Civilians and activists in Syria's embattled city of Homs are pleading for the international community to respond to the desperate humanitarian crisis there. Brought on by government response to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad that began in March 2011, the situation has been dramatically deteriorating. Government soldiers have been shelling the city for nine days in a row, killing and wounding hundreds of civilians. UUSC condemns the government violence against civilians in Syria and calls on the United Nations and the Arab League to protect civilians.

According to a Human Rights Watch report on February 10, the Syrian monitoring group the Violations Documentation Center has recorded the deaths of 288 people between February 3 and 8. As reported widely in the media, during a protest near a mosque in Homs on February 3, Syrian security forces stationed on rooftops and at checkpoints opened fire on protesters. A few hours later, they began firing shells and mortars into opposition neighborhoods. The rebel Free Syrian Army is fighting back. Thousands of civilians are caught in the crossfire while hospitals are overwhelmed and medical supplies are quickly dwindling.

The uprising has become increasingly violent, as the government has employed greater and greater levels of violence against their own people. Homs, an industrial city in western Syria, has been both an epicenter of government opposition and the site of the worst government oppression. By All Means Necessary, a Human Rights Watch report released in December 2011, paints a devastating picture of the Syrian government's attempt to hold on to power, repress the protests, and crush the uprising. They document widespread use of killings, arbitrary detention, and torture, including 12 cases of torture of children. Former security members are quoted as being ordered by their officers to beat people and use cattle prods indiscriminately. After months of peaceful protests, the opposition formed the Free Syrian Army, an armed group that was launched in July 2011. Since they began to confront the Syrian government, violence has continued to escalate.

International efforts to intervene have so far been ineffectual. Although images and videos of the government-sponsored violence against civilian men, women, and children are all over the Internet, Western governments have so far only responded with words. In an attempt to calm the situation, the Arab League sent a monitoring force into Syria, but they were unable to stop the bloodshed. Monitors complained that security forces attacked civilians in front of them, and the monitoring force was withdrawn last month.

The United Nations Security Council has been blocked from effective intervention in Syria by Russia and China. Just last week, both countries vetoed a Security Council resolution that called on President Assad to step down over the massive human-rights violations and escalating violence in Homs. Russia has a vested interest in Syria because they have an important naval port there and because Syria is an important arms customer. However, according to an Al Jazeera report on February 12, the Arab foreign ministers announced that they have agreed ask the United Nations for a joint peacekeeping force and a special Arab ambassador to stop the violence in Syria.

Meanwhile, the civilian death toll in Homs mounts and the government shelling continues its ferocity. The United Nations and the Arab League must move forward with effective action to stop the Syrian government's violence against civilians. UUSC is in contact with human-rights groups working on the issue and will maintain a watch on this situation as it continues to develop.

On July 20, the United Nations declared catastrophic famine in two regions of Somalia, Bakool and Lower Shabelle, with 3.2 million people — half of the Somali population — at immediate risk of death from starvation. This is the world's worst food security crisis in the last 20 years; the last major famine was in the Horn of Africa in 1992. Seeking food and medical care, malnourished Somalis are walking into Ethiopia and Kenya at the rate of 3,500 per day, overwhelming existing camps set up for refugees and famine relief. UUSC is consulting with its partners and sister agencies in the region to determine the best course of action.

Much of the Horn of Africa and East Africa have been affected by failing rains and severe drought, which is causing food shortages. The reason the famine is so catastrophic in southern Somalia is that years of conflict and statelessness have stripped away people's ability to withstand shocks to their livelihood. People have lost crops, assets, and security to warring factions. There has been no government to step in and provide assistance when it was still possible to ameliorate the effects of the drought.

Currently 3.2 million people in Somalia require lifesaving assistance; 2.8 million of them are in southern Somalia, which is embroiled in armed conflict. It has been extremely difficult for humanitarian organizations to access the civilians in these areas because of the armed conflict — making an already terrible situation catastrophic. Al-Shabaab, the armed group controlling many of the areas in the south, has announced they will now allow humanitarian groups access to the drought areas, and U.N. agencies and relief organizations are poised to enter if they can be guaranteed safety. Aid agencies have moved in to work in Mogadishu in the areas controlled by the Transitional Federal Government, where large numbers of people internally displaced by drought have already moved.

Meanwhile, as the famine gets worse in Bakool and Lower Shabelle, the rest of southern Somalia and neighboring regions of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Djibouti — more than 11.5 million people — are suffering severe food insecurity. The famine is now expected to spread across all regions of southern Somalia and perhaps beyond to Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya in the next two months.

The growing food crisis in these countries, particularly Ethiopia and Kenya, is exacerbated by the number of famine survivors pouring into drought-affected areas in search of aid. Somali refugees are walking for miles to reach the Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya, which is the largest refugee camp in the world, now hosting 383,000 people (four times the number of people originally planned). It is in an area also suffering the effects of the severe drought. Refugees are also pouring into camps in Ethiopia, all of which are now well over capacity and side by side with host populations that are also suffering food insecurity. The combination of large numbers of famine survivors arriving in overpopulated camps in regions where people are already suffering from severe food shortage and lack of water and medicine is a recipe for disaster.

UUSC is also concerned about the probability that the drought will increase in severity in areas where the organization is working in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Sudan. Partners in these areas have already reported problems with failing rains and food shortages.

Situation in areas where UUSC works

• Kenya: The Kenyan government has declared the ongoing drought a national emergency. The situation is particularly acute in the northern and western part of the country. The Kenya Red Cross Society reports severe water scarcity, death of livestock, increasing malnutrition, and community-level conflict over rapidly declining resources. People are selling assets and leaving their homes as food and fuel prices steadily rise.


• Tanzania: In the northern part of the country, bordering Kenya, the government is distributing food relief to six regions suffering from the drought conditions and facing acute food shortages. The government has banned the sale of food crops outside the region as well as the use of grain for brewing alcohol. There is severe electricity rationing in order to save the water remaining in the country's hydroelectric dams.


• Uganda: Communities in northern Uganda, where torrential rains over the last few years have caused severe disruption to farming and other livelihoods, are now facing drought conditions and failing rains that have led to a shortage of food items and increased food prices.


• Sudan: Predicted decreases in rainfall across the Sahel have raised concerns for ongoing peace efforts in Darfur, where competition for resources has been a driving force behind the conflict.

UUSC's Rights in Humanitarian Crisis team is currently researching the situation and will keep constituents updated.

Sources: OCHA Situation Report No. 5 (21 July 2011) [PDF], Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net), Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU).

UUSC expresses its heartfelt sympathy and solidarity with communities in the southeast United States suffering from a loss of lives, homes, and livelihoods following a series of devastating tornadoes. We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who have died in the storms.

According to officials, as of Friday, April 29, storms and tornadoes ravaging Alabama and neighboring states have killed at least 305 people. President Obama declared a state of emergency in Alabama on Wednesday night, ordering federal aid to kick in for disaster relief.

We add our voice to that of Rev. Peter Morales, the president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, who expressed in a statement on April 28, 2011, a particular concern for those Unitarian Universalist families whose homes have been damaged and destroyed.

The UUA Mid-South District has established the 2011 Severe Storm Fund to assist Unitarian Universalist families and their communities in repairing their lives and properties in the wake of the storms. UUSC encourages concerned individuals to support this fund.

UUSC expresses utmost solidarity and sympathy with the people of Japan as they face the triple disaster of an earthquake, a tsunami, and the risk of nuclear meltdowns in four plants. The devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit four prefectures (districts) in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, caused a severe tsunami and has seriously endangered nuclear plants in the area. While Japan's disaster-relief capacity is strong, UUSC is joining with the Unitarian Universalist Association to respond to this humanitarian crisis through the new UUA-UUSC Japan Relief Fund.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has destroyed villages, towns, ports, and infrastructure. Over 2 million people in the north have no electricity in freezing temperatures, more than 1.4 million have no water, and thousands are homeless. Authorities are predicting a death toll of over 10,000, according to the Reuters news agency. The damage to communication and roads is so severe that the government has not been able to get to all affected areas. Japan has been a world leader in infrastructure and training to reduce risk in disasters, but in this case, the combined severity of the earthquake and speed of the tsunami has proven lethal.

The status of the third threat in this disaster — nuclear meltdown — is still unclear. Japan relies heavily on nuclear energy. According to the Associated Press (AP), the country derives 34 percent of their electricity from their 55 nuclear power plants. Four power plants seem to be affected by the earthquake, Fukushimi Daini, Fukushimi Daiichi, Onagawa, and Takai Dai-Ni. Staff people in these plants are all trying to cool down the nuclear reactors to prevent meltdowns. The AP reports that there have been two explosions at Fukushimi Daiichi, one on Saturday, March 12, and one on Sunday, March 13. Both occurred as part of the cooling process, which includes letting seawater in to control the temperatures of the nuclear reactors' cores and avoid complete meltdowns.

The Japanese government insists that radiation has not reached dangerous levels, but there are conflicting reports of how much radiation has actually escaped. The Japanese government is obviously trying to avoid major panic. Unlike Chernobyl, the Japanese plants have containment shells around them, and according to the AP article, "The nuclear safety agency rates Japan currently as a 4 on the 1 to 7 International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, less serious than Three Mile Island, a 5, and Chernobyl at 7." The Japanese government has evacuated more than 480,000 people and tested over 1,600 people for radiation.

The United States has sent ships and warplanes for the rescue effort, but they have moved farther offshore because they are concerned about dangerous levels of radiation. Terrible as the earthquake and tsunami are, the dangers of a nuclear meltdown are even greater; scientists and technicians in the nuclear plants are working around the clock to prevent that. Japan's deployment of their disaster-response infrastructure has been impressive by any measurement, but especially so in this triple-threat situation. For ongoing information about the evolving situation, visit allthingsnuclear.org from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Unitarian Universalists have long maintained close ties with progressive Japanese religious groups, often under the banner of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) but independently as well. There is, for example, a Universalist Church made up of Japanese members in Tokyo. Progressive Buddhist and Shinto groups have often hosted visiting American Unitarian Universalists and worked closely on projects with the UUA and individual UU congregations. These historic ties make our concern for Japan especially acute. The UUA's long-term partners in Japan — which include Rissho Kosei-kai, Tsubaki Grand Shrine, the Konko Church of Izuo, the Tokyo Dojin Church, and the Japan Chapter of the IARF — are all discerning the specific efforts they will be taking to support recovery work.

UUSC is pleased to join with the UUA in responding to the disaster through the new UUA-UUSC Japan Relief Fund. The UUA and UUSC will walk with partners on the ground in Japan in the directions that are ultimately chosen and will make all appropriate decisions about the distribution of the funds. Visit the UUA's website for more information and donate to the UUA-UUSC Japan Relief Fund now.

UUSC continues to support its partners on the ground in Egypt as they begin the hard work of transitioning their country into a free and open democracy. We stand in solidarity with the Egyptian people as they continue their struggle in this new phase. The task of unseating Hosni Mubarak was a major accomplishment and should be celebrated.

While this first key task has been accomplished, a long road lies ahead for the people of Egypt. The Supreme Council of Armed Forces met some of the protestors' demands on Sunday, dissolving the parliament established by Mubarak, suspending the constitution and drafting a new one for a popular referendum, and announcing that elections will be held within six months. In the meantime, they announced that the country will be run by the military on a provisional basis. The military has not yet lifted emergency rule, which the protestors also demanded. Major challenges for the protestors include holding the military leadership accountable and ensuring that a transition to a civilian-led government is completed as quickly as possible. This is a complex process made even more complicated by the fact that many of the men on the Council were handpicked by Mubarak himself.

The anti-Mubarak activists must now begin coordinating a strategy for the next steps, including a clear transition plan. The protests were largely organized by young activists who used Internet and social-media tools to spark the movement and grew to include all interested parties, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, human-rights activists, and civil-society groups. Currently, there is no general agreement on how to proceed; some people are calling for further protests to keep the military accountable, while others are calling for the creation of a list of demands for negotiations with the military-run government. It is critical that these disparate groups find an effective way to work together to determine the path forward.

While we celebrate the amazing success of the Egyptian people in peacefully ousting Mubarak and setting a precedent for the possibility of real democratic change in the Middle East and North Africa, we are aware that the road ahead is complicated and challenging. UUSC continues to monitor the situation and work with our partner the Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance to determine the best way to support their struggle for positive change in Egypt. UUSC thanks all of our members who took action in solidarity with the Egyptian people.

UUSC stands in solidarity with the people of Egypt in their peaceful struggle for a fair, democratic government. The Egyptian people deserve justice, participatory government, and their full measure of human rights. They are demonstrating to the world their commitment to those ideals by raising their voices and taking to the streets in nonviolent, peaceful protest in the face of government repression. UUSC deplores the violence by members of the police and security forces against the protesters. We are greatly encouraged by the Egyptian Army's announcement on Monday, January 31, that they will not use force against people participating in the protests. We hope that the security forces will continue to desist from armed action against an unarmed population. We encourage a peaceful transition to a government that responds to the needs and respects the rights of the Egyptian people.

The following statement was issued on Sunday, January 9, 2011, by William F. Schulz, president and CEO of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, an international human-rights organization based in Cambridge, Mass.

UUSC mourns the loss of life in the mass shooting in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, January 8, 2011. Democracy depends upon the willingness of all parties to settle their political disagreements peacefully. If it turns out that this shooting was politically motivated, as appears now to be the case, then it is an assault not just upon individuals but democracy itself. In any case, it has resulted in the deaths and injuries of many people whose only "crime" was their willingness to participate in a conversation with their elected representative. Unitarian Universalists are, sadly, only too well acquainted with such violence, given the shootings in the Unitarian Universalist congregation in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2008.

Whatever details of this tragedy emerge in the days ahead, UUSC extends its embrace to all those people and their families affected by it. As an organization, we are dedicated to building a world in which peace and justice flourish. Events such as those on Saturday remind us both of how far all of us have to go in realizing that vision but also of how important it is to never stop striving for it.  Our very lives and the lives of those we love depend upon our success.  

Read a blog written by Shelley Moskowitz, UUSC's public policy representative in Washington, DC. 

UUSC expresses concern about the killing of Carlo "Caloy" Rodriguez, president of the workers' union of the Calamba Water District in the Philippines who was shot dead while on his way home by unidentified men on motorcycle on November 12, 2010.

According to a statement released by UUSC's ally Water for the Peoples Network and UUSC's partner Asia Pacific Research Network denouncing the killing, 41-year-old Rodriguez has been a strong supporter of the nationwide campaign against water privatization in the Philippines and has led efforts to correct the gross inequity in water access in the region.

UUSC expresses heartfelt condolences to the family of Rodriguez, the members of the worker's union of the Calamba Water District, and the members of the Water for the People Network for the loss of such a strong supporter of social justice and committed water-rights activist.

While the circumstances surrounding Rodriguez's death are not clear at the time of this statement, UUSC is concerned about his killing and calls on the government of the Philippines to carry out an impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death — especially since Rodriguez is the third anti-water-privatization activist to be killed in the Philippines. A similar incident occurred in 2006 when Noel Noli Capulong, spokesperson of the Southern Tagalog Environmental Action Movement, was shot dead in Calamba City by motorcycle-riding assailants.

Ed.’s note: Compelled by the increasingly worsening conditions in Pakistan, UUSC and the Unitarian Universalist Association launched on August 24 an appeal for flood relief. Donations to the fund can be made through our online donation form. Please see “UUSC, UUA Launch Pakistan Flood Relief Fund” for more information. 

The massive flooding in Pakistan is worsening. The estimated number of affected people has jumped from 3 to 14 million in the past week as the rains continue and the floodwaters grow. As many as 6,000 villages have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of square miles are now under water. An accurate count of lives lost is currently impossible. More monsoon rains are expected, and new flood warnings have been issued for Sindh and Punjab provinces.

The increased scale of the disaster has severely complicated the global humanitarian response. More and more areas are inaccessible to aid, including whole areas in northern Pakistan. Nearly two million people need emergency shelter, and millions more need food, water, and basic health services. The current aid response is insufficient to meet the vast needs of the survivors, of whom nearly half are children.

Two of UUSC's partners are responding to the crisis in Pakistan, and UUSC encourages concerned donors to direct their support to these organizations:

• Bedari was a key UUSC partner organization in the aftermath of the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. A Bedari team has assessed flooded areas in the Nowshera, Charsadda, Mianwali, and Rajanpur districts. They have found that many women and young girls have lost their families and have no one to accompany them and help them obtain relief. Women from these regions are normally restricted to their homes and, in the confusion of the crisis, they are at risk of being overlooked, neglected, and exploited.
  
  In response, Bedari is establishing a support center in Nowshera for unaccompanied women and other vulnerable survivors. The center will be a safe place for women to access food, water, and counseling as well as to speak with other women and find out where they can go to get additional, critical relief. Running this center requires approximately $800 per month.

• Barakat is a UUSC partner that works to increase access to quality education in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. With UUSC's support, Barakat trains teachers in Afghanistan on human rights and helps teachers introduce these topics in the classroom. In Pakistan, Barakat works with refugee families from Afghanistan, ensuring that they can go to school (see Boston Globe article "In Pakistan, bringing education to Afghan refugees"). Barakat's home-base in Pakistan is the town of Attock in Punjab, a town of refugees.
  
  The refugee families of Attock are now taking in other Afghan refugees whose residences were destroyed in the flooding. Nearly 600 refugees have been newly displaced to Attock. Already marginalized as refugees, they are at risk of being overlooked now in the relief operation. Barakat will support these survivors with food, water, cooking supplies, medical care, shelter, and other immediate needs. The estimate cost of this support is approximately $10,000 per month.

Please consider supporting Bedari and Barakat in their efforts to ensure that women and refugees in Pakistan can access the immediate relief they need. The situation in Pakistan is dire and worsening. Your support can make a big difference.

To donate to Bedari, visit their website for more information.

To donate to Barakat, visit their website.

Ed.’s note: Compelled by the increasingly worsening conditions in Pakistan, UUSC and the Unitarian Universalist Association launched on August 24 an appeal for flood relief. Donations to the fund can be made through our online donation form. Please see “UUSC, UUA Launch Pakistan Flood Relief Fund” for more information.

UUSC is gravely concerned about the massive flooding in Pakistan — the worst that the nation has seen in 80 years — and saddened by the loss of life. At least 1,500 people have died, 500,000 more are displaced, and up to 3 million are affected by the damage. Thousands of homes have been destroyed. In some areas, floodwaters have reached up to 18 feet, sweeping away buildings, livestock, highways, and bridges. The Indus, Chenab, and numerous smaller rivers have breached their banks in several provinces, while Sindh province braces for disaster as the monsoon rains and floodwaters move south. (See map here.)

Although the situation remains imperiled, relief operations have been proceeding with some effectiveness. The government-led operation continues to rescue and evacuate people, while the delivery of humanitarian aid by the United Nations, nearby countries, and several international nongovernmental organizations is becoming better organized.

Because the national and international relief efforts have largely been robust, UUSC has decided, after careful deliberation, not to launch a relief fund to aid Pakistan flood recovery at this time.

Loyal supporters of UUSC know that we have former partners in the region, people and organizations with whom we collaborated in the aftermath of the 2005 South Asia earthquake. UUSC staff members are working to contact them to learn about their experiences with the floods. Should we gather information that compels us to revisit this decision, we will let our generous supporters know as soon as possible.

For now, UUSC constituents who wish to donate to help Pakistan flood recovery might consider giving to like-minded organizations such as ActionAid USA.