I am happy to announce that the very first “Friend” in the MySpace world is none other than Grassroots International, a human rights and international development organization that supports community-led sustainable development projects.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, TerraCurve.com officially has a MySpace account. But more importantly, I am happy to announce that the very first “Friend” in the MySpace world is none other than Grassroots International, a human rights and international development organization that supports community-led sustainable development projects.

Grassroots International works to create a just and sustainable world by building alliances with progressive movements; providing grants to our Global South partners and join them in advocating for social change. Our primary focus is on land, water and food as human rights and nourishing the political struggle necessary to achieve these rights.

Since 1983, Boston, MA-based Grassroots International has worked in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, concentrating their efforts in areas where U.S. foreign policy has been an obstacle to positive change and where creative grassroots movements build local solutions to global problems.

Grants
Grassroots’ grant-making program is designed to provide critical support to the most vital and effective social movements in the global South, particularly rural movements that are struggling for the right to food, land and water. They provide financial support both to the movements themselves and to the organizations and institutions that help them do their work. They have adopted a strategy of multi-layered funding that it is both horizontally broad—funding movements and organizations that are part of networks or coalitions—and vertically deep —supporting many different aspects of the work of each of those movements and organizations, from the very local to the national and international levels.

The grants typically fall into three categories: sustainable livelihood grants, which provide “seeds and tools” and other basics necessary for dignified livelihoods and community-led development projects; movement building grants, which nurture leadership (especially among women and youth) and help our partners organize, advocate and communicate with their constituents, their governments and the world at large; and grants for defending human rights, to protect the civil and political rights of activists and providing legal aid during the inevitable clashes with power that activists everywhere must endure.

Education
Grassroots International creates education tools and training materials to raise awareness and generate critical social analysis. Overseas, their partners tell stories and use popular education techniques to educate and mobilize their constituencies. In the U.S., Grassroots’ education programming seeks to advance debate on pressing global issues, including the impacts of U.S. foreign policy and aid.

Advocacy
As a U.S.-based social justice organization, Grassroots’ mission is to influence U.S. citizens and policy negotiators who have the power to create policies that uphold basic human rights.  Grassroots is working closely with member organizations of La Via Campesina—a global network representing over 100 million small producers, including the U.S.-based National Family Farm Coalition, to build a movement for food sovereignty and global justice.

Grassroots also advocates:

• Protect the human rights of activists who are struggling to build a more just world
• Promote bio-diversity and ecologically sound agricultural practices, including seed sovereignty
• Defend the land and water rights of peasants, small farmers, women and indigenous people
• Ensure that philanthropists can safely contribute to progressive, community-led development without onerous restrictions

For more information, visit www.grassrootsonline.org.