Dear decision makers of the world, let women make their own decisions about their bodies, okay?

A new report from the United Nations says this, just in a lot more words. The UN Special Rapporteur on Health, Anand Grover, informed member states that states should be providing safe and legal abortion for all of their women, and that not doing so is messing with women’s rights.

His views are highly unpopular (surprise, surprise) within the UN. Many officials are going as far as to say Grover was overstepping his mandate as special rapporteur. In case you didn’t know what the heck a special rapporteur does, I’m here to inform you. They are appointed through the United Nations but operate independently to address human rights problems globally. They do research, write reports and make suggestions on how countries can improve their human rights. Read More »

So I know I’m not the only person who feels incredibly guilty after reading stories about abject poverty in other countries. Subsequently, I feel even worse when I put it out of my mind and get back to own, comparatively ridiculously affluent life.

So I’ve compiled a list of really great and easy ways to contribute to some incredibly worthy causes. Bonus: they’re all things you can do easily on your laptop at any time!

Free Rice: This handy little tool not only helps feed the hungry by donating rice to the United Nations World Food Program, it can also improve your vocabulary! Just answer as many vocabulary questions as you wish, and for each one you answer correctly, the advertisers on the page donate 20 grains of rice to the WFP. The questions increase in difficulty for each correct answer, and so does the amount of rice donated. It’s a win-win!

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We always knew Reese Witherspoon was awesome, but now she’s proving it.

Reuters and the United Nations report that Reese is the driving force behind a partnership with Avon in a campaign to end violence and discrimination against women.

High-five, Reese!

To fund the campaign, Avon will soon be selling women’s empowerment bracelets online with all profits going toward the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). Avon has pledged to match the first $500,000 the bracelets make, for a total donation of $1 million. Yowza. In a further move of awesome, the bracelets are actually affordable for most women (at $3 a pop).

Reese is the Avon Global Ambassador, which I think is basically a fancy title meaning that she’s one actress who actually walks the walk of helping people in need around the world. If the rest of Hollywood ripped a page out of Reese’s book, I can only imagine how much money and success charities would have.

As long as I’m on the topic of giving Reese Witherspoon high-fives, I’m going to give her another one for dating Jake Gyllenhaal. Talk about a good move!

Great judgment in ethics and in men: that’s our Reese.

Like most college-aged people, I’m pretty short on cash. I consider it an extravagant treat when I let myself go out for dinner (even if it’s just pizza), and I rarely buy clothes that weren’t bought by somebody else first.

Even though I’m “poor” compared to a lot of Americans, I realize I’m fabulously rich compared to most of the world’s people. So, every once in a while I try to help out others by donating a few dollars to charity.

I don’t donate as much as I should, and I’m working to get better at that. But for those of you who are strapped for cash like I am, two Web sites have made it really easy to donate without reaching for your credit card.

The Hunger Site is part of a group of six Web sites (the Breast Cancer, Child Health, Literacy, Rainforest, and Animal Rescue sites are the others) that rely on sponsor donations to help charities. If you click once daily on the big button on each site, sponsors will donate a small amount for all the causes on your behalf.  Cool, huh? Read More »