I would like to thank you for your continuous interest and support to the Earth Charter Initiative. This has been a great year of enormous work, dedication and celebration of the 10th anniversary since the launch of the Earth Charter. Much has been accomplished, and much more remains to be done as the world continuous to be in urgent need to incorporate the strong vision of sustainability embedded in the Earth Charter in its modus operandi.
I am writing to ask you to consider supporting the work of the Earth Charter International Secretariat with a special financial contribution.
The ECI Secretariat, based in Costa Rica, works towards the implementation of the mission, vision and strategies of the Earth Charter Initiative. The Secretariat guides and liaises with efforts worldwide to bring the Earth Charter to the fields of education, youth, business and religion; manages communications with the larger Earth Charter network; and promotes the use of the Earth Charter as an international soft law document. The Secretariat comprises of a small, dedicated team working on a tight budget whose main purpose is to catalyze and serve an ever-growing network of individuals and organizations inspired by and working with, the Earth Charter. We urgently need your help in raising the necessary funds to cover our operating costs for 2011.
Over the past 10 years, our financial annual needs have been met mainly from grants of interested and supportive individuals. We are currently preparing our 2010 annual report. While it is being finalized, you can have an idea of our work and budget by looking at our 2009 report (click here to see it). It might be of your interest to note that the Secretariat’s financial accounts are audited and publicly available through our annual report.
This year we collaborated on a special Education for Sustainable Development Journal, in print by SAGE Publications that collects a series of good practices using the Earth Charter as an educational instrument. We also worked on the development of educational resources for all levels and their availability in many languages. We have also continued in offering a very successful, short online course on ethics, leadership and sustainability, directed to young people worldwide. In addition, we have identified three critical tasks for our way forward, to be undertaken in collaboration with many others:
a) To accelerate our transition to sustainable ways of living by engaging many more individuals,
organizations, policy makers in using the Earth Charter as a guide, framework and resource.
b) To strengthen regional and local Earth Charter networks through online gatherings.
c) To offer training and educational resources to youth, educators and leaders in the private sector.
In order for that to happen, we need to expand the funding base for core operations, by shifting from reliance on a few major donors to securing financial support from the thousands of Earth Charter supporters and endorsers. We need all Earth Charter supporters to contribute financially (and through other forms of resource mobilization).
Please consider a gift of $50, $100, $500, $1,000 or more. We will appreciate your support of whatever amount you can afford. As an alternative, you can pledge to contribute $20 or $50 a month for the next year. We also invite you to reach out with this special request to your friends, networks, or organizations.
You can make your contribution through:
1) your credit card via our secure donation service. Click here for the link.
Or
2) bank / wire transfer to the following bank account
Name of Bank: Banco Nacional de Costa Rica
Address of Bank: Avenida Central, Calle 4 y 6, San José, Costa Rica
Swift Code: BNCRCRSJ
Account Name: University for Peace/Earth Charter
Account Number: 100-02-099-600115-2
As the Earth Charter states “We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. ..We urgently need a shared vision of basic values to provide an ethical foundation for the emerging world community”.
Please help us build an enduring support for ECI and demonstrate the power of this integrated ethical vision for creating a just sustainable and peaceful future based on respect and care for the community of life.
