NON-GOVERNMENTAL

ORGANIZATIONS
(N.G.OS)

Red Cross / Red Crescent;

The Canadian Red Cross Society is part of the largest humanitarian
network in the world, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Movement. The Canadian Red Cross mission is to improve the lives of
vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity in Canada and
around the world. The creation of the Red Cross was spurred by the
publication of Un Souvenir de Solfrino (1862), an account by Jean
Henri Dunant of the suffering endured by the wounded at the battle
of Solferino in 1859. They operate over 300 branches, with almost
20,000 volunteers coast to coast. The Canadian red cross has been the
worlds leading trainer in first aid for over 50 years. They offer a wide
variety of courses that meet the needs of the public, workplaces, schools
and organizations. These include First Aid at Home, Corporate &
Workplace First Aid, Swimming & Water Safety and Violence, Bullying
& Abuse Prevention.
Doctors Without Borders;

Doctors without borders is an organization that helps people

worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid
to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from
health care. Founded in 1991, Doctors Without Borders / Mdecins Sans
Frontires Canada (MSF) is an independent international charity that
delivers medical relief in 70 countries. MSF provides medical aid to
people following natural disasters, manmade disasters and violent armed
conflicts. MSF's charter states that it helps people regardless of race,
religion or political views. Doctors Without Borders' primary activities
include vaccination campaigns, training and supervising medical
personnel, improving water and sanitation infrastructure, distributing
drugs and medical supplies, and direct patient car
Green Peace;

Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organization

that acts to change attitudes and behavior, to protect and conserve the
environment and to promote peace. Founded in Vancouver in 1971, it
was discovered when a small boat of volunteers and journalists sailed
into Amchitka, an area north of Alaska where the US Government was
conducting underground nuclear tests. Greenpeace today operates in
more than 40 countries with Greenpeace Canada headquartered in
Toronto. They have more than 90,000 supporters in Canada and 2.9
million members worldwide. They exist to expose environmental
criminals, and to challenge government and corporations when they fail
to live up to their mandate to safeguard our environment and our future.
YWCA/YMCA;

The YMCA is one of Canadas longest standing and largest

charities, with a presence in Canada since 1851 and serves more than 2.1
million people annually across 1,700 program locations The YMCA in
Canada is dedicated to the growth of all persons in spirit, mind and body,
and to their sense of responsibility to each other and the global
community. The YMCA story began in London, England over 170 years
ago with one man who had an idea about how to make his community
stronger. The programs they offer include Health and Fitness, Aquatics,
Child Care, Camps, Employment Services, Youth Engagement,
Education & Training, Community Initiatives, Global Initiatives and
Financial Assistance.
Citizens for Local Democracy (C4LD);

Citizens for Local Democracy (C4LD) was a non-partisan, citizen action

group that was founded December 16, 1996 to oppose provincially-
imposed municipal amalgamation on seven Toronto-area municipalities.
C4LD was also involved in a wide range of other issues, notably
provincial initiatives to radically restructure the education and health
systems of Ontario.

CAVEAT (Canadians Against Violence);

CAVEAT is a grass-roots charitable organization serving as a non-
partisan voice for all Canadians, working together for safety, peace, and
justice. CAVEAT was incorporated as a not-for-profit charitable
organization in June 1992 and received its charitable designation in
October 1992. The organization is governed by a volunteer board, of
which Priscilla de Villiers is President. Professional staff and numerous
volunteers manage the company and coordinate its various programs.

Goodwill Industries;

Goodwill Industries, a non-profit social enterprise, that provides work

opportunities, skills development and employee and family
strengthening for those who face barriers such as disability or social
disadvantage; with the aim of advancing individuals, families and
communities toward self-sufficiency and prosperity. They work on
several enterprise platforms such as donated goods, thrift retail,
recycling, logistics, food and hospitality, commercial services and light
manufacturing. Goodwill was founded in 1902 in Boston by Rev. Edgar
J. Helms, a Methodist minister and early social innovator. Determined to
help poor immigrants, Rev. Helms implemented his innovative idea of
collecting used household goods and clothing in wealthier areas of the
city, then training and hiring those who were poor or disabled to mend
and repair the used goods. The goods were then resold or were given to
the people who repaired them. Dr. Helms vision set the course for what
today has become a $5.4 billion non-profit, charitable organization.
Goodwill Industries International is a network of 164 community-based
agencies in the United States and Canada with affiliates in 13 other
countries.

Street Kids International;

Founded in 1988, Street Kids International (SKI), based in Toronto and

London, England, strives to help street youth worldwide develop
business skills and health knowledge to better their lives. SKI teams
with youth workers at youth organizations around the world to develop
locally relevant trainings that engage youth about entrepreneurship,
sexual health, and drug use. SKI was founded on the belief that
regardless of social, economic, or educational background, street kids
can earn a respectable income and become productive members of the
community.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP);
Founded Feb. 12. 1909, the NAACP is the nations oldest, largest and
most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization. Its
more than half-million members and supporters throughout the United
States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their
communities, campaigning for equal opportunity and conducting voter
mobilization. The mission of the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is to ensure the political,
educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to
eliminate race-based discrimination.
Oxfam;
Oxfam Canada is part of a global movement for change made up of 19
Oxfam affiliates working in more than 90 countries to mobilize the
power of people against poverty, Womens rights and overcoming
inequality. Oxfam Canada is an affiliate of the international Oxfam
Confederation, formed in 1995 by 19 independent non-governmental
organizations around the world working together for greater global
impact to reduce poverty and injustice. The name Oxfam comes from
the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief, founded in Britain in 1942 to
campaign for supplies to be sent through an allied naval blockade to
starving women and children in enemy-occupied Greece during World
War II. Millions of people in 97 countries are reached through Oxfams
work around the world. Globally, they raise more than $350 million
annually.
International PEN;

PEN International promotes literature and freedom of expression and is

governed by the PEN Charter and the principles it embodies:
unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all
nations. PEN International is the worlds leading association of writers,
working to promote literature and defend freedom of expression around
the world. PEN was founded by the British poet, playwright and peace
activist C.A. Dawson-Scott, as an international club providing space for
writers to share ideas and as a forum, uniting writers irrespective of their
culture, language or political opinion. Today PEN International connects
an international community of writers from its Secretariat in London,
spanning over 100 countries, with 149 PEN Centers worldwide. The
organization known today as PEN International began in London, UK, in
1921, as simply PEN. Within four years there were 25 PEN Centers in
Europe, and by 1931 there were several Centers in South America as
well as China.

Amnesty International (Video);

In 1961, British lawyer Peter Benenson was outraged when two
Portuguese students were jailed just for raising a toast to freedom. He
wrote an article in The Observer newspaper and launched a campaign
that provoked an incredible response. Reprinted in newspapers across
the world, his call to action sparked the idea that people everywhere can
unite in solidarity for justice and freedom. Amnesty International is a
global movement of more than 7 million people in over 150 countries
and territories who campaign to end abuses of human rights. Their work
protects and empowers people - from abolishing the death penalty to
protecting sexual and reproductive rights, and from
combatting discrimination to defending refugees and migrants rights.