harvard’s world-class biomedical research division, I am delighted to help accelerate the development of new therapies...” said Len Blavatnik, head of the Foundation.

Harvard President Drew Faust has celebrated the gift as a major backing for innovation in science that will allow Harvard and others to develop "promising new technologies that benefit society as a whole..."

The funding supports the Blavatnik Biomedical Accelerator, an expanded programme that will focus especially on therapeutic opportunities...

The large sum is donated as major philanthropists continue to prioritise education and research amongst their beneficiaries...

In 2013 New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave $350 million to Johns Hopkins University, with the majority going to support cross-disciplinary efforts to tackle global challenges...

Education and health are thought to be the two biggest overall charity causes for the international philanthropy sector...

In the UK, for instance, according to Friends of the Earth research, honey bee colonies have fallen by over 50 per cent between 1985 and 2005...

The problem is also a European wide one and a global one...

In February the European Food Safety Authority issued a report linking neonicotinoids chemicals to the decline in bee numbers...

A decision has now been made to implement a two year ban on a trio of neonicotinoids pesticides thought to be implicated in the rapid loss of bees across Europe.

The vote on Monday saw a majority 15 Member States support a restriction on the use of certain neonicotinoids, with eight Member States voting against and four Member States abstaining...

Health and Consumer Commissioner, Tonio Borg, said: "I pledge to do my utmost to ensure that our bees, which are so vital to our ecosystem and contribute over €22 billion annually to European agriculture, are protected..."

The main plank of the proposal is for a two year moratorium placing restrictions on three neonicotinoid pesticides: clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiametoxam...

Various green organisations including Friends of the Bees, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace have welcomed the ban...

The charity Friends of the Earth described the move as a victory for common sense and bees.

Head of Campaigns Andrew Pendleton says: "Restricting the use of these pesticides could be an historic milestone on the road to recovery for these crucial pollinators...”

The move is also being seen as an acknowledgement of longstanding concerns about industrial farming, reflecting campaigners in the green and organic movement's ongoing appeals for more investment in organic farming...

"Ministers must now help farmers to grow and protect crops but without relying so heavily on chemicals - especially those linked to bee decline..." adds Pendleton...

A majority of European Union countries have supported the European Commission proposal to temporarily ban three pesticides although there were surprising omissions voting against, including the UK.

Greenpeace Chief Scientist Dr Doug Parr says: "Government policy should be evidence-based and the evidence in this case is clear: these pesticides are badly affecting bees...”

Bees make a contribution to maintaining around 80 per cent of the main crop species the EU is reliant on, and so to replace the work of the bees would incur costs in the billions of euros...

As well as being vital to agricultural economies due to their pollinating role bees also help to sustain our natural wild flora with all its benefits...

As such many green campaigners are also calling on nature lovers to plant wild flowers and other bee friendly plants in their gardens, to encourage this important species...

The charity ball takes place this year on Thursday May 16 at Battersea Evolution in Battersea Park, London...

Dionne Warwick, one of the most successful female recording artists, has described her involvement in the fundraising event as an “honour...”

Caudwell Children was founded by philanthropist, John Caudwell, in 2000 and since then has provided millions of GBP worth of equipment and services to children in need...

The charity supports children with specialist equipment and services, including mobility equipment, as well as holidays for families with sick children, and advice and support...

Caudwell Children also takes pride in its ability to direct 100 per cent of donations to its charitable causes, and even doubles its donations from the public with the help of sponsorship agreements...

Dionne Warwick, best known for her partnership with songwriting duo Burt Bacharach and Hal David, is also a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Ambassador, and has supported various worthwhile causes over the years, including the Hunger Project...

Other charities the singer has backed include the Starkey Hearing Foundation, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and the Starlight Children's Foundation...

Measuring conversions from an organisation’s website in terms of enquiries, sales, donations etc, as well as general traffic figures etc may be comparatively easy...

There are also available strategies and analytics to measure the impact of blogs and social media...

Still creating and making use of a data-driven culture is time-consuming and challenging even for industries that occupy the specialist media sectors...

And with today’s wider and more complex mix of digital, web, print and broadcasting portals, that contribute to an organisation’s marketing and media output and coverage - including social media and affiliates sites - it is all becoming increasingly challenging to make sense of...

Tailor made analytics solutions are the real remedy for charities and non-profits wanting to create a reliable system of metrics for their sites... and these can be surprisingly common sense, in terms of tracking referrals and organising conversions data, ie sign ups and registrations, etc, however there is still relatively little bespoke research on this fairly embryonic and certainly fast moving area of social impact marketing...

As such the new programme funded to measure media impact and audience engagement, being launched by the Norman Lear Center at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, is expected to come up with some interesting results...

The new project aiming to measure the social impact of media is being supported by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the John S and James L Knight Foundation...

The pioneering project wants to develop a new media centre for media metrics research in the area of social impact, and has received $3.25 million to fund its initial two-and-a-half years project...

The data and impact measurement collaboration is intended to assist media workers, as well as and including social entrepreneurs and non-profit workers, who are interested in building solid data evidence of the impact of their communications...

As the influence and proliferation of digital media grows, including for charities fundraising online, and non-profits campaigning on social issues, the development of advanced metrics that measure social impact could provide a huge boost to organisations... that are seeking to make best use of their resources... and maximise their impact...

The project hopes to develop a deeper understanding of media's influence on social trends and individual behaviour; and is putting together a wide ranging team from the non-profit and business sector, including researchers and social and behavioural scientists, analytics experts, media communications experts and other specialists...

Media has a huge responsibility in terms of how it is produced and for what purpose and can have a profound impact...

The growth of news as entertainment is controversial and can be seen as a distraction...

Commercial forces have a powerful role in our capitalist societies and need to be kept in check... as do governments that in many cases have a creeping tendency towards authoritarianism...

Much news and media output generates passivity and fails to inspire, often compromised by narrow minded political agendas, and the need to generate advertising...

As is often the case it is the work of NGOs operating outside commercial and political pressures, that have the power to make a difference in today’s super-charged media landscape...

A positive assessment of how media can work for the best purposes can help today’s digital environment reach its potential: promoting innovation and healthy ideas like community engagement, lively debate, freedom of expression, and democratic values, as well as social equality and responsible government...

As such a substantive evaluation of how media impact metrics can recognise best practice and benefit those individuals and organisations hoping to preserve decent values, and inspire positive social change, is likely to be welcome...

The figures from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) show the importance of those organisations providing humanitarian aid...

And also the work of organisations promoting long-term international development solutions, including pro-democracy, human rights and civic society NGOs...

While governments carry responsibility, in many parts of the world it is NGOs that are at the forefront of promoting efforts that support peace, empowerment, equality, democracy, freedom of speech and the development of stable civil society...

Including projects that empower vulnerable communities, including women and children...

The IDMC, an initiative of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) reports a five-times increase of displaced persons last year in Syria...

"Much of the spike in the number of internally displaced people worldwide was due to the 2.4 million people displaced by the crisis within Syria by the end of 2012," says IDMC Director Kate Halff.

The humanitarian monitoring programme also reports by the end of 2012 the number of displaced persons globally was 28.8 million...

It’s the highest global figure reported of numbers who have evacuated their homes due to warfare, armed conflict, violence and human rights abuses... albeit remaining in the same country...

More than 6.5 million people became newly displaced inside their countries in 2012, almost twice as many as in 2011...

The region with the highest number of internally displaced persons is Sub-Saharan Africa, at 10.4 million...

However, 20 per cent of the world’s internally displaced in 2012 were in the Middle East...

Colombia, Syria and then the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), are the countries with the largest IDP populations...

While people have been made homeless by natural disasters in 2012 the growth of displaced persons is largely due to human conflict...

The Internally Displaced People crisis confirms the need for promoting peace, equality and conflict resolution along with the need to support emergency aid and development...

Because Internally Displaced People are not refugees they do not benefit from international protection status, and so are in danger of being left in a limbo facing a long-term uncertain future...

In most countries impacted there are people who have been displaced for decades, affecting also second and third generations...

IDMC's Global Overview 2012 draws attention to the need for humanitarian responses that include the convergence of work for peace, humanitarian relief, development progress, and human rights...

Stable democracies with the appropriate structures rarely wage war with each other, and there is thought to be no history of a famine in a functioning democracy...

The report confirms the widely held view that promoting international development is a key not only to humanitarian aid but it is crucial for global peace and stability...

Over two thirds of public body websites in Europe are not accessible and 92 per cent of websites offering basic services are not accessible, according to European figures...

Enormous progress is required to meet desired goals on website accessibility that as well as empowering millions of disabled citizens could also have huge economic benefits for Europe...

The EDF wants to see progressive targets across Europe to ensure websites meet the needs more effectively of the estimated 80 million citizens with disabilities across Europe...

As well as improving access to the full range of services available online, improving web accessibility is also widely recognised as a way of stimulating the economy...

Website accessibility is a commitment to equality but also social, educational as well as economic inclusion...

The latter is significant too when you consider the European Commission reckons the web accessibility market is worth two billion euros...

80 million potential customers is a lot of potential business for web commerce and 92 per cent of websites is a lot of potential work for web designers, developers, etc...

Significantly, a single framework of accessibility rules would also mean developers could provide their services across the entire European Union without the added fuss of different standards or extra adaptation costs...

Other benefits of improving site accessibility include improved Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)...

Improving website accessibility can also drive more search engine traffic and make websites more search engine friendly, making them load quicker and appearing higher in search engine results...

At its heart though web accessibility is about making Internet content accessible to everyone, especially people with disabilities...

Good web accessibility include basics like clear navigation signposting, adequate font sizes but also technologies like speech-to-text, for people who are hard of hearing; or screen reader software for the visually impaired...

On April 25 2013, EDF attended a European Parliament Committee on the Internal Market and advocated for more progress on website accessibility...

Not only for people with disabilities, but other users too, including the elderly...

There is currently much agreement across the European Parliament that improving website standards can help to drive up access to important services like education and employment, as well as added social and cultural benefits...

Specialist NGOs and progressive developers have been promoting the idea for a decade and more, and progress has been made...

However, the EDF is an organisation currently raising the profile of this important subject at the pan-European level, campaigning for legislation on accessibility to cover all public sector websites, plus sites delivering public available services...

The current European proposals are limited to public sector websites covering 12 categories, including job search, health services and public libraries...

The EDF also wants an effective enforcement system in place to ensure the changes are made...

As the role of web communications grows a central issue for disability groups is one of promoting social equality, social inclusion and equal opportunities...

There are already internationally recognised standards on web accessibility including those from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)...

Significant moves towards official guidelines for accessibility include the Accessibility of Websites in the United-Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) that provided momentum on the digital inclusion issue...

This was ratified by the EU and entered into force in 2011.

A European standard that includes web accessibility based on these guidelines is under development in the European Commission and it is hoped will be available by 2014...

Creating accessible websites is not only crucial for all organisations wanting to do the right thing and offer equal access to all, but also for those organisations that want to promote their work and services effectively...

Public, private and NGO organisations that commit to good website accessibility show they care about social equality and also understand the common sense business and economic arguments for promoting website accessibility...

The fire in the reactor burned for weeks but the impact of the disaster has continued for much longer, displacing entire communities from their homes, and ultimately causing thousands of deaths and illnesses...

Tragically the impact of this event, the world’s worst nuclear accident, continues for children and families today...

Kids are born each year that go on to develop cancers...

Linda Walker, Executive Director of the Chernobyl Children's Project UK, says the catastrophe will cast a shadow over generations to come...

“When the nuclear plant at Chernobyl exploded on April 26th 1986 tons of radioactive debris were spewed into the air and much of it travelled right across Europe and beyond, says Linda.

“In Britain polluted rain fell on the hills and only last year farmers were given the all clear to sell their lambs without testing.

“But it was Belarus, just north of the reactor in Ukraine, which was most heavily affected. A quarter of the country's best farmland and forests received high levels of contamination which will leave the land blighted for hundreds of years...

“Half a million people had to leave their homes, some of them with just an hour or two to pack their most treasured possessions...

“From village homes where they kept goats and chickens and tended the graves of their ancestors, families were forced to move to high rise flats in cities, where they were regarded with suspicion or hostility by the local population.

“Within a couple of years of the disaster thyroid cancer started to appear...

“This disease, normally very rare, increased by up to 100 times in the most contaminated parts of Belarus. Children also suffer many other types of cancer, blood diseases, bone disorders and raised levels of diabetes...”

Chernobyl Children’s Project UK was launched in 1995 to help relieve this suffering and now has 15 local groups in the UK who recruit host families...

The charity network invites children from Belarus who are in remission from cancer for holidays in the summer months...

The charity also delivers child care programmes and humanitarian aid to community projects, children’s homes, and other institutions supporting families affected by the tragedy, mainly in the Gomel region of Belarus...

70 per cent of the radiation fallout from Chernobyl fell on Belarus...

Linda explains, on the anniversary of Chernobyl, that it is not only important that we remember and understand the disaster of Chernobyl so that it is not repeated, but all these years later we do not forget that new generation of victims that the tragedy is creating...

“Today a second generation are being affected by Chernobyl, she says...

“Children are being born with leukaemia or genetic disorders to parents who were themselves young children at the time of the disaster, and doctors say only ten per cent of children are born truly healthy.

“As the people of Japan wait fearfully to see the extent of damage to the health of their children, it is surely time to learn the lessons of Chernobyl and turn away from nuclear power towards cleaner and safer alternatives...”

Chernobyl Children's Project brings children to the UK for recuperative holidays.

“We focus particularly on those who are not invited by other organisations, says Linda.

“Young children who travel with their mums, and teenagers who benefit so much psychologically from the trip as well as the direct boost to their immune systems...”

The charity also supports the Children's Cancer Hospital in Minsk and the Belarusian Children's Hospice.

“We fund a palliative home-care team in Gomel, the city at the heart of the most contaminated region, says Linda.

“A training programme has helped to move hundreds of children out of orphanages and into local families and several convoys of humanitarian aid are delivered every year to support orphanages and poor families living in the villages...

“But the achievements I think are most significant are the projects for children and young people with disabilities, all of them the first of their kind in Belarus.

“We established two family homes, one for children and one for young adults who had grown up in an orphanage; and a respite care centre so families with severely disabled children could have a break while the children had a great time in the Mayflower Centre.

“These projects are now being looked at by the state as a model for future development of services for children with special needs.”

A donation to the charity’s work has the potential to save the life of a child by purchasing medicines which are not available in Belarus...

Other items and support that donors can bring to the charity include help to fund a special wheelchair for a profoundly disabled child or young person who would otherwise be confined to bed, or care services for a terminally ill child and his family...

The charity also provides toys and other items for kids affected by Chernobyl, including gifts that cheer kids up living in an orphanage or having treatment in hospital...

The charity’s centres include Rodni Kut in Rogachev, a small family home for children with disabilities... and Family Home 2000 at Klimovka, a home for young adults with physical disabilities...

The charity also supports the Mayflower Respite Centre, that it established in 2004 to care for children with significant disabilities, but has since been taken on by the local authority...

The Chernobyl Children's Project is a small charity that benefits from a team of dedicated volunteers, including various specialist health professionals who maintain low admin costs, currently spending 97 per cent of funds on programmes...

The charity welcomes support from any organisations, companies or individuals who would like to make a difference to the life of a child living with the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster...

Click here to find out more about this charity

This unique international partnership, involving NGOs, governments, and private and public health organisations, has announced its six-year plan today, April 25 2013...

Over a billion children are to be vaccinated...

The global eradication programme will move forward at a pace on multiple fronts, expanding its focus to improve childhood immunisation and build on the considerable progress made over the last two decades...

The announcement was made at the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi...

The six-year plan is the first of its kind that aims to eradicate all types of polio disease... and follows fresh commitments from governments and philanthropists to meet the long-term initiative’s budget goals...

The multi-donor funding package is led by the Bill Gates Foundation...

Bill Gates Foundation is committing one-third of the total cost of the GPEI’s budget over the plan’s six-year timetable, a total of $1.8 billion.

Three-quarters of the plan’s projected USD 5.5 billion funding is already in place...

A group of major international philanthropists is also providing funding including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who has announced a $100 million donation via Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The new pledges from philanthropists to the polio initiative amounted to an additional USD 335 million toward the plan’s six-year budget.

Others making commitments include Albert L Ueltschi Foundation; Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation-Global; Carlos Slim Foundation; Dalio Foundation; The Foundation for a Greater Opportunity established by Carl C Icahn; and The Tahir Foundation...

The presentation also made an appeal to additional donors to commit to the additional USD 1.5 billion needed to ensure eradication of the disease.

Rotary International, the campaign’s longstanding major charity donor, has also pledged to maintain its fundraising support for the initiative...

Huge progress has been made on polio eradication in recent years due to the multi-pronged joint immunisation programme from governments, NGO and private supporters...

Achievements include the news last year that India had been removed from the list of polio-endemic countries, after a full year with no new cases....

Last year there were 223 cases of children paralysed by the disease, the lowest number ever recorded... and only 19 so far in 2013...

Between 2000 and 2011 more than ten billion doses of oral polio vaccine were provided worldwide...

GPEI that launched in 1988 also includes the World Health Organisation (WHO), and UNICEF as its backers...

Since its launch, the incidence of polio has been reduced by more than 99 per cent and the number of endemic countries reduced from 125 to three: Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan...

“After millennia battling polio this plan puts us within sight of the endgame...” explains WHO Director-General Margaret Chan.

The latest initiative to step up investment in immunisation programmes is based on a once in a lifetime opportunity to eradicate the disease globally...

UK government 'homelessness in England' figures state the financial year 2009/10 saw an increase in homelessness acceptances by local authorities of ten per cent, the first such increase since 2003/04.

The 2012 year also saw a ten per cent increase in homelessness acceptances, compared with 2011...

New figures from charity Shelter reflect how the growing problem is linked to a housing crisis in the UK that sees a shortage of suitable housing in many areas, especially social housing, along with high rental and unaffordable mortgage opportunities for many families, especially first time buyers...

In the last year, Shelter reports a 40 per cent increase in the numbers of callers in England for its services offering advice on housing costs, arrears and debt...

While in the last six months visitors to the charity’s online advice service on housing costs have doubled...

Shelter reported last month that almost a third of people have reduced food purchases so they can pay their housing costs...

The charity is appealing for more to be done to raise awareness about the importance of getting relevant advice at an early stage...

Shelter Chief Executive, Campbell Robb, says getting support from a charity like Shelter can: "help families get back in control of their finances and prevent the downward spiral that can ultimately lead to homelessness...”

Statutory homelessness acceptances are rising and rough sleeping is increasing in areas across the UK, especially London.

The charity Crisis is warning that changes to various government benefits this year now looks to exacerbate this problem...

Crisis cites government statistics that reveal over the past two years rough sleeping has risen by 31 per cent, and the number of households accepted as homeless by local authorities has gone up by 26 per cent...

The problem is particularly bad in London. 5,678 people slept rough in the capital during 2011 to 2012, a 43 per cent increase on 2011’s figure and the numbers are thought to be getting worse.

Homeless charities that provide advice and support and practical help in the form of shelter, food and counselling are already under strain and can expect the need for their service to grow this year...

Thankfully the public is usually keen to respond...

Supporters of the charity Crisis, for instance, ran the London Marathon and raised almost £45,000 to support the charity’s services across the UK.

Similarly London Marathon supporters and runners also generated funds for Shelter’s important services, raising over £400,000...

Subjects on the agenda include challenging bullying and discrimination, and the need to make work and leisure opportunities more inclusive...

Mencap has produced regular research that shows that society as a whole should be doing more to help integrate people with learning disabilities into community life... and that harassment and discrimination against people with learning disabilities should be addressed more urgently...

In recent years the charity, that supports and defends people with learning disabilities, has campaigned for better treatment for people with learning difficulties in the health care system, including better training for health professionals...

Staggeringly its latest study highlights how serious the subject is with research evidence claiming more than 1,200 people with a learning disability die prematurely each year in NHS care due to poor care...

Mencap commissioned research from the Improving Health and Lives Learning Disabilities Observatory, which revealed 1,238 children and adults die in England every year because they are not getting the correct health care....

Mencap Chief Executive Jan Tregelles says the “avoidable deaths...are happening every year and highlight an unacceptable scale of discrimination faced by people with a learning disability....”

There are also issues in wider society concerning the portrayal and treatment of people with disabilities that need to be improved...

A survey last year before the Olympics revealed almost half (46 per cent) of people with disabilities said people’s attitudes towards them had got worse over the past year, with claims that disparaging media portrayals contributed to a climate of prejudice...

Mencap says the hostility and derision in some parts of society towards many youngsters with learning difficulties means they are too scared to go out in public...

Mencap research shows that eight in ten children and young people with a learning disability are too scared to go out because of abuse...

The charity's Community Changemakers project hopes to help address some of these issues by improving the public perception of the value of people with a learning disability.

It seeks to do this via encouraging local community integration and community volunteering, and will encourage more organisations to help young people with a learning disability to actively participate in their local communities...

Mencap has also launched a best practice guide to offer guidance to those who want to help.

Elizabeth Archer, from Mencap, says: “Young people with a learning disability are some of the most marginalised members of society.

“But what people don’t realise is just what these young people can achieve with the right support...”

Mencap wants to encourage proactive support from more organisations to help young people with learning disabilities to get involved in their local communities...

In the UK 1.5 million people have a learning disability...

Launched this month, the Changemakers project aims to develop a model that can be replicated. It will work with youngsters aged 13-25...

The idea is to support young people to co-produce local services and affect positive change in their communities...

Whether it be volunteering for local charity projects, fundraising, or other types of community work, positive community engagement is proven to have benefits for all and should be open to all...

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino announced the formation of the fund to help victims.

Currently the One Fund Boston states $14,800,000 has been generated in corporate donations, with $6,419,278 also in public donations: a total of 21,219,278 USD so far, a fundraising amount that is expected to increase...

One of the fund's earliest donations was a $1 million commitment from financial and insurance firm John Hancock, the long-term sponsor of the Boston Marathon.

AT&T is another big donor, having announced a $1 million donation to the One Fund Boston.

Corporate donations have also been flying in from other sources to help victims and their families following the terrible events that shocked the world.

Further recent donations include a $100,000 commitment to the fund from Sovereign Bank and a $50,000 donation to the One Fund Boston from RBC Bank through its RBC Foundation USA...

JP Morgan has also announced that its road race, the 30th annual JP Morgan Challenge, will continue as planned on June 20, with all registration fees (more than $500,000) going to aid victims via the One Fund Boston...

The One Fund is designed to create a central resource of finance for initiatives to help victims and their families...

"Road racing in the city of Boston will go on, thanks to the spirit and determination of the great people who live here..." said Mayor Menino on the announcement that the race will go ahead...

12,000 runners and well-wishers are expected to attend in a show of strength, positivity and support for the victims...

The report identifies progress on social investments of the type that generate services helping the disadvantaged in many cases...

The report highlights increasing awareness of the impact of social impact bonds, where private investors provide capital to support organisations tackling social problems...

The UK now has 13 social impact bonds in place...

The UK has also established social investment bank, Big Society Capital, that has £600 million of funds available to build up the sector.

The government is promising to publish a survey on the size of the social investment market shortly - however in 2011 an estimated £165 million of social investments were made...

Funding, as is the case for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), is the key to growth, and the UK government is now firmly setting out its stall to build this investment market... promising more funds and supportive infrastructure to encourage social investment opportunities...

Programmes in place include the Social Outcomes Fund and Social Incubator Fund...

The Social Incubator Fund offers finance at early stages of enterprise development...

Social investment can involve different types of investment and can include, for instance, a loan with flexible repayment options...

It’s a type of funding that seeks a social impact return for the investor - in some cases with little or no financial return on the investment...

Social investors often provide professional skills and industry resources for their investment projects...

Social entrepreneurs are now seen as the norm in many communities for young entrepreneurs who want to build creative organisations that can have social impact...

Growing the social investment market is not a vision limited to one political persuasion or indeed one country...

The idea of empowering driven social entrepreneurs within their communities to make change is growing globally and can involve partnerships with NGOs, business and private investors...

Communities demand accountability and consultation, however...

Early this year The European Parliament voted for a new bill to set up a fund for social entrepreneurship, and also introduce European-wide regulations for venture capital.

Social businesses now represent ten per cent of all European businesses, a figure that looks set to grow...

In developing countries more than a million children suffer from unrepaired clefts, a deformity affecting the lip or palate or both...

The problems are directly linked to poverty because successful treatments are available and relatively inexpensive, as little as £150...

Such treatments remove difficulties eating and speaking created by clefts, and can also mean an end to discrimination and mental suffering...

The two charities are partnering with the Rwanda Government to help for free over 4,000 Rwandans who currently have untreated clefts...

The scheme will also establish ongoing medical training programmes in the country to build up vital health infrastructure, and create a sustainable system for the future...

The exceptional collaboration between the two charities is a great example of how organisations pooling resources and skills can achieve great things together...

The removal of unwanted clefts in Rwanda could also become a model for similar partnership successes by other NGOs and non-profits...

Charles B Wang, co-founder of Smile Train, believes "that if we can be successful in eradicating clefts in Rwanda, this can be a model used throughout the world..."

Each year up to 300 babies are born with clefts in Rwanda...

The Rwandan Ministry of Health has offered three Rwanda hospitals: Rwamagana, Ruhengeri and Gihundwe to be used as treatment centres.

These facilities will be used in conjunction with existing partner hospitals used by Smile Train and Operation Smile that already offer care, including the Rwanda Military Hospital, and the Inshuti Mu Buzima (Partners in Health) Butaro Hospital...

The three new organisations set to benefit from the considerable media interest that the Duchess of Cambridge will bring are SportsAid, Place2Be, and The Natural History Museum...

Middleton, who has an active interest in various sports, follows up her role as official ambassador for Team GB and Paralympics GB during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games with her new patron duties at SportsAid, the charity that has a successful track record of backing promising young athletes that have gone on to great things...

The Duchess, who has participated in tennis, netball and athletics as well as hockey which she played for her University team, is expected to make an important contribution to the charity.

Tim Lawler, SportsAid CE says: “As a champion of future champions she will make a big difference to young athletes, helping them to tell their inspirational stories and maintain the support they need...”

SportsAid helps disabled as well as non-disabled athletes with grants at the critical early stages of their careers, supporting them with competition fees and equipment as well as travel, training and accommodation assistance...

One of the mantras in the NGO sports community during the build up and aftermath of the London Olympics was that the Olympics should build a platform for a growth in participation in sports and outdoor activity, which can have important benefits for health and fitness, team work and social cohesion...

At the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, nearly two-thirds of the British team were former recipients of SportAid’s support, including world stars Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, Rebecca Adlington, Ellie Simmonds, Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and others...

The other new patron charity of the Duchess is Place2Be a non-profit organisation that provides counselling and support services for children and their families, trying to heal the impact of complex issues such as family breakdown and bullying...

The third charity organisation benefiting from the Duchess's patronage is the Natural History Museum, London’s popular visitor attraction and education centre, also a major international history resource and science research base.

The charity depends on external funding to continue and currently employs around 300 scientists working on nature science research projects and supporting international conservation programmes...

The three new organisations of Kate Middleton will also be formally invited to join The Charities Forum, an initiative initially set up to link the charity interests of Prince William and Harry that now includes the Duchess of Cambridge.

Middleton is expected to have private and public engagements at her three new patron organisations over the next few months...

Kate Middleton is also patron of the charity the National Portrait Gallery, London and is a supporter of the Scout Association, another charity run organisation, in which she works as an occasional volunteer...

An amazing 450,000 trained volunteers make a contribution to hospice care in the USA, providing over 21 million hours of service to hospice programmes each year...

This vital contribution includes bedside help for patients and their families as well as awareness raising, education, administration, and fundraising support...

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organisation (NHPCO) says the contribution volunteers make caring and supporting cancer sufferers, and their families and other carers, is so important in a number of ways...

J Donald Schumacher, NHPCO CEO, describes their work as: “indispensable...”

More than 1.65 million patients in the USA receive hospice care every year...

But the large numbers of volunteers involved reveals how much they help to make that vital link between hospice programmes and carers and their local communities...

Established in 1974, National Volunteer Week is endorsed by a variety of non-profit organisations and sponsored by Points of Light, the national volunteering charity...

The week this year is all about showcasing how volunteers make such a big difference in maintaining and improving the wellbeing of communities...

Thousands of volunteer events and projects are being held throughout National Volunteer Week...

And voluntary organisations up and down the country, from a variety of sectors including the hospice movement, are welcoming interest from new volunteers...

As more than a billion people globally celebrate Earth Day 2013, perhaps the issue of climate change and the need to prioritise environmental conservation and sustainability has finally arrived?

Evidence from the last year suggests climate change is becoming a concrete reality with extreme weather the new norm in various parts of the world...

A growing consensus of scientific opinion states that global warming and climate change is occurring - that it’s connected to human-made actions and linked to greenhouse gas emissions, and if something is not done about it then extreme weather events which already are becoming a regular occurrence are likely to increase...

The events of the last year that spring to mind include Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy, the ferocity and longevity of which has been in part attributed to higher than normal temperatures...

Such extreme weather events are now predicted to intensify if temperatures continue to rise...

An Emissions Gap Report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the European Climate Foundation last year, revealed warming gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) have increased since 2000 by 20 per cent...

A 2013 British Met Office statement said that near-record levels of global temperatures will occur in the next few years.

2000-2009 was the warmest decade since its records began in 1850...

The EU’s official position is that reducing global greenhouse gas emissions is becoming more urgent and it has set 2020 as the deadline for reducing the growth in emissions to 20 per cent below 1990 levels...

Extreme weather events and statistics have hit the headlines with regularity in the last year...

For instance, environmental NGOs cite the impact of global warming in 2012 as a contribution to Arctic sea ice reaching a record low...

Other extreme climate occurrences in 2012 include the USA experiencing its hottest year ever; and the UK its wettest...

Droughts have impacted China, Brazil, Russia, and the US...

Humanitarian NGOs have been trying to mitigate against a surge of flooding and superstorm disasters in the last year, affecting several continents, and increasingly the talk is of prevention as the best means of defence...

This is why Earth Day campaigners hope 2013 will be a tipping point in the planet’s resolve to tackle climate change...

The solutions are readily available...

Individuals can play their part in terms of campaigning and spreading the call for sustainability, and also via practical action in terms of home energy consumption reduction and materials recycling, and also tree and flora planting; but campaigners hope especially that now is the time for serious action on climate change from the world’s leaders...

The solutions are simple but require collective responsibility and vision: including tougher regulations to combat industrial polluters... more personal responsibility on energy use, investments in clean sustainable energy, waste recycling and public transport initiatives...

Of course these have been the mantras of campaigners in the environment NGO movement for decades...

The pro-environmental day of action Earth Day prioritises the theme of climate change in 2013 because organisers say its impact across the world is becoming ever clearer... and the need for the implementation of radical yet common sense solutions at an international level ever more urgent...

With organisers reporting record crowds in 2013, reflecting the continued interest in the Marathon, 2013 fundraising results are expected to be buoyant too, with millions of pounds predicted to go once again to runners chosen charities...

Tsegaye Kebede and Priscah Jeptoo won the two elite races at the London Marathon 2013... With Tatyana McFadden and Kurt Fearnley winning the wheelchair races...

34,278 runners finished the Marathon this year, on September 21, on a crisp day resonant with emotion...

Participants wore black ribbons to remember those affected by the bomb attacks at the Boston Marathon...

YouthNet and Age UK were the official 2013 London Marathon charity of the year partners, whilst the blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan has been named official charity partner for the 2014 London Marathon...

Anthony Nolan says it is hoping to raise £1 million through the efforts of its runners in 2014, as part of the race, which has become the world’s single annual event generating the most funds for charity...

The charity says it hopes to raise funds to encourage the recruitment of thousands of new bone marrow donors...

Currently, the cancer charity can only find a match for half of those who come to it in need of a potentially lifesaving transplant...

Hugh Brasher, London Marathon race director, says: "The London Marathon is now recognised worldwide as a record-breaking event for charity fundraising; and we are pleased to support Anthony Nolan in its efforts to raise £1 million to recruit 10,000 new donors..."

The Anthony Nolan charity, that receives the boost as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations, is already appealing to runners to sign up with the charity's race team...

Other charities benefiting from funds from the race have also been quick to issue gratitude for the commitment of those taking part and raising money for their worthwhile causes...

These include Age UK that has thanked supporters, whilst similarly appealing to runners to join the Age UK team for the 2014 London marathon, and keep the marathon fundraising party on the road...

On top of individual charity appeals, a Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal in the UK has already reached £12 million and counting in a month...

The Syria Crisis Appeal from the DEC, that represents 14 UK aid charities, is seeking funds for humanitarian help for refugees in neighbouring countries, and those trapped in Syria who are in need of support...

Ongoing needs include food aid, medical aid and shelter...

Islamic Relief, Christian Aid, Tearfund, World Vision, Care International, Concern Worldwide, Merlin, Oxfam, Save the Children, Action Aid, Age International, British Red Cross, CAFOD and Plan UK make up its members...

The DEC launches its appeals when urgent responses are required to prevent widespread loss of life and suffering...

Over five million people are recognised by international agencies as being in peril as a result of the Syrian military conflict...

Thousands of refugees a day continue to flee the country with the majority of refugees having escaped to neighbouring Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt...

The DEC charity says the fundraising total for its current Syria Crisis Appeal has received more than half the funds raised from digital sources, a first in its appeals history...

Via digital means the DEC says its ongoing appeal has received a huge boost this year, with a big shift towards mobile and digital donors compared to previous appeals...

DEC Interim Fundraising Head Helen Calder describes a “very impressive level of giving” via “various digital platforms.”

“The varied ways donors can now choose to support the appeal has really helped us to reach a wider audience and bolster our fundraising figures..." she says...

The funds are desperately needed. Aid agencies report overcrowded conditions in camps housing refugees from the war...

Typically funds are going to buy food, blankets, and hygiene kits and clothing...

Much of the funds from the DEC appeal end up with local partner agencies working in the region...

The aid coalition committee cites Oxfam-funded partners, for example, including the Palestinian Arab Women’s League, the Popular Aid for Relief and Development, and the Children of Al Jaleel Centre, as well as the National Association for Vocational Training and Social Services and Association Najdeh...

As well as individual donors from around the world, international governments continue to provide funds to support civilians caught up in the conflict...

These include a significant donation of USD 300 million this month from Kuwait for UN humanitarian aid...

The US government has contributed 25,000 metric tons of wheat (Value: USD 19million) in April to be milled into flour for distribution by the World Food Programme...

There is a severe bread shortage in many areas...

As well as a hunger, shelter and medical crisis aid charities continue to describe the terrible impact on children of the ongoing violence...

Of the million plus refugees more than half of them are children...

Oenone Chadburn, Head of Humanitarian Support at Tearfund, describes the overall situation as “one of the biggest humanitarian crises in recent decades...”

With no political solution on the near horizon a major way for the public to support people in need, in and around Syria, continues to be via humanitarian charities and relief agencies...

Esnat, a retired civil servant, is passionate about supporting children in need in her beloved Zambia...

As the founder of CONTESA she combines running this growing charity helping AIDS orphans, along with her own family and other commitments, plus her roles as children’s author and public speaker...

It’s more than an active retirement, and with five Bongwe books already to her name, each containing a brace of entertaining fables about the life of a bunch of cheeky animal characters in the Kingdom of Njase, and more books in the pipeline, she is showing no signs of slowing down yet...

So where did the inspiration arise? Was it a calling to put her own favourite childhood stories down in book form? And why Bongwe the baboon?

More than a decade ago Esnat started telling her grandson Luke, who was five years old at the time, the stories that had been told to her when she was a little girl growing up in the village of Kamkuwe, in the Eastern Province of Zambia...

It was this synergy of her memories of childhood and her role as grandma that led to the antics of Bongwe the baboon and his pals ending up in print...

"These were stories that had been handed down from generation to generation and told and narrated in the evenings around a burning fire, she explains...

"Luke was extremely eager to listen to them and one night he asked me if I could write them down so that other children could read them...

"Bongwe is a Chewa word for Baboon. Chewa is a tribe in the Eastern province of Zambia and in Malawi.

"In African mythology, folklore or tradition animals have been used for many generations to illustrate or to explain morality or goodness and honesty in a form of stories...

"I have portrayed Bongwe to be naughty, cunning, crafty and boastful and living with others and sometimes he gets his own way but more often he loses too.

"The children and indeed grown-ups too need to know that life has to be lived with others and that they must learn to accommodate each other and learn to compromise..."

Esnat says she always wanted to celebrate the virtues in the stories that she feels she benefited from as a child, that whilst in many ways are universal, are also uniquely African...

"I have always felt that as a child my life was greatly influenced by the morale taught in African mythology, folklore and traditions and as a result I have always wanted to share these core morals with others especially with the children of all nations..."

The reaction from parents, teachers and children has been impressive so far, the tales conjure up another world to kids and adults who have not been brought up with an African tradition, and for those that recall it recreate a warm glow of their own childhood...

Lively and dynamic the stories mirror in written form the oral tradition of African storytelling with lots of theatrics, and gesticulating from the characters, that brings the stories vividly to life with drama but also humour...

The books benefit equally from expressive cartoon illustrations by Gavin Coates, that also reflect the earthy comedy and vibrancy on display...

Classic tales include Bongwe the Runner in which his boastfulness lets him down and he is defeated in a race by a chameleon; and also Bongwe and the Harvest in which he also gets his comeuppance after driving his neighbours bonkers with his insomnia...

Beyond providing readers wit and worthwhile lessons in life, the tales of this lovable rascal provide an extra value, as sales of the books also benefit Esnat’s charity CONTESA, with 50 per cent of sales going to support AIDS orphans and disadvantaged children in Zambia...

This is also a big motivation for Esnat and drives her hopes of helping the stories reach a wider audience...

“More funding is needed so that we can continue to support the programmes already in existence and expand them to support more children...” she says...

There are over one million orphans and disadvantaged children in Zambia and CONTESA wants to support as many as possible...

The charity is already doing a remarkable job and provides nutritional support and education and skills training to hundreds of kids in this terribly poor country...

CONTESA also commits 100 per cent of its donations to its programmes as its trustees all offer their time voluntarily...

Their idea is to keep costs down and direct all funds to kids who need it desperately...

“Bongwe books are dear to me because the morale in the stories taught me integrity, honesty and goodness and although the stories are aimed at children adults too can learn a lot from them... says Esnat.

“My grandson Luke enjoyed them very much and with his encouragement I was able to develop them into stories as narrated in the books.

“I also enjoy interacting with children because they are our future and if we cannot share what we know to be good and bad then we are letting them and the human race down...”

Esnat is currently seeking a new publisher for her stories and is also keen to hear from an agent who might help her bring Bongwe to a bigger audience...

Now based in Dorset, England, Esnat grew up in Kamkuwe village in Zambia and her memories of childhood are ones of a loving family, of occasional hardship and poverty, but beyond that also strong bonds of solidarity and community where no-one was left hungry and that children's needs were always put first...

Esnat, as well as a well-known face to the hundreds of children she helps in CONTESA’s schools and feeding programmes in Zambia, is also a popular figure across many schools in England where she has made regular visits, giving live readings of Bongwe, with music, singing and quite often raucous participation from the kids...

Key priorities being highlighted by various parties include simplifying the system of donations and scaling up the use of efficient and user-friendly web technologies...

The IoF’s submission to the Government’s Payroll Giving consultation, supported by the Charity Finance Group (CFG), has been at the forefront of the appeal for change, and argues for a long-term plan based around donors, businesses and charities' needs ...

The appeal submission includes a call for a regulated service-level agreement between Payroll Giving Agencies (PGAs) and charities; as well as a much simpler web-based system that makes life easier and more transparent for employers, charities and donors alike...

Everyone in the PAYE system should have the opportunity of making a donation through their payroll, says the IoF...

To make this easier, a new online resource for employees to sign-up to Payroll Giving and also transfer when they move jobs is highlighted as an urgent priority...

90 per cent of respondents in an IoF survey last year said they believed that fundamental reform was needed to increase the take-up of Payroll Giving...

In the UK approximately £120 million is given to charity causes each year by over 700,000 people, through Payroll Giving...

But only two per cent of employers currently offer the scheme with only three per cent of employees contributing regular charity donations...

“This is a real opportunity to use the knowledge and experience of charities and fundraisers to understand properly how the underlying Payroll Giving system needs to change....” IoF Chief Executive Peter Lewis says.

Payroll Giving was launched in 1987 to make tax-effective charity giving simpler, and more enticing to a bigger range of possible donors...

There is broad agreement however that innovation and reform is vital to invigorate the concept of Payroll Giving...

A revitalised user-friendly system with ease of access online and one that is properly promoted, could provide a welcome boost to individual charities and the sector as a whole...

Samantha Cameron hosted the celebration event for the charity-driven service CONI at 10 Downing Street, London this week supported by The Gro Company, the safe sleep products provider, and Bounty, the national parenting service.

The 25th anniversary celebration of the CONI programme honoured the maternity support service that offers aid to parents who have lost a baby to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), including the offer of support before, during and after the birth of their next baby...

Whilst offering advice and support to bereaved families the charity also aims to prevent further child deaths...

Lullaby Trust Chief Executive, Francine Bates, expressed delight at the Prime Minister David Cameron's wife, Mrs Cameron's awareness raising for the programme... that has helped put the charity in the spotlight this week...

"The programme is funded entirely through donations..." says the charity's Chief Executive.

The Lullaby Trust as well as promoting expert advice on safer baby sleep also commissions research to find out more about what causes sudden infant deaths and how to prevent them...

As well as lobbying government to maintain awareness about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and keep it high in the public health agenda, the charity also runs a free dedicated support line for bereaved families...

The charity has set a target by 2020 of hopefully halving the rate of SIDS cases...

The 'flag for the future' is joined to a glass/titanium time capsule comprising just short of three million signatures; and was planted by four Team Aurora youth ambassadors, including Kiera-Dawn Kolson, who lowered the casket through the ice...

Kolson, of the Tso'Tine-Gwich'in nations in Northern Canada, is an ambassador for Greenpeace Canada...

“As an Indigenous person, I absolutely oppose those industries that seek to exploit nature for profit against the subsistence needs of the community...

"The Arctic Ocean is one of the great wonders of the world and its purity and beauty has struck me deeply this past week.

“We must keep reckless industry away from this purity...” she says...

The flag was designed by Sarah Batrisyia, 13, from Malaysia, who won an international competition organised by Greenpeace and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts... and judged by fashion designer Vivienne Westwood...

Paul McCartney, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Penelope Cruz, Richard Branson and other famous names are among the signatories in the time capsule...

The gesture is designed to draw attention to the considerable opposition that has been mounting to what has been described as a rush to exploit the region in the last year, as the ice melts...

Campaigners are especially concerned by plans by the energy companies to exploit the area...

Environmentalists feel risks to the Arctic environment in the event of an oil spill are just too great, and could lead to an environmental catastrophe...

Greenpeace is continuing with its Save the Arctic campaign and is hoping to reach at least five million signatures...

Greenpeace is also lobbying President Obama as part of its campaign for a ban on industrial exploitation; and is also lobbying investors in the financial community to warn of the risks involved in drilling in the region...

The campaigning charity also launched a Save the Arctic fundraising appeal last year to assist its campaign to keep the oil companies and other heavy industries at arms length...

Campaigners say the Arctic performs an important role in stabilising the globe’s climate and is also a unique nature wilderness that deserves protection, home as it is to momentous species including polar bears and Arctic foxes...

On the international stage progress includes the achievement of a complete ban on landmine use from EU states now finally in place...

Similarly last year all states in Sub-Saharan Africa have now joined up to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban also known as the Ottawa Convention; with Somalia, the last State Party from the region joining the treaty...

Landmine casualties have more than halved in the last ten years to 4,286 in 2011...

Amidst all this good news, we asked Christophe Cox, CEO of APOPO, how important is the experience of collaboration between organisations working in the field of demining right now?

“This is very important...” he says...

“...APOPO has embraced collaboration through different platforms, such as the GICHD (Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining) animal detection working groups; land release workshops organised by demining NGOs and series of other technical forums, many of them organised by the GICHD...”

Examples of APOPO’s partnership progress in the last year include its work in Mozambique, where APOPO has handed over a mine-free Gaza province to the government of Mozambique and the Instituto Nacional de Desminagem (IND), the country’s national demining institute...

APOPO’s strategic Gaza mine action programme has cleared over 6 million square metres of land.

That’s no mean feat, but its clearance team also found 2,393 landmines, 12,838 small arms and ammunitions, and 922 UXO (Unexploded Ordanance)...

Similar demining momentum has been achieved in the last year by the NGO and its partners in Thailand...

APOPO has implemented a Land Release Methodology to assist the Thailand Mine Action Centre (TMAC) to correctly record and map minefields along the border with Cambodia...

APOPO has partnered with a local Thai NGO, Peace Roads Organisation (PRO) and has been working closely with TMAC to systematically survey all minefields along the border in Trat and Buriram Provinces....

Other APOPO partner projects include one with the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) to assist within the framework of the country’s National Base-Line Survey (BLS)...

In Angola, APOPO has also commenced a partnership with leading humanitarian charity Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) whereby APOPO is providing its Mine Detection Rats (MDRs), aka HeroRats...

APOPO rats are trained to sniff out landmines, learning to identify the smell of TNT...

The African Giant Pouched Rats are used humanely and are well cared for. They are so light and gentle their tiny paws do not trigger the landmines only identify them by sense of smell...

The rats are expected to speed up work in Angola and help accelerate the land release process, helping handlers and a ground preparation machine support the NPA clearance operations in Malanje...

APOPO rats and their handlers have already developed an international reputation for the fast and safe way that they contribute to demining progress...

Over the next few years the partner efforts are expected to considerably reduce the impact from landmines in Angola, efficiently and in a very cost-effective way...

APOPO’s CEO Christophe Cox says the public as well as its NGO partners can also help APOPO and its HeroRats build further momentum in 2013...

The fundraising organisation that receives donations from the public welcomes new partners to join the progress being made towards landmine elimination, and contribute to the wider humanitarian impact it brings...

Whilst urging the public to help APOPO “by sharing its cause and news, and by adopting a HeroRAT!” Cox says APOPO’s dream is to “significantly increase its operations in Mozambique, Angola and South East Asia, and get one step closer to the elimination of landmines...”

The impact of demining is not restricted to the removal of landmines...

It offers a key to wider humanitarian impact, providing the bedrock that allows the release of land for development, and for long-term social and economic progress...

Landmine clearance increases the safety of the people in the communities affected by landmines, but also by removing safety risks it can unleash social and economic growth...allowing towns and villages to return to their normal functions and enabling development agencies to set up bases and make a contribution...

And with 66 countries and seven territories around the world affected by landmines and explosive parts, there is still clearly more to be done...

Sierra Leone, in West Africa, suffers from extreme youth unemployment, poverty and hunger…

Despite its vast mineral resources, the country has remained desperately poor, and it also experienced ruination during a brutal civil war in the nineties…

The country’s limited health and educational infrastructure provides the backdrop to one of the world’s highest infant mortality rates…

There are thought to be 50,000 children living on the streets…

We Yone Child Foundation - Sierra Leone (WYCF-SL) is a charity operating in Sierra Leone that helps orphans, street children and disempowered women gain a better future…

The non-profit NGO founded in 2009 helps vulnerable youngsters and women in the slum communities of Kroo Bay and George Brook in Freetown, Sierra Leone…

The small NGO already provides hundreds of children with food aid and educational support, and is also involved in campaigns for female empowerment and gender equality...

However, WYCF is currently trying to expand its work with schools infrastructure building and more advanced education programmes…

The charity supports its projects via donations from the international community, including sponsorship appeals for individual orphans and street kids it rescues, many of whom have struggled in the most harsh circumstances…

Santigie Dumbuya says there are major problems in the communities the NGO operates in Freetown due to poverty and a lack of basic services…

Kroo Bay has a population of about 11,000 habitants who all live below 1 US dollar a day, making it very difficult for their parents/guardians to send their children to school…

“A large number of the children are not attending school and some who manage to start could not complete their primary school due to lack of support… says Santigie…

“Many of these children add up to the alarming increase of street/homeless children, drugs, and prostitution and crime perpetrators.

“Some of them join gangs or serve as errand boys to survive. The economic activities of these people is wood and coal selling including small-scale self-subsistence fishing.

“Some carry out piracy and some drugs smuggling business...”

It’s a terrible situation that many are all too keen to bury their heads in the sand and ignore…

To add to these intolerable social problems caused by poverty and inequality the area is also prone to climate disaster, especially flooding during the rain season that frequently proves fatal, whilst leaving properties destroyed…

“Children as well as parents/guardians cannot sleep at night due to lack of space to lay their head as a result of the flooding, they push water out of their shattered rooms all night and day to create a space to put their little things...” explains Santigie.

Amidst this challenging landscape, there is a resulting health crisis affecting children which is all too evident to WYCF-SL staff and volunteers…

WYCF workers notice in George Brook and Kroo Bay an alarmingly high number of illnesses including bowel, skin, stomach, and eye infections, amongst the children in their schools.

“We attribute these illnesses to being caused largely by preventable factors, says Santigie.

“In George Brook in particular, a number of three to five of 90-100 are leaving school early every day with more complaining of illness and even more showing signs of skin infections and scabies…

“In Kroo Bay it is thought the fluctuating class sizes are attributable in part to the fact that mothers are keeping children from attending when showing signs of illness.

“Both of these areas are extremely poor, so the rate of illness is expected to be higher than average.”

It is against such enormous difficulties that WYCF operates and has set out several main priorities/targets for 2013-2014…

These include the construction of a sustainable school structure for the two communities the charity operates in, including providing small scale funding to its two schools…

Until its funds are in place it has to rent buildings which is a hard task for the charity…

Rent and maintenance costs need to be paid every year.

WYCF is also appealing for assistance to help it improve its own infrastructure, and develop training programmes for local volunteers, as well as establish a database system for its beneficiaries…

Despite the challenges, WYCF points to already many successes and Santigie says the NGO simply wants to keep growing to provide more success stories along the way…

Santigie mentions examples of children and women who WYCF has helped. They are examples of what a locally based NGO can do in Sierra Leone, that benefits from the motivation of a committed team...

“We have twins in our school in Kroo Bay... says Santigie...

“They both live with their grandmother and both of them have ear infections and they have been using local herbs ‘fish water’ to cure the problem because their grandmother cannot afford the expenses...

“We took them to the Government hospital called Cannaught, through the help of Sara Portugal (volunteer)...

“One of the children… has been discharged while the female child… is still under treatment. And they both attend our school centre...”

Another child who started attending the charity’s summer classes in 2012 had behavioural problems and could not read and write, not even a single letter...

WYCF volunteer, Sara Portugal, who volunteered for WYCF in 2012, started to teach him and trained him with special care, they both became friends and now the child is writing and reading…

Santigie says the charity receives a good report about him every week about his progress, in both his education and behaviour…

Other success stories from WYCF include its three weeks awareness training on sexual and gender based violence in the Kroo Bay community.

Santigie can point to individual cases where family disputes have been settled leading to peaceful resolutions, and also the course has led to enrolment in WYCF’s schools programmes…

The impact of the charity in the community can also be seen by its ability to lower and fix the cost of school fees in the area and raise awareness of health issues like cholera…

In these successes and aims WYCF benefits from NGO partnerships including its partnerships with local partners and networks that share ideas together although not funding...

These include the collective Sierra Leone, WASH–Net Sierra Leone, Special Court Interactive Forum Sierra Leone, SGBV (Sexual and Gender Base Violence) Service providers Network…

WYCF has also recently developed a partnership with DWC (Developing World Connections) and there is currently a plan to build a school in George Brook with the help of the Canadian org...

The partnership starts in summer 2014 however WYCF is currently looking for further international partners to work with, to help them save more children from suffering, as well as their poor parents and guardians in many cases…

The charity currently receives no steady funding despite the positive work it is doing and so its potential to achieve more in the future is precarious...

So the small charity welcomes funding support to help it achieve its aims and objectives, as well as support from more volunteers…

"WYCF works from the roots: we go in the communities, we connect with our children, build a trusting relationship with their families and make sure they know we appreciate their trust and will put all our efforts into protecting them... says Santigie...

"In addition to assisting the head teacher in teaching all six classes, we play with the children and get dirty alongside them...on work days and weekends...share meals with them, visit their homes, meet their families and do our best to make sure they keep coming to school every day and stay healthy...

"Their vibrant reaction never fails to let us know we are at the right place...”

The news has been greeted by PATH, the international non-profit that develops global health progress through partnerships and innovation, including developing new vaccines and drugs...

Sanofi and PATH’s Drug Development programme, established with OneWorld Health, has announced the launch of the large-scale production line of semisynthetic artemisinin following a global demand for artemisinin, the key ingredient of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs)...

Artemisinin, obtained from wormwood plant: Artemisia annual has been used for hundreds of years for malaria treatments but its obtainability, price and quality have been extremely volatile...

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified ACTs as the most effective malaria treatment available...

PATH says having multiple sources of high-quality artemisinin will fortify the artemisinin supply chain, help create a more stable price, and ultimately ensure greater opportunities for treatments for malaria sufferers...

The plans for a new commercial-scale alternative manufacturing programme to make a complementary source of artemisinin started nine years ago, pioneered by OneWorld Health and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation...

“Taking lifesaving innovation to scale requires many things but it begins with strong partnerships and keeping a close ear to what’s most needed on the ground...” explains PATH CEO Steve Davis.

“Promoting a steady and affordable supply of high-quality artemisinin is a critical part of PATH’s efforts to ultimately eradicate malaria and advance health equity...”

Other partners in the landmark collaboration include UC Berkeley, and Amyris the renewable products company...

As part of the not-for-profit project, Amyris, a company that provides sustainable alternatives to petroleum-sourced products, offered its Artemisinic Acid-producing yeast strains to Sanofi on a royalty-free arrangement...

Amyris says a presentation of the science involved will be held at World Malaria Day, A Bay Area Scientific Symposium in Emeryville, California on April 25.

The event will be hosted by the UN Association of the USA, as well as Zagaya, a non-profit created by the founders of Amyris...

In 2013 Sanofi plans to produce 35 tons of artemisinin and 50 to 60 tons a year by 2014...

This corresponds to 80 to 150 million ACT treatments...

Malaria, despite being preventable and curable, is responsible for hundreds of thousands of fatalities a year, with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria accounting for over 40 per cent of these deaths...

Caused by parasites transmitted via mosquito bites, malaria causes an estimated 660,000 deaths a year, mostly African children...

Interventions to control malaria and prevent it are proven to dramatically reduce suffering, says WHO.

PATH is describing the launch of the large-scale production of semisynthetic artemisinin as a pivotal milestone in the fight against malaria...

SOS Director, Jean-Christophe Vié, says the novel tool SMART is a coordinated planning, monitoring and reporting software that will be implemented at a number of tiger breeding sites...

“Much progress for tiger conservation has already been made on the political stage; this now needs to be underpinned by reliable measures of demonstrated progress on the ground with which to evaluate effectiveness and invest accordingly...” he says.

SMART - Spatial Monitoring And Reporting Tool, seeks to improve the effectiveness of rangers and conservation agencies, facilitating strategic planning for conservation workers via data input...

Through mapping and reporting, and feedback and evaluation, the pioneering tool hopes to motivate rangers and help demonstrate the value of their efforts to others, including donors and other supporters...

The monitoring tool is developed by the SMART Partnership, a group of global conservation campaigners seeking to use digital technology to improve the effectiveness and transparency of conservation programmes...

A regional roll out is proposed at nine sites across China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Russia and Lao People's Democratic Republic. The project will focus on four test sites initially...

It is hoped the programme will also benefit other threatened species that share the tigers’ habitat...

There are less than 3,500 tigers left in the wild with only 1,000 thought to be breeding females...

Unless enforcement of conservation areas is scaled up tigers face imminent extinction in the wild...

The main threat is poaching, fuelled by an illegal trade in skins, bones and other body parts...

Loss of habitat and unsustainable hunting of their main prey species are other factors contributing to their decline...

SOS hopes SMART will reduce poaching pressure on tigers and their prey by strengthening the commitment and effectiveness of conservation area staff...

SOS, also supported by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is a global coalition developing an international species conservation fund, assisting on-the-ground field conservation projects.

The innovative model combines various science, strategic and funding resources from various sectors, including the private sector, to direct resources to species conservation projects offering opportunities for high impact...

The SMART initiative is part of a growing awareness of the need to develop tailor-made monitoring and tracking technologies to support conservation and enforcement strategies...

If the tiger is to survive it is also becoming increasingly apparent that further progress on developing strong partnerships that focus on effective monitoring and enforcement on the ground... combining NGO expertise, good local governance and law enforcement are urgently needed...

The fundraising awards offer an important opportunity to celebrate the hard work and commitment of those providing examples of leadership, innovation and best practice in fundraising...

The winners will be revealed at the IoF National Awards Ceremony at the Hilton London Metropole on July 1, 2013.

Chair of the Awards Judging Panel Kevin Kibble, says:

“It is gratifying from a judging point of view to know that fundraisers continue to inspire their donors and are creative and innovative in their techniques and approaches...”

A record number of entries were received this year, a development the IoF feels highlights the increasing value that charities and fundraisers place on having their work acknowledged...

Categories include Campaigns for Best Business Charity Partnership involving large charities. Beanstalk, the British Red Cross, and Marie Curie Cancer Care are those shortlisted.

Alive and Kicking, The Big Issue Foundation, and Wallace & Gromit’s Children’s Foundation are amongst those shortlisted for the equivalent for small charities...

The British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, and the Natural History Museum are in the running for the Most Innovative Fundraising Campaign...

While the RNIB, the Royal British Legion and the University of Leeds are competing for the Best Donor Development Campaign...

UNICEF, WaterAid, Shelter, 38 Degrees, Macmillan Cancer Support, Save the Children, Will Aid Partnership, Action for Children, Cats Protection, the Canal & River Trust, Prostate Cancer and The Outward Bound Trust are some of the other organisations also nominated for awards...

Individuals nominated include Jane Bardsley, Susie Smith, and Rachel Waldron who are in the running for the Best Up-And-Coming Fundraiser award...

The Emmy and Golden Globe award winner has appealed for more support for the charity’s USA campaign to end cosmetic tests on animals.

Dinklage, known worldwide for his role as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones as well as parts in films such as Elf and Living in Oblivion, is backing the charity’s appeal for the USA to follow recent progress made in Europe...

Animal welfare campaigners around the world continue to take spirit from a landmark result in Europe that was confirmed earlier this year...

An EU-wide ban on animal tested cosmetics in Europe came into effect in March, 2013, and includes a ban on the sale of all new animal tested cosmetics...

"It is unacceptable that animals continue to suffer around the world, including the United States of America... says Dinklage.

“I appeal to the USA to follow the European Union's lead and end animal testing for cosmetics..."

The success of the campaign in Europe can be seen in part due to the widespread public backing for ethical policies for cosmetics testing...

The achievement in Europe can also be attributed to a partnership approach from animal welfare charities that continue to campaign for a global end to cosmetics testing on animals...

The European Coalition to End Animal Experiments (ECEAE) spearheaded the campaign in Europe...

The coalition includes charity members from across the continent including ONG ADDA (Spain), Ärzte gegen Tierversuche (Germany), the Irish Anti-Vivisection Society, and One Voice (France)...

The campaign was also backed by Cruelty Free International, Humane Society International (HSI) and the BUAV...

Cruelty Free International and its partners and supporters are now calling on the US Food and Drug Administration to follow Europe's ethical stance...

Animal welfare supporters including Cruelty Free International ambassador actor Peter Dinklage believe animals should not be used for tests that are proven to be cruel...for soap, toothpaste, and other beauty and toiletry products...

The all-star relay team was part of a show of support for the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque charity, a non-profit association that allows children from impoverished backgrounds who are in need of congenital heart surgery, to have surgery in France...

The charity supports children in need when it is impossible in their country of origin to provide them with surgery, due to a lack of technical or financial means...

As part of the Paris Marathon other celebrities also took part in support for the charity via the Kilomètres du Coeur (kilometres of the heart), an initiative by the heart surgery charity Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque that has been backed by the Paris Marathon since 2004...

Mahiedine Mekissi, Paul Belmondo, Taïg Khris, Philippe Caroit, Christophe Dominici, Jean Philippe Doux, Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, Aïda Touihri, Marc Raquil, Tanguy de LaMotte and Satya Oblette were amongst those running 6km as part of the opener for the event...

For the tenth edition of the Heart Kilometers, well-wishers and supporters also rallied in support of the association: Cardiac Surgery down the Champs-Élysées before the start of the Paris Marathon...

Over a decade the relationship with the marathon has provided funding for operations for 22 children from poor countries who are afflicted by congenital heart disease...

The charity allows children access to treatment in France via a network of support via host families and volunteers, assisting the work of health and medical teams in twelve hospitals in France: in Marseille, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nantes, Lille, Paris, Strasbourg, Angers, Toulouse and Tours...

More than 2000 children have received vital healthcare since the charity’s launch in 1996...

The current support by the four Miss France winners has added to the profile of the charity in France...

The four advocates for the charity have set a fundraising target as part of their initiative, to raise 42,000 euros to aid the association Cardiac Surgery’s work...

NCRP, a Washington-based organisation, delivers research and advocacy for non-profits...

The national watchdog, that has been operating since 1976, says its awards celebrate those providing leadership and innovation in philanthropy...

The winners, who were presented their awards on April 8 in Chicago, included the NoVo Foundation, the Awardee for Large Private Foundation with annual giving of at least $25 million...

The foundation's recent grants include efforts to promote anti-violence including support for advocacy groups...

The Woods Fund of Chicago was the Awardee for Small/Mid-Sized Private Foundation with annual giving less than $25 million...

Woods Fund of Chicago is a grantmaking foundation supporting less advantaged people and communities in the Chicago area, offering support to grass-roots groups seeking to improve public education.

The California Community Foundation (CCF) was the Awardee for Grantmaking Public Charity...

The CCF's mission is to strengthen LA communities and seeks to increase the civic participation of immigrants in LA...

Antonia Hernandez, CEO of the foundation said at the event: "...philanthropy is no different than civil rights... it is a tool and wealth is the tool to empower people..."

Levi Strauss Foundation was the Awardee for Corporate Foundation.

An example of its work was its support of an open-source global health curriculum focused on identified needs of factory workers - including nutrition, maternal and reproductive health...

Significant attendees at the celebration of impact in philanthropy included Jonathan Greenblatt, director of the White House Office of Social Innovation...

The Donor Survey, a recent UK survey researching the views of nearly 8,000 British charity backers, from Give As You Live, revealed that 30 per cent of UK charity supporters said social media campaigns inspired them to give.

Charity supporters are increasingly using social media as a way of keeping in touch with their favourite charities and non-profit causes, it seems, with a variety of donor profiles opening up online...

50 per cent of respondents from the survey said they follow their favourite charities on Facebook and 20 per cent follow charities on Twitter, a trend when looked at in relation to other research appears to confirm social media participation is now essential for charities and non-profits that want to grow...

Interestingly the Donor Survey research revealed a variety of social media charity supporter profiles, including online charity followers who use social media to follow charities and also donate online; and those who follow charities via online media but donate through direct debit...

More research into the different types of online charity supporters and crossover between use of social media and web resources for information and campaigns tracking and active engagment; either via on or offline donations and sponsorship, is an area of particular interest for marketing professionals as this type of analysis continues to develop.

Another new survey released by charity World Vision reveals how social media is particularly impacting on young people in terms of increasing their awareness of social and humanitarian issues...

The charity reveals that its 30 Hour Famine (30HF) initiative this year, that involves a youth audience, has been boosted by social media awarenesss...

Since 30HF began in 1992, teenagers have raised more than $150 million for campaigns tackling global hunger...

2013 is expected to see almost a quarter million teens fasting to raise awareness and empathy about the harsh reality of hunger that is experienced by the world's poorest people...

Last April, 30HF reported more than 3,200 groups signing up for the initiative. This year, more than 3,500 have signed up, a 7.8 per cent increase says the charity.

World Vision says one of the reasons is an emphasis in 2013 on social media marketing...

"Our research says teens are more inclined to act on social justice issues when they hear about these causes from social media..." says Leah Swindon, 30HF National Director.

A new Harris Interactive survey on behalf of World Vision, revealed 56 per cent of teens say social media sites, ie Facebook and Twitter, have made them more aware of the needs of others...

This is a big jump from 2011, when 44 per cent said their use of social media made them more aware...

And combined with other research it is additional evidence of how social media engagement is becoming increasingly useful for charities seeking to engage with new audiences...

The charity says Congress members from 19 states have visited food banks but it is urging more to gain an insight into the life of those struggling in the current economic environment, as well as the charity driven work that goes on at food banks across the USA...

Feeding America and its supporters have been flooding members of Congress with emails urging them to visit their local food bank in 2013...

"We want to make sure that our Congressional leaders understand the extent of hunger back home as well as the impact their decisions will have, on so many people who are struggling to make ends meet..." says Bob Aiken, CEO of Feeding America...

The charity highlights the reality that it is often the working poor including families with children, and senior citizens that make up many of the thousands of users of the country's food banks...

"We want Congress to see our food banks at work and have an opportunity to meet with the people we serve..." says Aiken.

Feeding America food banks operate in almost every county in the USA.

The charity estimates that one in eight Americans will receive food from a food pantry, or similar charity food delivery service supported by Feeding America in 2013.

The Big Lottery Fund, the National Lottery grant provider for UK charities and non-profits, is developing new online resources to create a more interactive model for grantees and applicants…

Big Lottery Fund’s Claudio Concha says the new online community will provide “a platform for promotion and discussion of the practical aspects of their projects.”

As well as practical help and support about the Big Lottery grants process, the idea is to provide networking opportunities and a framework for discussing best practice and sector issues…

The Big Lottery, that channels 40 per cent of funds raised by the National Lottery, is upgrading its information services for applicants, grant-holders and partners in the social impact sector around an improved online community model…

Telligent, a social community software provider, has been selected to develop the interactive online community portal…

The company that specialises in resources for online social collaboration already includes major clients such as Microsoft and Oxfam…

Steve Poncini, of Telligent, says: “Big’s social engagement strategy is a testament to how online communities can be used to enrich the physical communities in which we live...”

Since 2004 the Big Lottery has awarded almost £6 billion in grants to a range of environmental, educational and charitable causes across the UK...

The plans for its new web resources include the coordinating of existing digital and social media resources, developing links between organisations and projects, and adding user generated content for the benefit of future grant applicants…

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has reported 6,000 people were killed in March, the deadliest month since the conflict began…

As the humanitarian disaster grows, the public have responded big-heartedly in the last week to the new appeal by the DEC, the coalition of international relief charities, that is seeking to ease the suffering of those in need in and out of the country…

The request to help refugees and other civilians suffering the most terrible conditions as a result of Syria’s intensifying conflict has raised over £5 million since it was launched little over a week ago…

In just 48 hours the crisis appeal raised £3.4 million after being announced via multiple media outlets including the BBC…

The DEC, that comprises 14 charities including Plan, Islamic Relief and Tearfund, only launches appeals in the event of major-scale humanitarian disasters…

The DEC’s previous appeals include the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and also the East Africa hunger crisis in 2011…

The DEC funds being raised for Syria will go towards supporting refugees in neighbouring countries, and internally displaced people... with food, clean water, emergency shelter, medical and social care the most urgent priorities...

After two years the violence in Syria continues to become ever more brutal and impact on more and more innocent civilians…

Despite charities launching separate appeals for humanitarian aid, they continue to report enormous unmet needs…

Of the 1.1 million refugees and at least 3.6 million internally displaced persons… women and children make up the majority of those affected…

DEC member charity organisations as well as providing aid to the millions who have left their homes but still remain in Syria, are assisting refugees who have fled to neighbouring countries: Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt…

In the last few months the numbers of refugees fleeing the country have increased from 1,000 a day to 8,000 a day.

About five million people are thought to be in need of assistance with organisations reporting a major hunger crisis amongst the most pressing concerns…

Damage to hospitals, power and water supplies in the country are also hampering relief efforts...

The collapse of the country’s health service means the loss of life and suffering could be even higher than current estimates…

Children make up about half those turned into refugees by the conflict…

“…it is vitally important that we continue to fundraise as the needs of the people are immense…” DEC Chief Executive, Saleh Saeed, explains…

That’s the question we asked a British wildlife charity CEO who is at the forefront of promoting responsible behaviour...

Philip Mansbridge, CEO of the charity Care for the Wild, says it is vital...

“...any definition of responsible tourism will include awareness of environmental factors, which obviously includes wildlife, so it’s an integral part of the whole practice...

“There’s no point in having a tree planted to offset your flight to the Caribbean if you then go on a boat trip where dolphins are harassed and herded leading to them changing their behaviour.

“We are starting to see the responsible tourism philosophy grow, as people stop for a second to think of the impact they are having on the environment and the cultures that they visit.

"We’re trying to get people to think the same way when it comes to animals. We’ve all visited zoos and dolphinariums – but are these the best places for wildlife?

"How did they get there? If we visit wildlife in its own environment, can we be sure we’re doing so without having a negative impact? These aren’t always easy questions to answer, but as long as people are asking them, we’re moving in the right direction.”

So the benefits of developing conservation programmes linked to responsible tourism, a celebration of nature and wildlife if you like, are potentially enormous?

What is the opportunity for making a difference in the future?

“You could say the benefits are immense and immeasurable – any long-term goal would be a world where we can enjoy the environment and the animals around us without having a negative impact.

“But that’s quite a way off!

“In the shorter term, the benefits will be to individual and colonies of animals and to the tourists who get to see them without a sense of guilt.

“Taking an actual example, Care for the Wild runs anti-poaching teams in the Maasai Mara and Tsavo National Parks in Kenya.

"Safaris are big business in those areas, so we can witness close-up the impacts – including on a basic level, tour buses trundling up to animals in big numbers and tourists chattering away yards from the wildlife, then hurling plastic bottles out of the window.

“Anyone reading this would probably never do that (and Care for the Wild has provided the park with some information signs), but we can all make sure that the tour operator we’re travelling with has strong guidelines on interacting with the animals, and perhaps a policy of giving profits back to the community to preserve the wildlife for future generations.”

Projects developing responsible behaviour are already making an impact all over the world but there is clearly an opportunity to do even more, with the right resources and backing...

Care for the Wild points to a range of projects it is supporting, ranging from polar bear research in Canada to anti-poaching teams in India...

In relation to travel, often conservationists are working to undo the damage of irresponsible wildlife tourism...

Philip refers to the team at Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) that rescue a lot of animals, many of which have been used in the tourist industry...

“For example, any stroll down the main streets of Pattaya or Phuket will involve being surrounded by people holding animals – often endangered species like Slow Loris – and being offered photo opportunities.

“...for many this may seem a harmless activity and clearly it is very profitable for those doing it – but stepping back and thinking about where those animals came from and how they have been treated to make them so placid offers a different point of view.”

So how important is it to explain the economic benefits of investing in programmes that attract pro-wildlife travellers?

“Tourism is a business, and while many tour operators have good intentions when it comes to wildlife and conservation, they still need to watch their bottom line...

“So it’s vital that they are given the information to realise that they can benefit from being responsible.

“On an individual basis, operators will start to see that animal-friendly tourists will use their services if they know that the wildlife is being respected.

“Through our RIGHT-tourism.org website, we are starting to team up with tour operators who share our beliefs. Their details are shared on the website, so visitors to the site know they are choosing an animal-friendly company...

“On a bigger scale, whole countries need to wake up to this fact too: many countries rely on tourism as a major part of their economy. But the wildlife people go to see is an asset – and in the past, this asset has been taken for granted.

“Now, for example, with a poaching epidemic wiping out huge numbers of elephants, rhinos and even lions from many areas, these countries are starting to realise that if they don’t do something, there will be nothing left to see, and the tourists will stop coming..."

Active partnerships are essential to make progress... People will continue to travel in their millions so developing wildlife-friendly and eco-friendly tourism is a way of ensuring investment in travel is also an investment in conservation...

Nature travel already accounts for about 20 per cent of global travel according to the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) and this market is still growing.

So it’s also important that companies promoting travel are made aware of the benefits of developing their business model in this area...

“Working together is essential, and it is happening... explains Philip.

“...at RIGHT-tourism we are teaming up with tour operators, but they must share our philosophy.

“Already, we’re seeing how this will make a difference: one travel company, clearly very animal-friendly, signed up with us, but not long after a visitor to our website contacted us.

“The company were offering trips to the famous, or infamous, Tiger Temple in Thailand, about which we have serious concerns in terms of animal welfare.

“We alerted the company to this – and they removed the tour, preferring to be seen as animal-friendly than taking the profits for that particular tour. This kind of small-scale action, when multiplied, will see a shift in thinking in the tourism industry – and ultimately have an impact on the way animals are treated...”

On the back of an increasing interest in eco-travel Care for the Wild’s RIGHT-tourism campaign, that is highlighting the animal-friendly issues at the heart of many travel experiences, is also growing but there is still more to do, and everyone can play a part...

Travellers can report examples of good practice and also highlight areas of concern...

Philip Mansbridge says: “From these reports, we can then take action by contacting, eg a particular zoo, plus tourist boards and governments, to try and force action.

“In addition, we are working on a number of other campaigns, such as trying to stop the use of lion cubs for photographs in Cancun, Mexico.

“Another key focus is on bull-fighting and the various bull fiestas in Spain – such as the famous Pamplona bull run.

“Here’s another example of the need to change people’s perspective: thousands of tourists take part in the ‘fun’, but how many realise that the bulls are being run into the bull ring, where they will be killed?

“If they still want to take part with that knowledge, that’s their choice, but we believe many now prefer to take their tourism without harming animals...”

Mr Miliband who will stand down from his role as MP will join the US-based charity, International Rescue Committee (IRC) an international relief and development organisation.

The global charity and fundraising organisation that assists refugees feeling from conflicts and disasters was founded in 1933 at the request of Albert Einstein...

Mr Miliband, 47, joins the charity as its president and CEO it was announced today, and is expected to take up the post in September 2013, succeeding George Rupp, a former president of Columbia University.

Mr Miliband seen by many Labour supporters as one of the leading lights of the party was a chief architect of ‘New Labour’ and served as Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010.

Mr Miliband has expressed his honour at the appointment and praised the current leadership of George Rupp, staff and donors of the IRC while promising “a passionate commitment to social justice and international cooperation.”

“The IRC’s mission is personal for me because my own parents were refugees who arrived in Britain in the 1940s...” Mr Miliband said.

The appointment will be seen as a major coup for the IRC, Mr Miliband a major figure in British politics, and one thought of previously by many political analysts in the UK as a future Prime Minister...

US President Bill Clinton, on the announcement, described Miliband as one of the “ablest, most creative public servants of our time..."

The appointment can also be seen as a significant endorsement of the work of international development charities that are currently at the forefront of providing solutions to the world’s greatest challenges, including poverty and hunger...

The IRC has an international reputation and has been active responding to humanitarian crisis in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, in East Africa and beyond.

Its current programmes include aid for refugees from the Darfur conflict in Sudan, 300,000 of whom reside in camps across the border in eastern Chad...

The monuments, situated in Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, New Mexico and Washington, are established under the Antiquities Act...

President Obama said the sites “honour the pioneering heroes, spectacular landscapes and rich history that have shaped our extraordinary country...”

The monuments include the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument in Ohio, that pays tribute to a distinguished early African American officer in the United States Army...

Col Young’s life and career remain an inspirational story for civil rights advocates today...

The monument, in Wilberforce, Ohio, will be run by the Department of the Interior National Park Service.

The National Park Foundation offered the funding to purchase the former home of Col Young through its African American Experience Fund.

A special tribute was made by the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks, who welcomed the establishment of the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.

Neil Mulholland, President of the National Park Foundation describes Charles Young as “an indelible figure in our nation's history and the African American legacy..."

Col Young (1864-1922) became a distinguished officer in the United States Army, serving for several decades, the first African American to achieve the rank of colonel, and was also the first African American to serve as a superintendent of a national park. Colonel Young also served as an American military attaché to Liberia.

On top of his military career he became a pro-active conservationist in his role as park superintendent, and actively campaigned for more land protections for future generations...

Col Young’s little known story from military leader to conservationist and also youth mentor is largely being told today due to the establishment of the National Monument in his name.

Other monuments announced as part of the programme include the First State National Monument in Delaware that tells how early Dutch, Swedish, Finnish and English pioneers settled the area. The park is comprised of several historic sites including the New Castle Court House complex...

Other monuments are the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument in Maryland, the Río Grande del Norte National Monument in New Mexico, and the San Juan Islands National Monument in Washington, an area that is home to orca whales, bald eagles, and other landmark species...

President of the non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council, Frances Beinecke, described the new monuments as “an outstanding model for protecting America’s heritage...”

The forward thinking conservation strategy is also based on economic research that suggests sound conservation plans are good for the economy, with every dollar invested in national parks estimated to generate at least four dollars of economic value to the public...

Four UK social entrepreneurs will benefit from £500,000 each from Google’s inaugural Global Impact Challenge that celebrates tech innovation in the social impact sector...

As well as a .5 million GBP award, each of the four successful pioneers will be helped via technical assistance to assist their project towards completion, and will receive Chromebooks, says Google.

The UK scheme is open to registered British non-profits with the plan to whittle applications down to ten finalists to be announced in May...

The public will then be invited to learn more about the chosen finalists and provide feedback...

Global Impact Challenge judges Matt Brittin and Jacquelline Fuller from Google as well as Richard Branson, Tim Berners-Lee and Jilly Forster will then choose the award winners.

The awards are the latest initiative from the ‘big G’ supporting the idea that innovation in technology can continue to make a positive difference to societies...

The announcement follows Google’s 2013 pledge to invest 23 million USD in innovative organisations using technology to tackle global humanitarian challenges.

Programmes benefiting from the first round of Google's Global Impact Awards included a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) innovation project for the development of new systems to tackle wildlife trafficking for endangered species...

The charity, benefiting from a 5 million USD grant from Google, was one of seven organisations to receive a share of $23 million funding for tech innovation in the social impact area.

The latest acknowledgement of the value of social entrepreneurs comes on the back of a rising interest in social entrepreneurism in the UK and across Europe, from investors and entrepreneurs alike...

Social enterprises have been growing at a faster rate than small business start-ups in the UK, for instance; and across Europe, the EU reports social businesses now make up ten per cent of the overall economy...

Charities and non-profits rely on digital technology for a wide variety of purposes with donation processing, donor engagement and fundraising just some of the major areas...

While launched in the UK Google hints that its latest initiative, the Global Impact Challenge, could be expanded into other geographical locations in the future...

Digital technologies already provide non-profits with a wide range of innovatory and powerful uses, including tracking the impact of climate related disasters to manage humanitarian relief...

Another area of innovation can be seen in the work of the charity: water that is also benefiting from an award from Google this year to develop real-time water monitoring technologies across Africa...

Charities and humanitarian agencies are urging the global community today to come together to tackle the inequality surrounding access to one of the world’s most basic and yet precious resources...

Water development charities including charity: water, water.org and WaterAid are amongst the organisations appealing today on World Water Day for global support and partnership to create a fairer, more sustained commitment to water equality...

Campaigners want governments to ensure access to water and sanitation is available for all...

Meanwhile charities are also appealing for support for their localised projects including well digging, irrigation, sanitation and safe water systems...

The United Nations General Assembly declared the year 2013 International Year of Water Cooperation, with today’s World Water Day (March 22), dedicated to the theme of partnership too.

Approximately 3.5 million people die each year from water-related diseases...

Every 20 seconds a child dies from a waterborne disease...

Creating a world that provides the most basic human right of water to all should be a matter of global urgency say campaigners...

Developing access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for everyone by 2030 is the target set by the charity WaterAid who estimate 2.5 million lives would be saved a year as a result...

Barbara Frost, Chief Executive of the charity explains...

“Ensuring that everyone in the world has clean water to drink will rank amongst the greatest achievements of humanity...”

WaterAid, that works in 27 countries helping the poor, points out that history shows that improvements in health and welfare are closely linked to advancements in water, sanitation and hygiene...

The charity supports communities in Malawi, for instance, developing wells and other facilities based on local needs…

Access to clean water is such a basic requirement for health and sustenance that tackling this solvable problem would be a major step towards eliminating the worst conditions of poverty and suffering in the world...

Fair access to water is an enormous issue and one that cannot be tackled in a day but one that needs to be tackled urgently and via a sustained commitment from global partners...

The film produced by South African fundraising org 1%4 Wildlife aims to raise awareness about its conservation campaigns...

The innovative non-profit Trust based in Johannesburg is building partnerships and supporters, and proactively seeks to engage the private sector in wildlife conservation...

The for wildlife Trust supported a capture of three white rhinos to take DNA samples from them...

The anti-poaching and pro-conservation org wants to build resources to protect wilderness spaces and scale up conservation...

The backing by Coldplay for pro-rhino initiatives provides a welcome boost for campaigners at a time of high pressure on the rhino in the wild...

South Africa and other countries in Africa have seen a significant escalation of rhino poaching in recent years...

A recent UK YouGov poll revealed the deep concern about the plight of the rhino with 54 per cent of the public believing rhinos will be extinct in the wild in 30 years...

The number of rhinos killed in South Africa is thought to have doubled from 333 in 2010 to 668 in 2012...

About 150 have died so far in 2013 showing how the trade continues to escalate out of control...

Asia especially China, Vietnam and Thailand is the main destination for rhino horn, which is used in traditional medicine...

Despite the challenges, efforts to tackle rhino poaching received some support at CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting recently in Bangkok, Thailand...

The CITES Conference requested Parties concerned to step up efforts to prosecute criminal groups implicated in rhinoceros crime...

Member States also agreed to develop strategies to raise awareness about wildlife trafficking and especially the need to tackle consumer demand.

A CITES Rhinoceros Enforcement Task Force is being established to find ways to stem the tide of poaching...

Carlos Drews, of the World Wildlife Fund, welcomed measures at the Conference to tackle the rhino trade, describing commitments as “a big step forward for the protection of rhinos, a prehistoric animal that are being butchered for their horns at alarming rates...”

PETA has been urging Fortnum & Mason to stop selling Foie Gras, as part of a wider campaign highlighting the cruelty associated with the production of Foie Gras...

The fatty liver product is illegal to produce in the UK on account of how it is produced, but Fortnum continues to stock Foie Gras despite protests from PETA and other charities...

Foie Gras is created by force-feeding birds with large amounts of grain and fat...

The birds' livers swell to up to ten times their normal size causing huge distress to the animals, say animal rights campaigners...

Newkirk explains there is a lot of ignorance about Foie Gras which is still thought of as a delicacy by some.

"People who think that they are showing their taste for haute cuisine by consuming Foie Gras should know that what they're actually eating is the diseased livers of tortured animals..." she says.

While UK retailers Selfridges and Harvey Nichols have already dropped Foie Gras, PETA continues to build pressure on Fortnum to likewise shed Foie Gras from its shelves...

The charity's campaign, as well as building a petition from members of the public, has attracted numerous celebrity supporters including Ricky Gervais, Sir Roger Moore, Twiggy and Bill Oddie.

Other charity organisations are also appealing for shops and restaurants to stop selling a product that is illegal to produce in many EU countries such as Germany and Italy, and other nations globally...

These include the RSPCA, the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals (ASWA), Compassion in World Farming and many others...

Donors are appealing to charities to explain more effectively how donations are used and provide greater evidence of the impact of donations, a move that would encourage them to donate more...

The findings are produced in a new report by New Philanthropy Capital (NPC), a major UK study of giving habits...

The report offers a refreshing view of the charity fundraising sector by focusing pragmatically on donor needs...

The Money For Good UK report, Understanding donor motivation and behaviour - suggest charities, especially well performing charities, can boost their impact by understanding donors needs more effectively...

The NPC report authors estimate that if charities in the UK improve the way they communicate the impact of their work, and draw a direct link to the impact of donors they could attract an extra £665 million in donations...

Improving communications in this core area would also benefit the best performing charities, the report argues...

The authors suggest that £1.7 billion might move to better-performing charities, if donors could more easily find and understand information about the impact of their donations...

Chief Executive of NPC, Dan Corry, says despite the current challenges facing charities, the report identifies a huge opportunity for organisations seeking to build up donations...

“...by tailoring their conversations with the public, and talking about the difference they make, they could significantly increase the sector’s income...” he says...

The report, based upon interviews and a survey of more than 3,000 UK adults, revealed medical research, children and young people’s charities, and hospital and hospice charities are the three most popular fundraising causes to donate to among UK donors...

Amongst the key findings from the survey were that 37 per cent of mainstream donors and 54 per cent of high-income donors would change their giving behaviour if charities met their needs better...

If charities did a better job in the areas donors care about, donors giving £1,740 million might be persuaded to switch their donations...

Building trust is a key issue...

And clearly the charities that find it easy to showcase the impact of their work will have more good stories to share with their supporters...

The appeal to focus on solutions as well as problems, and take on the needs of the donor is of course a mantra that is nothing new...

Effective organisations offering everything from charity services to professional services to technology products and anything else you can think of, place their success on innovation and quality, and valuing their customers...

The research into donor motivation by NPC includes the major finding that donors struggle to understand where their money goes...

Despite a mass of interesting data contained in the report about different donation habits, which provide a feast of useful information for fundraisers, the bottom line appears to be that positive, open and sustained engagement with donors is a key to fundraising success...

It’s clear already that many small, medium and large charity organisations that are growing the impact of their work in the current climate are often organisations that are placing a high emphasis on improving their marketing, and building these types of positive communications and long-term engagements with their donors...

Direct appeals and hard-hitting stories have their place but building donor relations and especially stronger input into transparency about the impact of donations, could help many charities who want to increase the positive impact of what they do...

Of course although not the whole story - social media and digital, web technologies provide a relatively simple way of doing this for many organisations large and small...

The availability, of in many cases free and open source technologies, makes it relatively simple to spread good news about the increasingly vital work that charities are doing...

Santigie Bayo Dumbuya is the founder of WYCF-SL, a non-profit NGO working in Sierra Leone to improve the lives of women and children...

The fledgling charity currently works in two communities in Freetown called Kroo Bay and George Brook assisting street orphans and other vulnerable people, and is supported by volunteers and donors from the international community...

What motivated Santigie to set up his charitable organisation and dedicate himself to others is a unique story that highlights the reality facing thousands of children around the world today, coerced to fight in armed conflicts, and witness and take part in terrible events...

The story of Santigie is one of abduction and mistreatment, forced to become a child soldier by the rebel faction RUF (Revolutionary United Front), and begins near Kamabonka Village, Kamakwie in Sierra Leone...

Kamakwie in Northern Sierra Leone was the setting for intense fighting and brutality in the nineties as the RUF sought to overthrow the Sierra Leone Government...

The RUF developed a reputation for terrible cruelty and also a strategy of enlisting child soldiers, about 10,000 were recruited, an act illegal under international law and recognised by the majority of international states as a human rights abuse...

Santigie cannot recall how old he was, perhaps nine, ten, or 12 years old. He does not know his date-of-birth and says he will never celebrate a birthday...

“My parent and I ran away into a thick forest after the rebels attacked our town at night around 8pm...

“In the morning hours around 7am, they went into the bush searching for manpower to recruit into their group. They followed our path we used... by looking keenly at the falling of the water settled on the leaves as a trace and unfortunately for me, they met me and my families, everyone was crying...

“They threat to kill me and my parents... My parents beg them and they decided OK we take away your son to join us, and they decided to take me away...”

Santigie was taken deeper into the bush where he met other child soldiers who had been abducted. The children were given basic weapons training and survival techniques, including how to evade helicopter gunfire and within a week were involved in intense fighting...

After a month, the hostilities escalated and Santigie was forced to fight on the frontline...

“I survived several attacks and sustained bullet injuries in my right hand trying to capture a forty-barbell machine gun from the Guinean Army on a three miles ambush we laid, while they are trying to cross the border between Sierra Leone and Guinea at Palmlap, to arm the Kamajours and soldiers in Sierra Leone, he says.

“I also sustained fragment on my belly and foot on a near miss by Rocket Prepared Grenade (RPG) fired at us during a gun battle at Kabala town. I was taken away by my colleagues after we took control of the town under serious exchange of gun fire...”

Santigie says he often thought about running away but in the middle of the thick bush he saw no realistic way of escape...

Also he knew if caught he would be executed... He was also being drugged by marijuana...

When not involved in fighting the RUF prepared for gun-battles and Santigie was force-marched tens of miles, day and night carrying guns and ammunition on his head without rest...

When he appealed that he was tired and needed a break his captors told him that maybe he needed to rest forever... meaning that he would be killed if he stopped.

“This was my life... he says.

Santigie says he had: “no choice but to do it so that I can survive to be who I am today and tell the story to others...

“I have seen so many terrible and horrible things...”

However, amidst the brutality and the escalating violence he was being forced into, an incident changed his life forever...

In the heat of the most dramatic scenes of conflict Santigie rescued a child but in many ways it was the child that came to his rescue...

Santigie discovered the small girl amidst a battlefield in Guinea that was littered with the dead...

It was 1999 and the RUF had opened up a front against the Guinean Government...

This was the period of the most brutal fighting in Sierra Leone and along its borders.

Santigie and his RUF battalion were in a town near Madina Wullah at the Guinean border where they were soon involved in extreme fighting with many casualties...

“What I saw on that day was so terrible, some of my close colleagues were killed... says Santigie...

“During the fighting, I saw a female child at the age of five to six years old crying. I saw two people lying on the ground, the one is already dead and the other is struggling to die.

“I took the child and told her to follow my back everywhere I go and not to be afraid. That was the day of my revolution to change and my heart was inspired. I took nothing but the child.

“All my colleagues leave me behind struggling to save the child. I was the only person including the child left in the town.

“On that same night all my colleagues returned but I was unable to reach the camp on that same day. We travelled all night because she cannot able to walk a long distance and I have to carry my gun even longer than me and no food to eat or water to drink.”

Santigie’s colleagues were searching for him in the bush and feared he was dead. Eventually they found him and the small girl he had rescued seeking water to drink...

“My close friends started shouting my name: Target - that was my nickname during wartime – glad to see you, you survived the fighting?...”

Now the fighting had stopped a decision was made to seek out relatives of the girl and once a relative was found she was returned safe, and so there was a positive outcome...

The events in Guinea lingered in Santigie’s mind though, and were a turning point for him personally but also coincided with a turning point in the war...

Shortly afterwards the UN peace-keeping mission reached an agreement to disarm all rebel fighters and there were various incentives and programmes in place to help rehabilitate the former fighters...

Santigie was taken to his uncle in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown.

Whilst there he benefited from a training camp called Youth Reintegration Training and Education for Peace Programme (YRTEP) sponsored by the United States through the Office of Transition, Washington DC and Management System International (MSI).

The programme was implemented by World Vision Sierra Leone.

Afterwards Santigie was enlisted in school and became more aware of his responsibility to help others. He says he will never forget the child he rescued on the battlefield and it was that moment that led him on a journey that is now about dedicating himself to helping others....

He attended the Wesleyan Secondary School at Brookfields via Bayconfields and later went to the United Muslim Association Secondary School and later high school at the Alberta Academy Senior Secondary School.

After completing his diploma in high school he started volunteering in some local groups...

This voyage of discovery led him to reflect, he says, on his experiences as a child soldier but especially the experience of saving a child in danger on the battlefield.

“I reflect my mind the day I saved that child during the war and I decided to establish a charity to continue to save children in need of help..." he says.

In September 2009 he set up the NGO: My Own Children International...

In 2011 the organisation changed its name to We Yone Child Foundation-Sierra Leone (WYCF-SL)...

The name now makes use of local languages, Yone meaning ours in Krio...

Today the Foundation is working hard to build up the impact of its mission helping orphans, street children and other vulnerable young people and women in the slum communities of Kroo Bay and George Brook...

Sierra Leone, in West Africa, is amongst the poorest countries in the world with high levels of youth unemployment, child poverty, hunger and illiteracy...

WYCF-SL already helps nearly 300 children with basic needs such as food aid as well as educational supplies, and is seeking to develop its projects further, including schools building...

The charity also runs sponsorship appeals to support its work rescuing orphans and kids off the streets, and getting them into school and its rehabilitation programmes...

As well as financial support from the international community Santigie praises the assistance of international volunteers who are helping his organisation grow, including currently Sara Portugal and Nicholas Mason, who have joined the charity and are making a vital contribution...

WYCF-SL also received a welcome boost recently when DWC (Developing World Connections), a volunteering charity in Canada offered support for its school building projects...

WYCF-SL’s ambition is to help more orphans, street kids and women in need with the development of a sustainable school structure for the two communities it serves amongst its current priorities...

Gordon MacRae, of the charity, says: “Whatever the reason for their situation, as the winter weather kicks in and temperatures plunge, homeless people are some of the most at risk people in our society...

“We must make sure that those who are homeless or forced to sleep rough are not forgotten...”

The charity is urging councils across Scotland to intensify their efforts to ensure they fulfil their responsibilities to homeless people...

Shelter Scotland campaigns for better protections for homeless people and provides services to the homeless across the country...

The charity wants local authorities to ensure accommodation is available for those who need it and is appealing for council and voluntary organisations to work closely together to make sure no one is at risk...

The appeal for vigilance and support for the homeless also comes as the charity’s fundraising receives a boost courtesy of a homeless man who has raised almost £3,000 as part of a fundraising trek across the Scottish Highlands...

Wayne Hall, 46, started his trek in February and has already put up with some heavy sleet and snow as he raises cash for his favoured charity...

Mr Hall who has awoken to find his water bottle and food frozen due to the plummeting temperatures has the benefit of a tent on his travels, but says he “can’t imagine what it’s like for people who have to sleep rough night after night...”

Mr Hall, who hopes to raise £10,000 for Shelter as part of his expedition, started his trek along with his dog Jerry at Loch Morar in the Highlands on February 25...

The pair, who have seen Golden Eagles on their journey across one of Europe's great nature wildernesses, hope to visit 25 lochs before calling it a day and reaching their fundraising target in August...

Shelter Scotland estimates there are over 35,500 homeless households across the country...

The charity helps over half a million people a year with advice and support regarding housing and homeless issues...

80 per cent of non-communicable disease (NCD) related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries.

The four main NCDs ie cardiovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes kill three in five people worldwide but it is estimated 50 per cent of these core diseases are avoidable...

IFRC Secretary General Bekele Geleta says fighting NCDs requires global partnership solutions.

“...no one single player from the public or private sector working in silo can tackle the NCDs challenges...” he says...

The two-year partnership is between the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).

The two non-profit organisations, both headquartered in Geneva, will partner on designing a toolkit that promotes healthy lifestyle choices at national and community levels...

The proactive campaign will involve skills and intelligence sharing and will initially target about three million people worldwide.

The initiative is partly a response to a United Nations high level meeting on the prevention and control of NCDs, that highlighted multi-sectoral action as one of its key recommendations, along with accelerating regulatory convergence and making improvements to primary care...

IFPMA is a membership body of research-based pharmaceutical companies and associations which include around 1.3 million employees actively involved in research and development of medicines and vaccines.

The IFPMA works closely with the United Nations and its global health community partners, including leading NGOs.

The international non-profit organisation says the new partnershp is about supporting Red Cross community interventions to reduce the impact of NCDs locally and will be about actively promoting positive behavioural changes...

The 25th Red Nose event raised £75,107,851, the highest total ever at the end of the day which includes a night of celebrity entertainment and fundraising appeals on the BBC...

“It's almost impossible to thank enough all those who took part in the event, all the members of the public who fundraised and all those who gave so generously on the night...” says Notting Hill screenwriter Richard Curtis, one of the founders of the annual appeal...

The money raised included generous donations from the public as well as contributions from business supporters like Sainsbury’s that raised £10,512,406 via its Red Nose merchandise sales...

British Airways has also raised £2,001,025 this year through on-board collections...

As usual a big number of celebrities took part in specially recorded stunts and fundraising challenges...

Celebrity hosts presenting the comedy driven telethon included John Bishop and David Walliams...

Singer Jessie J shaved her hair as a TV dare...

This year’s viewing was also aided by new sketches including X Factor impresario Simon Cowell in a spoof ‘marrying himself’, Will Ferrell as ‘Ron Burgundy’, Rowan Atkinson as the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Ricky Gervais reprising his role from the Office.

458,000 calls to the Comic Relief donation line were made during the show on Friday March 15, supporting causes in the UK and abroad...

The UK Government also provided aid match funding of £16 million for charity programmes helping advance women’s and girls’ rights and opportunities in Africa...

Comic Relief, a registered charity, supports dozens of worthwhile initiatives in countries such as Brazil, Tanzania and India...

In South Africa alone Red Nose Day funds 24 projects working with partner charities including Friends of the Treatment Action Campaign (FoTAC), Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund (NMCF), International Children's Trust, War on Want and ActionAid UK...

Researchers from Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have revealed the astonishing development that also confirms the importance of continued investment into HIV research...

The collaborative paediatric research that led to the breakthrough was supported partly by amfAR, the American Foundation for AIDS Research...

An amfAR grant was awarded to Dr Deborah Persaud of Johns Hopkins Children’s Center and Dr Katherine Luzuriaga of the University of Massachusetts Medical School in September 2012 to establish a research collaboratory to explore and document possible paediatric HIV cure cases...

Funding was also provided by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) through the International Maternal Paediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network (IMPAACT).

The collaboration included prominent researchers at the University of California, San Diego, at the National Cancer Institute; and at NIAID...

Dr Persaud and Dr Luzuriaga had been studying paediatric HIV infection for several years with support from the National Institutes of Health as well as amfAR....

The landmark findings were announced at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta, Georgia...

Dr Persaud detailed the case...

The two year old infant was diagnosed with HIV at birth and was immediately put on antiretroviral therapy...

At 18 months old the child stopped taking antiretrovirals and at the age of 23 months began receiving tests that have confirmed the absence of HIV...

The case reveals a direct relationship between charity-funded research and the significant breakthrough, and shows the importance of extending the availability of antiretroviral medicines...

The collaboratory allowed researchers to act quickly when the case came to light and perform the tests necessary to confirm the cure...

The case has been confirmed beyond doubt, say researchers, that despite both mother and child being HIV positive when the child was born the later tests confirmed there were no signs of HIV in the child...

The cure occurred due to available antiretroviral therapy and gives hope that further successes may be possible, and that different groups of HIV affected people may be treatable in different ways...

The case underscores also the importance of screening programmes for HIV-positive pregnant women, investment in mother-to-child transmission prevention and of the need for quicker and wider availability of antiretroviral therapy for HIV affected infants...

The infant described in the report underwent remission of HIV after receiving antiretroviral therapy within 30 hours of birth...

AmfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost says: “The case is a startling reminder that a cure for HIV could come in ways we never anticipated, and we hope this is the first of many children cured of HIV in the months and years to come...”

Researchers are now continuing their work and are hoping to understand more about the immune systems of children, with the possibility of clinical trials to see if the case can be replicated...

“Our next step is to find out if this is a highly unusual response to very early antiretroviral therapy or something we can actually replicate in other high-risk new-borns...” says Dr Persaud.

Reasons for optimism for fundraising organisations across Europe are contained in a unique study that shows that more than two thirds of national fundraising organisations across Europe have seen steady or increased income levels even at the height of the financial crash...

Developing professional skills training amongst fundraisers, engaging with Internet and tech-giving services and also building contacts with corporate supporters are identified as three key areas to fundraising success...

The report also shows the growth of online fundraising across the continent with almost two thirds (65 per cent) of EFA member states saying that most charities in their nation are making some use of online and social media for fundraising....

The European-wide membership body for fundraising associations has published a number of findings in the report: Fundraising in Europe: A Decade of Change.

Whilst fundraising organisations face considerable difficulties accessing public funds and engaging with public donations at the levels they require, many fundraisers are continuing to build their portfolios...

One in four European nations predict a rise in voluntary income from donations during 2013, the authors revealed...

The survey of 17 national fundraising associations from across the EU, reviewed the past decade and highlighted predictions in fundraising for the future...

Headline figures from the study include 64.7 per cent of national fundraising associations reporting that even during the peak of the international financial crash they were successful in either maintaining or increasing their income levels from year to year.

23.5 per cent said during the crisis, most organisations had succeeded in increasing their voluntary income from year to year...

The most popular donor supported causes were poverty, healthcare, medical research and international aid...

Other findings revealed that traditional fundraising methods like direct mail were still useful...

Direct mail remained the most successful strategy for over a third of members (35.3 per cent)...

Trust fundraising and statutory grants made up 17.6 per cent of revenue sources...

The research reveals that engagement with the public and building rapport with individual donors is a key to success more than ever in the current climate...

Findings include a perception that increased professionalism in the fundraising community has been the main area providing a lift to charities during a period which has seen squeezes on public funding as austerity measures take place across Europe...

Engagement with social media, online and tech based fundraising systems as well as connecting with corporate supporters are the other two major positive influences on charity giving highlighted by fundraisers...

Skills training (88.2 per cent), Internet and tech-giving services (52.9 per cent) and corporate engagement (47.1 per cent) were identified as the three most positive influencing factors for fundraising.

The EFA membership body has over 8,800 individual fundraisers and 1,140 fundraising organisation members...

As well as the challenges faced by the economic climate; and the positive impact of skills, fundraising technology and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), issues raised in the report are the need to focus on public confidence, including the need to satisfy donor demands for greater transparency and accountability across the sector...

The European Commission voted today (March 15) on whether to suspend the use of neonicotinoid insecticides.

The insecticides have been linked to a rapid decline in bees that are vital to agriculture, and the safeguarding of the natural environment...

13 EU countries including France and Italy have voted in favour of a temporary ban on three types of neonicotinoids - clothianidin, imidacloprid, and thiamethoxam, that have been linked to harmful effects on bee populations...

However, the vote failed to gain the necessary majority to make the decision binding, meaning the campaign by environmental groups continues...

The vote was proposed due to the mounting evidence from environmental researchers backed by an official EU report that suggests the pesticides are contributing to a massive decline in bee populations...

The issue is not just one of nature conservation because bees are vital to global economies due to their pollinating role in agriculture.

As well as the natural environment, ie wildflowers and plants, bees are essential to agricultural crops.

And to replace their natural input with human pollination programmes would cost tens of billions of euros...

Bees contribute to the production of about 80 per cent of the 200 plus major crop species the European Union depends on...

Greenpeace EU spokesperson Marco Contiero says it is vital environmental campaigners keep up the pressure to compete with the lobbying of major pesticide companies who are determined to protect their trade.

“It is important for the European Commission not to drag its feet but to act quickly to pursue a complete ban that is in line with scientific advice...” he says.

Unfortunately bee stocks are declining at an alarming rate across the EU and worldwide...

25 species of native bees have been lost in the UK alone since the 1950s, and the decline is accelerating on a global scale, with various studies linking the decline due to pesticide use...

Many environmental charities have been campaigning on the issue over the last year notably Friends of The Earth, the Bumble Bee Conservation Trust, Greenpeace and others...

Last month, the European Food Safety Authority issued a report linking the chemicals called neonicotinoids to the decline in bee numbers...

Neonicotinoids are spread on leaves or applied to the soil or seeds...

While habitat loss and seasonal changes due to climate change may be other factors contributing to the loss of bees, environmental charities including Greenpeace are convinced only a total ban will help to stop the collapse of bee populations...

Avaaz, the campaigning organisation, has already presented a petition signed by more than 2.5 million members to the European Commission supporting a ban...

Environmental charities are also encouraging the public, as well as businesses and other organisations, to help support bee populations by planting bee friendly flowers and plants in gardens and nature spaces...

The Wellcome Trust was established in 1936 as a legacy of Sir Henry Wellcome, a prominent pharmaceuticals entrepreneur and philanthropist.

Trustees began their social-impact work in 1937 with £73,048 in the bank, the charity initially run by the Wellcome Foundation.

However, in 1986 the Trust began floating shares in the Wellcome Foundation and used the proceeds to diversify its assets.

Since then the trust has grown considerably and become one of the world's biggest charitable foundations, with assets last year certified as £14.1 billion...

Chairman of the Wellcome Trust, Sir William Castell, says the trust has grown substantially over the past 77 years but remains true to its founding principles.

He says the Trust supports: “researchers across the world, enabling them to greatly advance our knowledge of how the body works and how diseases arise.”

Sir William says the trust is now in a stronger position than ever to move forward and make even more of a positive difference to people's lives...

The Trust is currently experiencing a few more changes as its director, Sir Mark Walport, steps down to become the UK Government's Chief Scientific Adviser.

Dr Ted Bianco, the Trust's Director of Technology Transfer, is taking over as acting director as of today (March 15).

Wellcome Trust funding has supported numerous breakthroughs in health and biology research including via the UK arm of the Human Genome Project, that has led to innovations in cancer treatments.

Recently the charity supported HIV research in South Africa that highlighted the impact of scaling up investment in antiretroviral drugs therapy...

Major public investment in antiretroviral treatments has raised adult life expectancy there by more than 11 years since 2004, according to a study published in the journal: Science...

The announcement was made by consensus on the final day of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16) at its plenary session, following proposals earlier in the week...

The conservation charity Care for the Wild International has applauded the developments that include vital protections for manta ray populations...

Whilst much of the attention has been on the accelerated overfishing of sharks (100 million killed last year) manta rays, which are harmless and magnificent creatures have also been in decline due to their use in traditional medicine, as well as food and bait...

Both sharks and rays have slow reproductive ability and so current fishing levels are unsustainable...

“You could compare manta rays with elephants and rhinos in the sense that they are recognisable, a big tourist draw, and at huge risk from traditional Asian medicines... says Philip Mansbridge, CEO of Care for the Wild.

“This is a good move from CITES to at least try and slow the demand before it’s too late...”

Their populations have declined between 56 to 86 per cent over the last eight years, says Care, that tries to help ray and other threatened creatures via its campaign Right Tourism that promotes eco-friendly travel...

“Manta rays are a tourist draw now, so people need to start doing the maths, just like with lions in South Africa for example - is a manta ray worth more alive than dead?

“The world needs to wake up to realise that by respecting and looking after our wildlife, we can enjoy their beauty while benefitting financially. Killing them, however, is a short-term gain and a loss for everyone...”

Similar Care for the Wild hopes the attention given to sharks during CITES will be a step in the right direction when it comes to promoting a long-term commitment to responsible fisheries and sustainable tourism...

70 million sharks a year are taken from the oceans every year to end up in shark fin soup.

“Sharks may not be the most loveable of creatures but they deserve our protection so this is excellent news... says Mansbridge.

“Humans will probably always eat animal products, but to wipe out 100 million sharks a year primarily to make a luxury soup is a huge concern...”

Mansbridge also draws attention to the inhumane practice of shark finning...

“Shark finning is a particularly brutal way of killing for food, as the live, fin-less sharks are thrown back into the sea and left to die an agonising death...

“If we’re going to eat sharks then let us at least respect them, kill them humanely and manage their populations sustainably...”

The CITES conservation successes are significant from a humane and a sustainability point of view, and follow years of campaigning...

For instance the inclusion of the porbeagle shark follows two previously unsuccessful attempts at CITES meetings to give the shark its official protection status...

The measure was finally passed, it was announced today, by a ballot in which 93 countries voted in favour...

The news shows the impact that conservation groups can have on policy making when they mobilise their support and work in partnership with each other...

Key areas businesses can support NGOs and aid agencies in economic development include microfinance, skills training, and investments in healthcare, and infrastructure in the communities they operate in...

Speaking to an audience of business leaders and development specialists at the London Stock Exchange, Greening said businesses like Vodafone, Unilever and Waitrose are already investing in the communities where they work...

But more companies can support the development push which the UK along with other international partners are at the forefront of...

Britain’s total aid spending will rise to a record £12 billion in 2013, it was announced last year...

The international development department is working in partnership with many respected development charities including Action Aid, Islamic Relief and WaterAid...

The UK commitment is to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid in 2013...

Major corporate investments in development include health spending...

For instance, last year Unliver launched its Global Foundation to improve access to clean water, health workers, vaccines and sanitation in the developing world, in partnership with Oxfam, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, Population Services International (PSI), and Save the Children...

The appeal is clear: that progressive leaders are already playing a part but are being encouraged to do more and that government departments, NGOs and the corporate sector can work together on ethical development goals including wider strategic investment issues...

Ms Greening said: “We can’t just see business as a risk to developing countries. We must also see it as an opportunity... I want DFID to help build up strong and investable business environments...”

Issues raised are in line with the views of several leading charities that are highlighting the need for international partners to support developing countries to build up sustainable administration and infrastructure...

"That means helping countries build their own tax base, squeezing out corruption and providing the technical advice that means when economic growth does happen, countries are well placed to reap and then reinvest the gains...” said Ms Greening.

Christian Aid’s lead campaign for tax justice highlights for instance how the world’s poorest developing countries raise little from taxation...

It’s about a long-term strategy for development that builds independence rather than dependency on hand-outs...

Greening who took over from Andrew Mitchell last year in the post has already made her mark with a focus on supporting women’s development programmes...

Now alongside the UK’s commitments to supporting direct aid development spending, the emphasis is turning to improving corporate governance standards...

New measures announced include investments in programmes to identify ways of progressing effective governance, including sharing tax and commercial law expertise in partner countries, and a commercial law and justice programme to encourage reform that can aid development investments...

Care for the Wild, Blue Hare, Humane Society International (HSI), and the Hare Preservation Trust are appealing for a break on hare hunting during the animals breeding season due to fears the number being lost all year around is becoming unsustainable...

An estimated 350,000 hares are hunted each year from a national population of 750,000...

Philip Mansbridge, CEO of the charity Care for the Wild, says:

“The argument for a closed season to protect pregnant mothers and their young in February is scientifically sound, common sense and would put England in line with Scotland...

“At the moment hares are suffering from a postcode lottery which is threatening the future of the entire population...”

The charities and campaign groups cite research from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust that estimates shooting hares during February can remove up to 60 per cent of breeding hares...

A code of practice for brown hare management has been drafted for DEFRA by the British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC)...

The idea is to manage hare populations in England but the coalition of animal welfare groups says the plans ignores their concerns about the need for a closed season, a legally defined period when hunting is forbidden typically to protect animals during their breeding season...

Hare populations have declined rapidly in the last century due to loss of habitat and the annual hunts...

The charities and campaign groups that form the hare coalition are appealing to the wildlife minister to let DEFRA take charge and work more closely with wildlife protection groups.

Opponents of a close season for hares cite the damage done by hares on farm land and the need for farmers to protect their livelihoods...

However Care for the Wild’s CEO has described the loss of a thousand of the animals a day as “a deplorable statistic”.

“So asking for a closed season to protect mothers and their babies is frankly not much to ask...”

The hares breeding season in March gives rise to the phrase 'as mad as a March hare', due to the prancing of hares and their giddy antics across the English countryside...

With no resolution to the conflict in sight, the country’s infrastructure including schools and hospitals in tatters, it is Syrian children that are those most acutely affected and in need of help, says the children’s charity.

“For millions of Syrian children, the innocence of childhood has been replaced by the cruel realities of trying to survive this vicious war...” explains Carolyn Miles, Save the Children CEO...

As the civil war enters its third year two million children are facing malnutrition, disease and trauma...

The extent of the dangers facing children in the country is detailed in the charity’s new report Childhood Under Fire...

The reports details children forced to live in the open, without food or access to medicines or sanitation, the result of a near complete social breakdown...

Against the backdrop of the increasingly bloody conflict that has shed 70,000 lives research conducted by Bahcesehir University in Turkey reveals one third of children surveyed said they had been separated from family...

Also 75 per cent were suffering bereavement following the loss of a close friend or family member...

NGOs like Save the Children, UNICEF, and the Red Cross have been leading the appeals for humanitarian aid for Syrians, including children, who have become refugees or are displaced within the country...

Save the Children is planning a series of vigils around the world on March 14, to mark two years of the conflict in Syria, and to keep the focus on the humanitarian needs of children...

Charities are appealing for funds to aid the humanitarian response in Syria as well as refugee camps in Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.

The UN confirms the number of Syrian refugees has now reached one million... Of those about two thirds are women and children who are now facing poverty and are vulnerable to exploitation, reports the UN...

At least four million civilians in Syria are considered to be in desperate need of help, requiring food, shelter or emergency medical or other supplies...

With thousands fleeing the country daily and the country facing total collapse the extent of the humanitarian emergency cannot be underestimated.

“Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster...” UNHCR Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres has said...

The refugee agency says most of the refugees are suffering trauma, half of which are children, mostly under 11...

Without a political or a military end to the conflict in sight, humanitarian aid remains the only way to help the innocent victims of the conflict, including the millions of suffering children...

The news is a significant lift to the social investment sector that has been growing steadily in recent years but has potential for significant further growth...

The move could provide a major boost to social impact initiatives across Europe and also boost struggling economies...

Social investment, put simply, is the investment of capital to generate positive social impact - in some cases with no financial return expected...

Social investors often become fully engaged with their investment projects offering skills, industry intelligence and resources...

Due to the increasing awareness of its benefits widespread research suggests this is one area of social impact affecting charities, non-profits and social enterprises, that is set to grow, especially in Europe which has the resources but where the sector is still relatively in its infancy...

Commissioner Michel Barnier says the proposals to create European funds for venture capital and social businesses will take immediate effect, and will increase opportunities for start-up social enterprises...

“Better funding for smaller companies is key for Europe's economy and it is now up to enterprising fund managers to seize the new opportunities as a matter of urgency..." he has said.

The new rules on European Venture Capital Funds and European Social Entrepreneurship Funds will create a special EU passport for all operators that invest in start-up, Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) and social businesses.

The European Council is expected to adopt the new regulations on March 21, that will create regulations for investment opportunities of 100,000 euro plus.

SMEs contribute more than half of the total value added in the 'real' economy, says the EU and have provided 80 per cent of all new jobs across Europe in the last five years, but often struggle for investment in the current climate. Social businesses represent 10 per cent of all European businesses and employ over 11 million paid employees...

Research in the UK, for instance, has shown how more social business start-ups are being set up than similar size small businesses...

The social investment aspect of the charitable sector has been growing organically in Europe in recent years and appeals to ambitious new generation social entrepreneurs who are seeking to make a big difference...

Equally it appears to appeal to spirited philanthropists and business leaders keen to engage as well as invest in social enterprise start-ups, and growing organisations in need of support to help them reach the next level...

AHF was launched in Los Angeles in the USA in 1987 and now assists more than 35,000 people in over 30 centres in the USA alone...

The charity also operates in 28 countries around the world with more than 200,000 clients currently registered for treatments...

AHF helps 90,361 people in Africa, for instance, supporting healthcare centres in South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Swaziland and Sierra Leone.

The donor-funded charity is about to extend new services in Liberia and Lesotho...

The increasing commitment to AIDS treatment and research by the charity is part of an overall progress in the reduction of AIDS deaths, and increased access to treatments worldwide, although there is still much progress to be made...

According to UNAIDS, the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, there were more than 700,000 fewer new HIV infections globally in 2011 than in 2001.

Millions more people have gained access to antiretroviral therapy in recent years, drugs that stall the progress of retroviruses including HIV...

Africa has reduced AIDS deaths by a third in the past six years, however Sub-Sahara Africa remains the most heavily affected region for what is still a global epidemic...

In 2011, there were an estimated 23.5 million people living with HIV in Sub-Sahara Africa, representing 69 per cent of the total number of people living with HIV worldwide...

Over 30 million people are living with HIV worldwide... Each year around 2.7 million more people become infected with HIV...

Michael Weinstein, President of AHF, celebrated the growing impact of investments in treatment and research, however paid tribute to the need for even greater efforts to help those who remain without access to treatment...

“We will not stop until every person living with HIV is receiving treatment and we see zero new infections and zero deaths from HIV/AIDS...” he said.

AHF's global programmes aim to provide affordable testing, support and treatments for all, including in the USA...

The charity's work currently involves targeting programmes across Southern states of America, that carry a disproportionate share of new HIV cases and are often underfunded...

Investigations by Scotland's animal welfare charity last year resulted in 55 people receiving banning orders, 11 of which were life bans, plus 62 fines and one jail sentence.

Cases included a woman who received a five year ban after tying two kittens in a bag and throwing the cats from a bridge.

The appalling cases also included pets starved to death and kept in atrocious conditions...

Scottish SPCA Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn says: "The number of people in Scotland being banned from owning animals is now at a record level and while that's testament to the support we receive from the public and the dedication of our inspectors, it's also shameful...”

The SPCA points out that while cruelty figures are rising the organisation is also uncovering cases which it would not have been able to do so in the past, due to the increased actions of members of the public who are concerned about animal welfare...

Calls to the charity animal helpline increased to over 195,000 in 2012, compared with 126,000 in 2008...

"That's an increase of 55 per cent in just four years,” says CS Flynn, “with the vast majority of callers reporting cruelty cases, animals in distress and seeking welfare advice...”

The incidents attended by the charity’s inspectors and animal rescue officers rose to 57,000 last year...

Last year the charity’s rescue centres cared for 13,327 animals...

A lot of abandonment and cruelty cases are down to ignorance says the SPCA that has identified the need for greater education in schools...

The charity says it is investing heavily in its free programme for Scottish schools, which reached over 260,000 children last year...

The SPCA, that relies totally on public donations, also points to the impact of its other funded programmes that include its new National Wildlife Rescue Centre at Fishcross...

Oceanic whitetip, porbeagle and three hammerhead sharks species enter the CITES appendice Appendix II for the first time...

The great and reef species of manta rays also gain the protected status...

Freshwater sawfish has also been provisionally increased from Appendix II to Appendix I...

The interim decision at the convention taking place in Bangkok is expected to be followed up by a concrete announcement later in the week...

A total of 35 countries, including Thailand, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and member states of the European Union submitted the proposal for the sharks and rays to be considered for protection...

Pew environment group reports 100 million sharks are killed each year, due to overfishing, the majority ending up in soup across Asia...

An unsustainable figure that is leading to progressive decline of shark numbers and nudging some species closer to extinction...

Similarly manta rays are a victim of unsustainable fishing practices, with an exploitative market in Asia for their gill plates for traditional medicines forming part of the background to the concerns surrounding their commercial exploitation...

The Manta Trust and Humane Society International are among the first organisations to officially applaud the news from Thailand...

“...this is a great day for the manta rays, whose future survival is a little more secure!” said Guy Stevens founder of UK charity the Manta Trust...

“Increased protections are crucial for the survival of these vulnerable and over-exploited species threatened by overfishing, illegal fishing, finning and gilling...” said Humane Society International’s Rebecca Regnery...

CITES is recognised for its impact protecting animals and plants since 1973 with currently 176 Member States agreeing to rules on biodiversity conservation...

CITES listings are legally binding providing a framework for domestic legislation...

Appendix II includes species for which trade must be controlled in order to aid their survival...

CITES Parties continue their gathering until March 14 as part of the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP16) in Thailand.

Conservation organisations supporting the proposals also include Manta Ray of Hope, Wild Aid, Marine Megafauna Foundation, Shark Defenders, Shark Savers, WWF, the Shark Trust, Shark and Coral Conservation Trust, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) and many others...

The protection for the iconic species is seen as vital progress in the fight to maintain these creatures, but also a step towards raising greater awareness about the need for promoting sustainable fisheries and maintaining a healthy marine environment...

The American cancer research foundation is awarding a $1 million grant to study cancers affecting those who worked at Ground Zero during the aftermath of the terrible events that shook the world, with the grant aid for the benefit of all...

The grant has been presented at the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) headquarters...

First responders rushed in their thousands to the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001 to help save lives and relieve the suffering of those caught up in the terrorist attacks...

As well as the immediate dangers from the imploding structures that caused such an appalling loss of life, other less reported dangers were present in the air, including asbestos, cement particles and other contaminants...

The V Foundation is providing the grant aid to support public workers who are now being diagnosed with diseases linked to the contaminated atmosphere...

The grant will fund research for the early detection of haematological cancers linked to debris and dust contamination...

“Too many of the first responders, the heroes of September 11, are now facing early and rare cancer diagnoses...” says Nick Valvano, of The V Foundation.

Doctors and researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the National Cancer Institute receive the funding to accelerate the discovery of earlier detection of, and help to increase survival rates for everyone affected by blood-related cancers...

The V Foundation was founded in 1993 by ESPN and Jim Valvano, former NC State basketball coach and ESPN commentator...

The V Foundation, that celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, has funded more than $100 million in cancer research grants nationwide.

Fundraising events in New York and California were amongst those contributing to the research grant award including the Jimmy V New York Dinner, late 2012, that celebrated the start of the college basketball season...

The foundation’s admin and fundraising expenses are paid by its endowment, and so it is able to award 100 per cent of its cash donations to its charitable programmes.

There are an estimated 230,000 displaced people inside Mali and more than 150,000 Malians who have fled to Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, and Algeria...

In 2012, nearly 150,000 children across Mali were treated for acute malnutrition...

Tens of thousands of people are currently receiving food aid in North Eastern Mali...

The Red Cross, UNHCR, UNICEF and other charitable organisations are delivering food, shelter and other forms of support for those affected by the ongoing instability in the country...

Charities have been appealing for funding over the last year since the conflict began and has grown...

Terrorist groups have been emboldened by an increased flow of weaponry into the region following the Libya conflict...

Threats facing people in the country include landmines and other remnants of warfare.

UNICEF reports 40 children are among the victims of such threats in the last year...

“The danger is now at every corner in communities from Central and Northern Mali...” UNICEF’s Françoise Ackermans has said, with children at risk of scattered mines and weaponry as they go about their day to business, even in areas where the fighting has stopped...

The proliferation of landmines by militia also creates extra dangers for charity workers and other humanitarian aid workers providing help...

Several Malian soldiers and civilians have been killed in recent weeks due to landmines spread by insurgent groups...

Despite the difficulties, services such as health care is getting through of course, as in the case of Medecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) workers who are operating in Timbuktu, Ansango, Mopti, Gao, Konna, Douentza...

Since January 2012, when the conflict started the Red Cross has delivered food aid and other supplies to over 800,000 people in areas such as Gao, Mopti, Kidal and Timbuktu...

Humanitarian campaigners are calling for greater conciliation efforts to stop the fighting and stem the suffering, allowing long-term humanitarian aid to have an impact...

Meanwhile the EU has made a fresh commitment for increasing development aid and improving coordination with aid agencies, with €250 million put aside for health, immunisation, infrastructure and other development support...

NGO groups appealing for more aid include the American NGO alliance InterAction whose members include Action Against Hunger, the American Red Cross and dozens of others...

The NGO umbrella group is urging US Congress and the American administration to resist cutting foreign aid support in the country such as food aid, HIV/AIDS treatment, education and other programmes at such a vital time...

The charity is also appealing for the US authorities to be resolute in their support for other regions experiencing acute emergencies at this time including Syria and Sudan...

The organisation for aid charities and humanitarian groups points out that it is an acute period of urgency for supporting refugee victims of crisis, with more people displaced by conflict currently than at any time in the last 15 years...

The charity has a proven track record and since 1976 has helped more than 600,000 youngsters... the majority of which have entered work, education or training as a result of its programmes...

Kate Middleton met youngsters in Grimsby who are taking part in the charity’s Team project in association with a local fire crew...

The Duchess was admitted to hospital in London in December after a bout of extreme morning sickness, and it was later confirmed she was pregnant...

She began resuming her charity duties in February...

The Grimsby visit is her first visit to a Prince’s Trust project, the charity founded by her father-in-law...

Martina Milburn, chief executive of the Trust, said it was a welcome opportunity to showcase the work of the charity that is working hard to give young people skills and training...

Unemployment in the historic seaport in the North East is one of the highest in the country...

The Duchess of Cambridge met youngsters at the Peaks Lane Fire Station in the town, that support the charity with leadership and training providers...

Humberside Fire and Rescue Service has been working in partnership with the Trust since 2011. The Trust’s Team programme is also run in partnership with the Fire Service, and other partners, across the country...

The scheme is a 12 week residential community project and work experience placement that includes team-building, confidence building and CV-writing skills...

The charity's placement teams also take part in community work, sprucing up community centres and parks, and helping charitable groups...

As part of her visit the Duchess also met past members of the scheme, fire crews at the station, plus adults and children who have been patients at the nearby St Andrew's Hospice...

The Prince’s Trust raises around £50 million a year in fundraising to support its projects across the UK and last year alone helped over 50,000 people...

The decision follows over a year’s intensive campaigning by UK animal welfare organisations that have sought the measures as part of a range of solutions to deal with rising dog cruelty, as well as soaring dog attacks on people...

Eight children and six adults have been killed in dog attacks since 2005. At least 6,000 dogs are put down each year because their owner cannot be found...

The government says all dogs in England must be microchipped by April 2016...

Being able to trace the owners of abandoned, mistreated or violent dogs via the microchipping system is one sensible way of making owners accountable for their dogs and preventing mistreatment, say campaigners...

A number of animal-welfare charities have been prominent in the campaign including Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, the RSPCA, the Dogs Trust, The Blue Cross and others...

The new ruling gives dog owners more than three years to ensure their dog is microchipped...

The initiative follows an absence of several decades of a national scheme aimed at encouraging responsibility for dog owners...

A nationwide dog license scheme was abandoned in 1986 and was replaced by the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, a piece of legislation which was widely acknowledged to be ineffective, targeting a handful of breeds...

The new compulsory legislation will also ensure owners that lose a dog will be more easily able to trace the animal, sparing the heartbreak of losing a family pet, for instance...

Battersea’s Chief Executive, Claire Horton, says the plans will “make a real difference to the welfare of dogs...” enabling organisations like Battersea Dogs & Cats to quickly reunite pets with their owners, in many cases...

The government says each year more than 100,000 dogs are discarded or become lost... The large scale problems cost taxpayers and welfare charities £57 million a year...

Chief Executive of the Dogs Trust, Clarissa Baldwin, urges owners to “view microchipping as part and parcel of dog ownership...” and says it is “essential to improve dog welfare...”

Many animal rescue homes already offer microchipping services including the Blue Cross that offers the service for cats and dogs...

The changes follow a consultation which ran from April 2012 to June 2012 and followed a campaign for compulsory microchipping by many organisations, including the British Veterinary Association (BVA)...

Many charity campaigners however whilst applauding the news are calling for consideration of further measures, including stronger powers for local authorities such as muzzling controls, as well as government backing for neutering initiatives and ownership licensing...

Flood prevention is seen as a significant priority due to the number of large-scale flooding disasters occurring in recent years, notably in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, Korea but affecting many other countries too...

Many humanitarian organisations have been calling for greater investment in flood prevention, following the serious impact of humanitarian emergencies caused by flooding...

The effects of which could have been limited by superior investments in flood resistant housing and more effective flood management schemes...

As the effects of climate change makes extreme weather conditions, including floods, increasingly likely in the future, the Red Cross partnership with Zurich is a timely intervention.

Floods affect more people internationally than any other sort of natural disaster, and are responsible for some of the biggest devastation in terms of loss of life and economic damage...

The investment to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) will go to international flood resilience programmes working with a range of local partners...

Bekele Geleta, Secretary General of the IFRC, says the partnership programme: “will help to achieve a significant impact on communities at risk from floods and will help reduce the devastating effects...”

Zurich and the IFRC began working together on CSR/humanitarian efforts in 2008...

The company’s latest Foundation investment follows a previous $100 million US investment last year...

Zurich employees will also offer skills volunteering as part of a company commitment to support the Red Cross, with Zurich's risk management and insurance expertise at the fore.

Ultimately the commitment is about bridging the gap between post-flood relief and prevention, the latter being seen increasingly by many disaster relief experts as an important cost-effective and long-term strategy to limit the damage of major flooding in the future...

The partners say the first country programme will take place in Mexico, with the focus on developing innovative models for disaster risk prevention, as part of a five-year strategic alliance on flood resilience...

While not instantly thought of as in need of protection, sharks and manta rays are under serious threat due to overfishing, warns experts from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the environmental non-profit org that has long been campaigning on the issue...

Campaigners are drawing attention to a report in the journal: Marine Policy that estimates 100 million sharks are killed each year in commercial fisheries...

The rate at which sharks, vital for marine eco-systems, are being culled is unsustainable, says Pew...

With their slow reproductive systems populations are unable to keep up with the rate of destruction...

And so the rate at which they are being lost is making the extinction of some species ever more likely...

Pew is backing an appeal at the CITES, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting, currently taking place in Bangkok, for urgent protection for the marine predators that are increasingly under threat from commercial fishing...

Marine biologist Boris Worm, lead author of the research, says a major increase in protective measures is needed in order to avoid: “the possible extinction of many shark species...”

Sharks whose reputation was forever undone by the Peter Benchley novel and later the Spielberg film of the same name (Jaws) do not pose the scale of a threat to humans as is often portrayed...

While a handful of tragic human fatalities occur each year due to shark attacks in contrast humans are running the risk of wiping out entire species of shark...

A development which could have devastating consequences for the marine environment...

The loss of sharks is potentially serious to marine eco-systems, marine biologists point out, because the extinction of the major predator in the seas would lead to the dominance of smaller species that would then devastate minor fish stocks...

Sharks like wolves and other predator animals in the wild are similarly an indicator of a healthy eco-environment...

Pew is warning that much of the threat to sharks is due to their commercial value as meat, and for their oil and fins with most of the trade in shark due to the popularity of shark fin soup in Asia...

An earlier study conducted by Pew estimated 70 million sharks are lost each year for their fins, turning up in soup across Asia mostly and elsewhere...

Analysis last year supported by Pew discovered shark fin soup served in 14 American cities contained at-risk species of shark...

Proposals to regulate the international trade of five species of sharks and two related manta rays have been submitted to the CITES meeting...

The proposed shark species include porbeagle, the oceanic whitetip, and three hammerhead species - all vulnerable to extinction...

Shark species currently protected include the great white shark and basking shark...

Marine conservationists say the tables have turned too far against these great marine predators...

“We are now the predators...” Elizabeth Wilson, manager of global shark conservation at Pew, explains... who is amongst those leading the call for an international framework of protection for sharks before many species are lost forever...

The Superheroes Run supports the charity’s programmes that include funding respite opportunities for families living with cancer, including holidays in the UK and abroad...

The cancer charity for runners also awards grants to palliative care organisations...

The London fun run has previously attracted around 3,000 superheroes each year and this year looks set to be no different...

The Superheroes Run is suitable for ages eight and upwards, say organisers, and for people in wheelchairs.

A choice of a 5km or 10km run is available around the central London park with a minimum sponsorship amount of £100 required...

For a £20 entry fee charity supporters receive a free Superhero suit: either Batman or Batgirl, Superman or Supergirl, which they can keep to maintain their superhero charity fundraising status...

Charities in England and Wales have been given the option of new official status as Charitable Incorporated Organisations (CIOs), designed to make it simpler for people to start up a charity and run one...

The new status has been presented as mostly a benefit to small or medium sized charities, and new charities...

Not least offering simpler protection for trustees from being personally liable if the organisation runs into financial or legal disputes...

The new charity status has now been launched in England and Wales with the aptly named Challenge to Change the first to take up the baton...

The first charity to receive Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) status has welcomed the opportunity that will hopefully reduce its costs and liability...

Charities that previously wished to limit their liabilities needed dual registration as a charity with the Charity Commission, and as a company limited by guarantee, with Companies House...

Graham Adutt, director of the charity Challenge to Change, has praised the opportunity to gain new financial protections...

He says the organisation decided to incorporate partly because its local staff in Vietnam face dangers travelling on motorcycles in remote, rural areas...

The charity helps impoverished communities in Vietnam adapt to climate change...

“Our staff are insured but we could never be fully confident that an insurance company would pay up when they should...” he says...

Other risks the charity wants to tackle include better management of donor funds, with the new status designed to give improved protection to trustees in the event of any disputes over funds...

A main attraction is also about not having the headache of dealing with two regulatory organisations, the new system meaning less bureaucracy and costs and more time and money for projects and beneficiaries...

The Charity Commission started accepting applications to register for the new legal form in December, and provides detailed information on the application process....

There have been two windows of opportunity to register as a CIO. The first launched in January was available for new charities with annual income of over £5,000...

The second available from March 1, is for existing charities with annual income of between £250,000 and £500,000...

The development has been well received by several charity organisations...

However, detailed consideration and professional advice on whether to apply is essential...

The eight-day-old male rhino, Kayode, has been staying close to his mother at the San Diego Park, a non-profit organisation, but has already been spotted charging about...

Southern white rhinos were once close to extinction but have recovered due to conservation efforts...

Kayode, that means: he brings joy, is the 93rd southern white rhino born at the park since 1972, a remarkable success for the organisation's breeding programme...

The southern white rhino was born on February 25...

Rhinos are largely threatened due to poaching and the illegal trade in rhino horn that has been increasing in recent years with devastating results for rhinos in the wild.

The southern white is classified as near threatened...

There are an estimated 20,000 southern white rhinos remaining in the wild.

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is operated by San Diego Zoo Global, a membership non-profit organisation that also operates San Diego Zoo, and the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research...

The park's conservation wing runs programmes around the world...

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park houses hundreds of different species and offers up over half of its 1,800 acres to create protected native species habitat...

Greenpeace is hoping so. The campaigning environmental charity and its supporters have pulled out all the stops in their campaign to prevent oil giant Shell from expanding its drilling operations into the Arctic...

The Arctic is home to unique species including the Arctic Fox and its vast swathes of ice also help stabilise the global climate...

This unique natural wilderness is precious and so the thought of opening it up to oil drilling has sent shock waves around environmental circles since the idea was first muted...

Greenpeace’s petition to create a sanctuary at the North Pole, and prevent offshore drilling and industrial explorations currently stands at 2.75 million signatures with the numbers of supporters rising daily...

Shell has now announced it is abandoning plans to drill for oil in the Arctic for this year at least...

And that is in no small part to the massive wave of global support for Greenpeace’s campaign...

The company’s oil exploration plans also suffered when Shell’s rig ran aground in December in the Gulf of Alaska after breaking towing lines...

Bunny McDiarmid, Executive Director of Greenpeace New Zealand, where Greenpeace’s direct action against Shell’s plans began, described the company’s Arctic scheme as “in tatters”...

She says the company “massively underestimated the challenges posed by drilling off Alaska...” as well as the potential for major global opposition to the plans...

Greenpeace USA Director Dan Howells said the damage was as big for the company’s reputation as it was for the rig itself and appealed for greater action to prevent further drilling projects...

Greenpeace is continuing its campaigning and is now lobbying President Obama to ensure the Arctic stays forbidden territory for industrial exploitation full stop, including a ban on industrial fishing....

“The US government must finally stand up and take action," Howells has said...

Greenpeace is also directly appealing for funds for its campaigning work on this issue, that includes plans to place adverts in the financial broadsheets...

The charity is trying to target investors in the financial community to warn of the risks involved...

Shell has said their oil plans for the Arctic will be environmentally responsible but Greenpeace and its supporters keep building momentum in their campaign to have them stopped...

Greenpeace and its followers believe the risks are too great in such a remote and fragile environment, and a response to a major spill would be very difficult...

Greenpeace says recent developments should act as a warning to other companies looking to drill in what is an extreme environment....

The charity wants President Obama to step in to abandon the idea of Arctic drilling completely and create a protected environmental zone around the North Pole...

The charity foundation also funds projects that include a women's radio station in the Palestinian Territories, a programme tackling girls slavery in Morocco, as well as programmes backing women social entrepreneurs in Brazil...

The Twitter launch on International Women’s Day on March 8 is entitled Celebrating #WomenChangeMakers and takes place via the Tweet Chat service...

The Tweet exchange gets underway from 9.30am to 5.00pm CET (GMT+1) and 2pm to 9.30pm IST and will feature contributions celebrating how women drive innovation and progress in their societies...

The forum will make use of a #SocEntSummit hashtag follow, which is a Twitter convention for engaging in real-time topic discussions...

Twitter users can track and follow the debate via #WomenChangeMakers at #SocEntSummit...

The Twitter discussion platform is used for specific issues and events, in this case women and social entrepreneurship...

The forum aims to share and promote ways of benefiting women’s empowerment around the world and promises to showcase pioneering examples of social entrepreneurism benefiting women’s empowerment...

The Womanity Foundation says the Tweet exchange will include inputs from leaders of social organisations, business professionals and academics and welcomes individuals with an interest in women's empowerment issues to join in the discussions online...

Topics include women and technology; stories of women as leaders of change; men’s roles in women’s empowerment; obstacles to girls’ education; economic inclusion, and from access to action...

The Womanity Foundation hopes its Twitter hub will become a useful meeting place for social entrepreneurs working in the field of women’s rights around the world...

That’s why it is good news that a London based mentoring project, matching leaders from charities and community groups with senior professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds is receiving fresh funding...

The UK volunteering charity TimeBank is celebrating after receiving funding for its programmes tackling social inclusion in the community...

The City Bridge Trust has awarded a grant to the volunteers organisation TimeBank to extend its Leaders Together mentoring programme which supports the work of small charities...

City Bridge Trust, the grant-making arm of of Bridge House Estates, has awarded a grant of £80,000 to ensure TimeBank’s mentoring project continues...

The London based programme encourages senior professionals from different fields to work as mentors for small charities and social enterprises in London who need help...

Previous organisations to have benefited from the scheme include South London Tamil Welfare Group, and Involver, a social enterprise involving young people in schools councils...

The volunteers charity has also received funding to benefit a programme supporting young women who are leaving care...

The Maudsley Charity has awarded a grant of £106,472 for TimeBank to work with King’s College London Institute of Psychiatry on a year and a half long project, mentoring young women...

The project will assess the effectiveness of mentoring to tackle problems like teenage pregnancy and unemployment, along with associated mental health issues...

Helen Walker, Chief Executive of TimeBank, says the awards emphasise the impact of its volunteer mentoring projects, which aim to “tackle some of the most serious issues in our society...”

The new grants awards also follows a windfall of £256,273 last year from the Big Lottery Fund for a TimeBank mentoring project to support carers...

Other areas the charity works in include volunteering projects supporting ex-servicemen with mental health problems...

TimeBank welcomes approaches from mentors interested in joining its volunteering mentoring programme or from organisations who feel they could benefit from some extra help...

While Syria and Myanmar were the only government forces in the world confirmed to have used landmines in the last year, many former war zones are littered with mines, causing death and fear, and currently 40 countries have not ruled out the use of mines in the future...

However, massive progress has been made in recent years with increasing action from NGOs coinciding with greater efforts from landmine free States... as more and more evidence of the high impact of landmine demining programmes is revealed...

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) is backing a campaign launched by the Colombian NGO Fundación Arcángeles, that draws attention to the issue of landmines and their devastating effect, and is calling on more actors around the world to get involved in demining...

ICBL campaigners are urging 40 countries around the world, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Korea, Cambodia, Syria and the United States to join the UN Mine Ban Treaty that forbids the use of landmines...

The announcement follows progress in the fight against landmines in the last year including news that all members of the EU are now committed to a ban on landmine use...

Similarly last year Somalia's involvement meant all states in Sub-Saharan Africa have now joined up to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention that cajoles states parties to act on landmine clearance and elimination...

Landmine casualties fell by over a half in the last decade to 4,286 but campaigning NGOs and their partners want more progress...

As well as clearance and destruction of stockpiles, the major focus of NGOs is on rehabilitation of victims and their families...

Total sign up to the Mine Ban Treaty is the “the only effective means to eradicate the landmine threat and fully support survivors and affected communities..." says Ghassan Shahrour from the Arab Network for Research on Landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ANROLM), who is backing the ICBL endorsed Lend Your Leg campaign.

High-level landmine appeals are also underway with the AP Mine Ban Convention announcing that visits to States not party to the Convention will be carried out by prominent anti-landmine campaigners, including Prince Mired Raad Al Hussein of Jordan who is a Special Envoy of the Convention.

Other public figures who are on board the global campaign to ban anti-personnel mines include Colombian musician Juanes, aka Juan Esteban Aristizábal Vásquez...

The renewed efforts from landmine NGOs and campaigners also comes as the European Union announces new funding to reduce landmine suffering...

The EU is investing €1.03 million with support being provided to carry out appraisal of mine clearance work and for countries to receive technical assistance...

Peru, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tajikistan are amongst the countries identified for funding.... Funding is also available to deliver landmine victim assistance efforts...

NGOs are prominent in tackling much of the work on the ground in terms of landmine clearance and support for victims with organisations such as the HALO Trust, Norwegian People’s Aid, Handicap International and many smaller local NGO partners working around the world...

The vital role that NGOs are playing is evident in the work of MAG (Mines Advisory Group) that has announced significant achievements in Iraq...

The charity has been working in a region of northern Iraq that has become the base for the Domiz Refugee Camp...

The camp is home for 45,000-plus Syrians who have fled the terror in their own country... however it would not have been possible to establish the humanitarian base without the work of MAG who made it landmine free...

Following more than a decade of conflict the area was littered with landmines and other munitions...

MAG teams cleared 650,000m2, removing 63 items of unexploded ordnance, allowing the camp to be set up in April 2012 to help refugees from Syria's civil war...

Currently many other international NGOs are also supporting UN and local agencies at the camp, including UNHCR and UNICEF and the Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development (ACTED).

MAG has also recently set up a new camp programme near the town of Torit in Eastern Equatoria state in South Sudan, a region that experienced conflict during the Second Sudanese Civil War in the 80s and 90s...

Working in partnership with UNMAS (United Nations Mine Action Service) MAG workers started clearance activities in early 2013, much to the delight of local people who are lookng forward to being able to travel in their own communities without fear of injury.

Butler, as bassist, lyricist and co-founder of Black Sabbath, is famous for his contribution to the development of heavy rock and heavy metal...

The heavy duty rocker is now backing the charity PETA’s campaign against Foie Gras, the fatty liver foodstuff that is made from force feeding ducks and geese...

Its production is banned in the UK and over 12 other countries because it is considered cruel...

Prince Charles famously banned Foie Gras from royal menus...

And while many leading department stores choose not to stock the product in the UK... including Harvey Nichols and Selfridges; however Fortnum & Mason in London, continues to do so...

Butler has expressed his support for PETA’s celebrity focused campaign aimed at Fortnum & Mason...

Butler, Geezer to his fans, sent a letter from his West Hollywood home calling on Fortnum & Mason's Chief Executive, Ewan Venters, to take the foodstuff off its shelves...

"... I'm not afraid to make some noise, especially when it comes to issues of cruelty to animals...” writes Mr Butler...

The British rocker is also calling on family, friends and fans to stay away from Fortnum's until they stop selling Foie Gras...

The rocker’s stance follows his viewing of a PETA undercover video that revealed the plight of birds whose livers are caused to swell up to ten times their normal size, causing them pain and distress...

Butler’s appeal adds to those of many celebrities who are backing the PETA campaign targeting the store, including Roger Moore, Ricky Gervais, Twiggy, and Bill Oddie who have all written to Fortnum & Mason...

The appeal for the store to abandon its sale of Foie Gras is also backed by other animal welfare charities, including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), and Compassion in World Farming...

The campaign against Foie Gras continues to build momentum with the public...

However, the introduction of Black Sabbath legend Butler, suggests it can expect to become even louder from now on...

The lottery has given £45 million to over 760 projects in Wales to raise awareness about environmental issues including climate change...

The funding boost is spread over a number of organisations including £5,000 grants for local initiatives to bigger investments of up to one million pounds...

Environmental projects and orgs across Wales include the Cilgwyn Community Group, Pembrokeshire receiving £24,600 for green transport vehicles and to establish a community electric transport club in the village of Cilgwyn...

Others include the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens (FCFCG) across Wales, receiving £600,000 to support Welsh communities with access to land to cultivate to help reduce the impact of climate change...

Gwent Wildlife Trust, Ebbw Vale receives £250,000 to run the People and Wildlife project, a voluntary conservation skills project that engages young people who are not engaged in education or employment with positive environmental and community experiences...

John Rose, Director of Big Lottery Fund Wales, believes local and regional efforts like these make “a positive contribution” in terms of the reduction of the impact of carbon footprints...

Overall the focus is on community engagement, and promoting awareness about the need to cut down on waste, energy use, and how to protect the natural environment...

The awards are about making a “difference to the environment and the lives of people throughout Wales...” says Mr Rose...

The Big Lottery Fund awards about £100,000 a day in National Lottery proceeds to good causes in Wales, including environmental, community, health and other charitable causes...

The result is being seen as a major success in the fight against international wildlife crime, and especially ivory crime which has reached record levels in recent years...

A ban on ivory sales in Thailand removes a key outlet for wildlife criminals who have been poaching ivory from Africa.

While it’s been illegal to sell foreign ivory in Thailand a loophole permitting the sale of Thai ivory has allowed the country to be used as a market for the illegal trade...

WWF, the World Wildlife Fund, has described Thailand as the “world’s largest unregulated ivory market...”

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, speaking at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Bangkok said Thai national legislation will be amended...

Prime Minister Shinawatra pledged to help to protect “all forms of elephants including Thailand’s wild and domestic elephants and those from Africa...”

The Thai PM, speaking at the opening of the annual CITES event, said one of the goals was to bring Thailand in line with “international norms...”

Tougher regulation and enforcement is seen by many as the main solution to end the trade in ivory, which is leading to a persecution of elephants in the wild that has been getting worse in recent years...

TRAFFIC, the monitor for wildlife trade, revealed 2011 as the biggest ever year for illegal ivory seizures worldwide with 24.3 tons of ivory confiscated by international authorities...

With the threat to elephants still high, campaigners now want action in Thailand to follow the words, with the WWF appealing for an urgent timeline in the South East Asian country to introduce the ban to safeguard elephants...

Wildlife campaigners also want to see improved regulation in other countries where campaigners feel urgent progress needs to be made...

These include China, the other key destination for illegal ivory, plus transit and source countries that include Kenya...

TRAFFIC and WWF also want better frameworks in place at a global level, and are appealing for the establishment of a mechanism to track global ivory stockpiles...

As they continue their efforts, news from Thailand will give campaigners hope that perhaps a corner is being turned in the fight against the illegal ivory trade...

The Prince has also been meeting children receiving support at various facilities, including a centre for the deaf...

Prince Harry also attended a Sentebale Gala Dinner in Johannesburg this week where his patron charity launched its appeal for funds to create a new state-of-the-art care centre in Lesotho for children and youngsters affected by HIV.

Sentebale’s fundraising appeal for the Mamohato Centre is £2.5 million...

Alice Lycett-Green, of the charity, says she has been delighted by the response so far to the appeal, which bodes well for the future, although there is still a way to go...

“It was the first time we have hosted a fundraising dinner in Johannesburg and the response has been very positive... she said.

“We raised a significant amount of money from the evening which is a great start to the fundraising campaign - to build the Mamohato Centre...

“We will continue to develop many of the relationships with new and potential donors from the evening...”

The charity that was formed in 2006 has been building considerable momentum over the last two years and is sounding increasingly ambitious about its plans for the future...

“We have all the necessary components in place to deliver the new build and expand this proven programme of providing psychosocial support to young people living with HIV, however it is reliant on securing the necessary funding, explains Alice.

“Last night demonstrated the commitment from people living in the neighbouring country of South Africa and with this support and additional support across the globe we hope to be able to change the lives of even more young people...”

Alice who has been with the team of Sentebale workers hosting Prince Harry’s meetings with carers and beneficiaries of the charity’s programmes, says the impact of the tour has been noticeable on Prince Harry...

She says a key moment of his visit "was meeting a girl called Maki who is HIV positive..."

The girl lives on the land at Thaba-Bosiu, a plateau area in the Maseru District of Lesotho, where the new centre will be built...

Alice says it was clear that the girl’s “perspective on life has changed for the better having had the chance to go through Sentebale's Mamohato programme...”

Prince Harry has also described his experience in the last few days meeting young people whose lives have been transformed by the charity’s work...

Speaking at the fundraising gala in Johannesburg, on the announcement of the appeal to develop the new purpose built centre, the Prince described seeing kids with greater “confidence” as well as improved life skills as a result of the Mamohato programme...

The Prince also announced his hopes that the new Mamohato camp, which will help the charity reach four times as many youngsters affected by HIV each year, will act as the platform for Sentebale's expansion in Southern Africa...

NAWF’s WOW awards recognises pioneering Arab women who have made an impact for social progress... including the advancement of principles of gender equality in the Arab World...

Judges include Mona Khazindar, Director General, Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris; and Rana Salhab, Partner, Deloitte Middle East...

Awards are being offered in several categories including the WOW award for civic service...

Nominees for this award include Asmaa Mahfouz, a political and human rights activist famed for her web video on January 18, 2011, calling on Egyptians to engage in peaceful protest in Tahrir Square on January 25, 2011. The video was spread by social media and was a catalyst for further pro-democracy campaigning.

In 2011 Asmaa Mahfouz was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize...

Other nominees utilising new media for the advancement of social rights and democracy include Maysoun Odeh Gangat, a candidate for the WOW awards in the media category.

Maysoun started the first commercial women's radio station in the Middle East with the support of the development charity the Womanity Foundation...

The commercial radio station is a landmark communications model in Arabic offering a wide spectrum of programmes created by women, including mainstream news and entertainment and specialist programmes...

The station, Radio NISAA FM, was established in late 2009, and reaches out to women in the Palestinian Territories and further afield, empowering women’s voices and encouraging discussion on issues of interest and concern...

Such has been the success of the station the charity Womanity currently has plans to establish the format in Egypt and perhaps elsewhere...

Antonella Notari Vischer, Director of Womanity, speaking at the Thomson Reuters Foundation - Trust Women conference in London last December, described the service as a radio station “for women and by women..."

The New Arab Woman Forum is a platform for an open discussion about the evolving role of women in Arab societies and operates events providing debate and ideas about the role of women...

The foundation is currently hosting a convention on March 1 - 2, 2013 at the Mövenpick Hotel in Beirut featuring a number of keynote speakers including Leila Solh Hamade, of the Al Waleed bin Talal Foundation...

Big Issue Invest and its CSR social investment partners are offering up to £50,000 investments for up to ten creative early stage tech-focused social ventures, with a particular remit to help boost the fortunes of young people not in work or training...

The Tech for Good Challenge is promoting innovative early-stage ventures that use digital technology in inspired ways to have a positive impact on the futures of young people, and is hoping to play a part in tackling youth unemployment in the UK...

Up to 20 teams will be selected for an intensive mentoring programme with ten finalists chosen to receive investment of up to £50,000, as well as ongoing mentoring support...

“Everywhere you look, people’s lives are being transformed by technology...” says Big Issue Invest’s Nigel Kershaw.

“We’re setting out to find ten enterprises that are using technology to positively transform the lives of young people...”

The social investment package will include a grant for organisations chosen but also expertise backing from corporate partners...

Application deadline is April 15, 2013.

The social impact initiative, a partnership between Big Issue Invest and Nominet Trust, is being backed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Salesforce Foundation, LDC, MITIE, and Unity Trust Bank and is also being supported by The Big Lottery.

The project takes up the modern notion of social investment, ie ongoing engagement and support from CSR backers in the programmes they are investing in...

The Tech for Good organisers say focus is on supporting organisations not from start up, but supporting start ups into the growth stage...and is looking for established teams who are already providing social value...

The charity that helps vulnerable children in Lesotho, including Aids/HIV victims, launches its fundraising programme to build the first permanent Mamohato Centre, a care centre for children and young people affected by HIV...

A spokesperson for Prince Harry in Africa confirmed the appeal is for £2.5 million and has been co-launched by Prince Harry and Sentebale charity Chairman Philip Green.

“One of the main focuses of the trip was for Prince Harry to better understand how a new Mamohato centre will benefit children in Lesotho... the Palace’s spokesperson explained.

“The fundraising gala dinner in Johannesburg last night was to launch the appeal for the new Mamohato centre of excellence.

“The overall total for that appeal is £2.5 million. That is how much it will cost to get the project up and running at full capacity and run the centre...”

The Chairman Philip Green was present for the fundraising gala and is fully involved in the appeal launch, says the Palace...

The Prince’s two day visit to Lesotho was hosted by Cathy Ferrier who is Chief Executive of Sentebale...

The Palace says the visit by Prince Harry shows his commitment is as strong as ever for his charity that funds programmes helping the most vulnerable people, especially orphans and other disadvantaged kids...

As well as health and social care the Sentebale charity also provides education and skills training to aid the development of the poor landlocked kingdom in Southern Africa…

“He is one of the founding patrons together with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho who set up the charity...

“His role remains the same. He is as passionate and as committed to the charity as he always has been. Like everyone else involved in the charity he just wants to see it grow and go from strength to strength...

“His role with the charity is ongoing and he will be involved in all aspects of their work...”

Following up on the progress so far by Sentebale in Lesotho that includes care programmes, schools bursaries and backing for social entrepreneurs, the charity hopes to expand its programmes in the future into several other countries in Southern Africa...

“It has been an excellent visit. Prince Harry has been delighted to see the real change at first hand since he visited in 2010...

“He has been revisiting some of the projects and he can see real change for the better in those two years.

“In terms of the facilities available, the numbers of people being able to access them, and in terms of the benefits those facilities have had...”

Sentebale has been building its profile since its launch in 2006 and has been developing a reputation for a business-like approach and the delivery of high impact programmes, assisted by the addition of a number of key partners over the years...

Along with the backing of Prince Harry, business heavyweight Philip Green, a former CEO of Reuters who also includes the Chief Executive role at United Utilities amongst the jobs on his CV, joined as Chairman in 2011.

Cathy Ferrier, a former Fundraising Director at Oxfam, joined the charity in 2012 as CEO...

Those associated with the charity, the name of which translates into English as Forget Me Not, appear determined to build its profile and the impact of it work helping vulnerable children...

Along with its current funding priority for a holistic care centre for young HIV sufferers in Lesotho, the charity is becoming increasingly proactive in terms of attracting fresh donors and supporters to assist with its work over the long-term...

Launched as a non-profit org in the USA in 1992, the EJAF has become one of the biggest HIV/AIDS grant-making organisations in the world, dedicating its funds to marginalised communities in dozens of countries around the globe including the USA, and across the Caribbean, the Americas, and Eastern Europe...

The foundation’s grant-making for AIDS/HIV causes in 2011 alone was a record-breaking $8,316,871...

The singer has expressed his gratitude to “donors, whose generosity has allowed us to support dozens of innovative organisations that provide critical services to the most stigmatised populations around the world...”

The singer and philanthropist also applauded NGOs working in the HIV prevention and harm reduction field for doing such vital work, especially for marginalised groups that are often ignored by state services.

"I know that the only way to fight against AIDS is by helping everyone in need, especially those living at the margins of society..." says John.

The foundation, also listed as a registered charity in the UK in 1993, has raised its millions for health and anti-discrimination programmes around the world in 55 countries...

EJAF's grant-making targets marginalised and stigmatised people including drug users, and prisoners...

The foundation’s grants support includes pioneering programmes such as needle sharing initiatives in the USA that can provide a pathway into drug rehabilitation programmes...

Since 2005, EJAF has invested more than $3.6 million nationally in grassroots needle exchange and harm reduction programmes through the Syringe Access Fund in the USA.

Other programmes include advocacy for those living with HIV, and safe sex and sexual health programmes...

Previous beneficiaries of grants from the EJAF include the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care and the Harlem United Community AIDS Centre...

Organisations receiving grants in 2012 alone for harm reduction programmes include the AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta, the Michael Reese Research and Education Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation and AIDS Alabama...

Poland was added to the international mine ban treaty last year, completing an EU-wide ban on land mine use...

Plus there was an announcement of five more mine-free countries: Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Congo, Denmark, Jordan, and Uganda...

Matjaz Kovacic, president of the international treaty banning anti-personnel mines, has appealed to all members of the Conference on Disarmament to join the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention as soon as possible...

The Slovenian ambassador says that while a minority of States which participate in gatherings have only been talking about disarmament the majority of States which are party to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention have been getting on with disarming...

The impact of relieving the world of land mines is immeasurable, rescuing lives from terrible physical and mental suffering via prevention of injuries; and through clearance helps communities return to normality away from the fear and danger of land mines...

Landmine casualties fell by over a half in the last decade from 8,807 in 1999 and to 4,286 in 2011, with currently only Syria the state thought to be using anti-personnel landmines in the past year...

Despite progress though landmine casualties remain relatively high with Afghanistan the main cause of injuries with 14,951 new victims between 1999 and 2011, a figure that is rising...

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines, a coalition of NGOs and campaign groups, is currently warning of a surge in landmine violence in Mali due to insurgent groups...

Matjaz Kovacic, who presides over the 161-member anti-land mine treaty, speaking at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, highlighted the conference’s lack of progress on disarmament...

This is in contrast to the impressive gains made by the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, he said, which he described as "tremendous" and also includes victim assistance programmes along with clearance and curtailing landmine use...

The States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention have celebrated much progress recently...

Last year Somalia, for instance, joined up ensuring all States in Sub-Saharan Africa, have now committed to end the use of landmine use along with all the EU states.

In a decade and a half States Parties have destroyed over 44.5 million stockpiled mines as part of their commitments...

Which again backs up the argument that membership of the convention has a profound effect, along with the appeal for more partners to join...

Anti-mine ban campaigners are currently turning to the USA as a key partner it is hoped will show leadership on the issue of land mines...

Among NATO countries the US is a conspicuous absence from the treaty but did declare in December 2012 it would be making a decision soon on whether to join up...

Kovacic, speaking prior to the anniversary of the convention on March 1, echoed the views of many NGO leaders by appealing to the USA to "soon be a part of this movement..."

NGOs also provide much of the work on the ground in terms of landmine clearance.

Leading NGOs involved in this wave of de-mining progress including Mines Advisory Group (MAG), APOPO, the Halo Trust, Swiss Foundation for Mine Action (FSD), the Danish Demining Group (DDG) and many other charities...

The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is also a leading voice in the fight against landmines, and comprises a variety of NGO members including Action on Armed Violence, Amnesty International, and Handicap International...