MatchIt! Sapan News needs your help to meet the NewsMatch goal - just 10 days left!
Sapan News needs to raise $15,000 by year-end that NewsMatch will match dollar-for-dollar - raised $9K so far. Plus, 28 new donors needed to reach 100, which means a $1,000 bonus. Who's in? Read on
Greetings friends!
In times that can feel dark and dismal, we bring you some good news and exciting updates.
Have you met Sapan News? A unique media outlet that aims to cover and connect Southasia, the Indian Ocean and diaspora. That goes behind the headlines, connects communities, academics, activists, and more. Creating space for understanding, empathy and nuance.
In mid-November, Sapan News qualified for NewsMatch, a philanthropic fund helping nonprofit newsrooms like ours in the U.S. This means that contributions to Sapan News during the campaign period which ends 31 December 2023, will get matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $15,000.
We appreciate you, the community that has stepped up to meet this challenge. Supporters like you have contributed over $9,000 so far. Thank you!
For those wanting to chip in, here’s the donate link to make tax-deductible contributions to Sapan News: https://sapan-news-network.fundjournalism.org/donate/. Please donate, please share!
Sapan News gained 72 new donors over the past weeks. We need 28 more to reach 100, which will secure us a $1,000 bonus from NewsMatch. No amount is too small.
Plus NewsMatch will match monthly donations initiated this month x12 -- so a $10/month donation multiples to $120 in 2023, besides whatever months it continues in the coming year.
Thank you for your support. It means so much - and together, we are stronger.
Collaborations: Hello, Central Desi!
Sapan News is proud to partner with Central Desi, a dynamic news portal that started as a newsletter to cover all things ‘desi’ (Southasian) in New Jersey. Kudos to journalist Ambreen Ali for growing her passion project into a news org that has won a major grant, enabling them to hire reporting fellows. Sapan News has much to learn from this, and are thrilled to present our first collaboration with Central Desi - a timely, relevant, well-researched piece by reporting fellow Sofia Ahmed:
New Jersey with its large ‘desi’ population sees over 700% rise in anti-Muslim bigotry since Oct. 7.
Despite threats since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 followed by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, community members across religious divides say they feel compelled to speak up
Sapan News syndicated features are available for republication with due credit.
Sapan webinars: Missing the regionalism bus - can we still catch it?
On December 10, Human Rights Day, Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan) held a webinar titled Why SAARC? Challenges and Missed Opportunities, to commemorate and go beyond the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) ‘Charter Day,’ 8 December.
Event host and veteran journalist Kanak Mani Dixit in Nepal shared his journey over the past decades. Sociologist and human geographer Dr. Serena Hussain, Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations at Coventry University, U.K., moderated the discussion, joined by the veteran retired diplomat Tariq Karim in Dhaka, academic and research scholar Dr. Zahid Shahab Ahmed from Pakistan currently in U.A.E, and acclaimed journalist Suhasini Haider in India.
Some key takeaways from the discussion:
Domestication of foreign policy: Shifting attention from cooperative regional efforts towards domestic interests, as some SAARC member states have done, has resulted in conflicts and impeded effective cooperation.
Failure to create a common Southasian identity: By failing to foster a common pan-Southasian identity among its members, SAARC lost the opportunity to improve unity and collaboration across national boundaries.
Potential impacts on the Southasian region: Lack of effective cooperation between Southasian countries and a non-functional SAARC may be a factor in the rise of human security concerns like economic security, food security, health security, environmental security etc in the region.
In essence, Southasia needs SAARC for its progress and development. At Sapan, we believe that fostering collaboration in the region through SAARC is essential to addressing common challenges, seizing shared opportunities and capitalizing mutual advantages.
#SapanForSAARC #TheSapanWay
Former ambassador and parliamentarian Mani Shankar Aiyar was unable to join at the last minute, so we played a clip from an interview I did with him earlier:
The edited 16-minute interview is online at the Southasia Peace YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/@southasiapeace.
Watch the webinar live broadcast on the Sapan YouTube channel. Please take a few seconds to visit it - we need your likes and shares!
See the Sapan Resolution Urging Governments In Southasia To Work Towards Convening An Official Saarc Summit At The Earliest, and endorse it if you agree.
Have you endorsed the Sapan Founding Charter?
Over 60 organisations and hundreds of individuals support our work. The Founding Charter is online in several languages. You are welcome to endorse it if your name is not on the list.
What else can you do? Get involved!
Share the flyer below with your circles. You can even leave copies with your local establishments like hairdresser, dentist, grocer as some supporters have done.
We have been doing this work voluntarily since 2021, and we need your help to keep going.
If you like what we do, please consider making a one-time or regular monthly donation. All contributions are tax-free, thanks to our fiscal sponsor Tasveer.org, a 501c3 registered organisation in Seattle WA.
Thank you for your support and for reading the Sapan Alliance newsletter.
All best for the coming holiday season, as we keep those who are suffering close to our hearts.
Solidarity and peace
beena sarwar