GlobalGiving and the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI) have teamed up to connect individual and corporate donors with tsunami relief and other disaster relief and development efforts through a CIDI-sponsored online giving web site. CIDI is a nonprofit organization incorporated by the US Agency for International Development to coordinate domestic humanitarian response to international crises. See full release...

FEATURED PROJECT: "Safe drinking water in Sri Lanka."  You can provide up to 50 water purification and disinfection systems for immediate tsunami relief as well as long-term rebuilding efforts in Sri Lanka.

Support tsunami relief and reconstuction...

In response to the devastating tsunamis in South and Southeast Asia, GlobalGiving mobilized quickly in cooperation with project sponsors and social entrepreneurs, featuring 23 projects in seven of the affected countries: India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The following are excerpts from relief project coordinators based at the epicenter of the disaster and in desperate need of international support:

THAILAND - Courtesy of CARE

CARE teams are at work in Thailand's hardest hit southern provinces, supplying medicines and distributing first aid kits and other essential items, including oral-rehydration packets and water, rubber gloves, candles, blankets and basic clothing.

Thailand's long western coast is not an area where CARE traditionally has worked, but we are now joining hands with peer agencies to provide immediate aid in Phang Nga, the hardest-hit district, and in Krabi, Ranong, Phuket and Trang.

Our staff are providing locally-procured basic medicines and equipment to the health care workers struggling to cope with the wounded and ill. We and our local partners are distributing first aid kits, oral rehydration salts, water, clothing, candles and bedding directly to disaster victims.

INDONESIA - Courtesy of World Neighbors

Working in partnership with Indonesia Friends of the Earth (WAHLI), emergency supplies were purchased and trucks hired to make the daunting journey to Banda Aceh.

The first convoy of three trucks left Medan December 29 and arrived in Banda Aceh 24 hours later. It was one of the first aid vehicles to reach the devastated town. This rapid response was possible because WAHLI used funds available in Medan to buy supplies.

INDONESIA - Courtesy of Ashoka

Ashoka Fellows Amir Panzuri, Eko Teguh, Idham Ibty, Imam Azis, Muslikhin Kusma, Setyo, and We Es have organized and launched ACEH SEHATI (ONE HEART FOR ACEH) a disaster-relief operation in Indonesia. They developed the plans and the organization literally overnight to deliver a three part solution:

• Immediate local relief for women and children in Indonesia in terms of food, shelter, and clothing;
   
• Interim housing and resettlement solutions;
   
• long-term solutions addressing the permanent impacts to the region, including orphaned children and displaced families.

SRI LANKA - Courtesy of the World Food Programme

After reaching its target yesterday of giving a 15-day supply of food aid to 750,000 people, World Food Programme will begin the next phase of dispatching enough food for a second 15-day period.

In the first phase of distribution, WFP distributed more than 5,000 metric tons of food, using nearly 500 trucks, to feed the three-quarters of a million people needing food aid because of the tsunami. In the next stage of the operation, WFP will dispatch more than 50 trucks a day, seven days a week.

Resources

• Give now to "Aid Packages for Tsunami Survivors in Aceh"
   
• Learn more about "Aid Packages for Tsunami Survivors in Aceh"
   
• See other tsunami relief projects featured on GlobalGiving

When the sea advanced 100-200 meters in the region of Andhra Pradesh, India, hundreds of families lost their belongings and their source of economic livelihood. In the midst of the wreckage, volunteers came together to evacuate those residents still in danger from continued flooding.

The volunteers planned to distribute clothes and food to 630 families from 9 affected villages, and to repair and replace 78 damaged fishing boats and 36 nets. Because of the funds raised by employees and customers of The North Face (TNF) which was then matched by the company, the project, "Restore fishing jobs for 300+ Families" received over $20,000 and completed all of the stated goals.

On January 11th, the state government of Andhra Pradesh withdrew their warning about fishing in the sea. The fishermen who were restless to get back to work, gathered at 4 am, as they would on any day. 120 of them from the villages of Thippalavalsa, Thammayyapalam and Barripeta of Vizianagaram district, marched into the sea in 30 boats that were repaired during the previous two days. Their families eagerly awaited their return with their first catch after what is now being called 'Black Sunday.'

The North Face has partnered with GlobalGiving to give back to the communities where their athletes explore. In 2004, GlobalGiving teamed up with The North Face on three international expeditions, enabling the company to give back to the communities where their athletes explore. For every 1000 ft. The North Face Athletes climbed, $100 was donated to a local program. The North Face also matched all donations made by employees and customers to tsunami relief projects. In 2005 this partnership will expand to include six new expeditions to Russia, Nepal, Mexico, Baffin Island, and Pitcairn Island. The company will again donate to locally-run projects and customers of The North Face stores will be able to give tax-deductible donations to the same projects the company supports.

Resources

• See other tsunami-related projects
   
• See North Face 2004 expedition projects
   

On Friday, January 21 GlobalGiving will open rating for the 2005 Marketplace - a bold new experiment in international giving. The rating will identify 15 social entrepreneurs who will compete for $100,000 in funding.

Anyone can participate beginning this Friday and running through January 27 at Midnight EST.

Come to www.globalgiving.com/gpf.html and rate Marketplace nominees on a 1 to 10 scale. With each rating, participants will be able to see how their opinion compares with that of the larger GlobalGiving community. After a week of voting, GlobalGiving will choose 15 finalists to participate in a physical marketplace competition to be held at the Global Philanthropy Forum's Borderless Giving Conference on March 3, 2004.

The 2005 Marketplace is a key part of GlobalGiving's longer term goal of maximizing the number of people involved in international aid, while refining the decision making process used to allocate grants.

Resources

• Read more about the 2005 Marketplace
   
• Read more about the Global Philanthropy Forum