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Django Burgess plays at a previous Human Rights Day concert at Danbury.

DANBURY Multiple service organizations from Stokes Early College are bonding together to host a fundraiser to assist the victims of the disastrous U.S. exit from Afghanistan and the medical and hunger crises as a result.

The fundraiser, Human Rights Day Concert to Benefit Doctors Without Borders Medical Relief Program, will be an evening of entertainment starting at 6 p.m. this Friday at The Arts Place. Proceeds from the fundraiser will be donated to the Doctors Without Borders medical relief mission for the children and mothers of Afghanistan.

Performers from Stokes County will be singing and playing instruments for your entertainment. Those who have committed thus far are John Hartman and Kay Richey, Aili Harris, Jacob Harbour, Tim Sands, Django Burgess, Gus McGee, Karli Fowlkes and several other students and community members.

Many of the performers have been with us across the years some from the very first performance better than ten years ago at the Danbury Community Church.

This event is made possible by these professional musicians willingness to volunteer their time and efforts for a cause such as this; in the past, we have raised money for Doctors Without Borders campaigns in Syria, Bangladesh, Eastern Europe, Central Africa and Central America. This years focus on Afghanistan is a critical need because of the dire situation there after the rapid withdrawal of U.S. support.

Students from several different service organizations from Stokes Early College High School including the Amnesty International Club and Girl Up are sponsoring this event. Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 10 million people who take injustice personally and campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. It is independent of any political ideology, economic interest or religion. Amnesty International lobbies governments, and other powerful groups such as companies making sure they keep their promises and respect international law and mobilize millions of supporters around the world to campaign for change and to stand in defense of activists on the frontline.

Girl Up is a global movement to advance girls skills, rights, and opportunities to be leaders. Girl Up programming intentionally focuses on equity for girls and women who face systemic discrimination and bias in both public and private spheres worldwide. Its leadership development programs have impacted 95,000 girls through 5,000 Clubs in nearly 130 countries and all 50 states.

Young leaders are the heart of our movement working to advance gender equity, close the gender gap in leadership worldwide, and mobilize their communities to create social change and accelerate opportunities for girls globally.

Human Rights Day is observed every year on Dec. 10. It commemorates the day on which, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights are basic rights and freedoms that all people are entitled to regardless of nationality, sex, national or ethnic origin, race, religion, language, or other status. Human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life, liberty and freedom of expression; and social, cultural and economic rights including the right to participate in culture, the right to food, and the right to work and receive an education. Human rights are protected and upheld by international and national laws and treaties.

The healthcare system in Afghanistan is at risk of collapsing across the whole country, including in Herat. Access to care was a major issue in Afghanistan well before the Taliban takeover, but today the situation has further degraded, as most international aid has been suspended, including the World Bank funding of the World Health Organizations basic and essential care programs covering Herats province. Health facilities in the area are either closing or reduced to providing minimum services with whatever residual resources are available. We have no idea what is going to happen to these facilities. People are jobless and poor, they cannot afford private care, some of the humanitarian organizations previously working in the area are yet to resume their activities in full.

In a nutshell, needs are everywhere and the system is failing. The Doctors Without Borders programs provide medical relief and assistance to those enduring the crises.

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Friday concert to benefit Afghanistan - The Stokes News