Obviously, the list is not comprehensive. Among better-known groups, I admire the work of Care with women in Afghanistan - www.Care.org - and of Women for Women International - www.womenforwomen.org - which permits donors to sponsor an Afghan woman. I'm also a great fan of Seeds of Peace - www.seedsofpeace.org - which brings Israeli, Arab, and American Jewish kids together at a Maine summer camp and conducts programs to keep the dialogue going.
The four groups below are less known, and I think they deserve wider notice. I've included websites that detail their work and explain how donations can be made.
The Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP) - www.refugeerights.org. I've gotten many reader inquiries about how to aid Iraqis whose lives are threatened because they worked as translators or staff for the U.S. military or American civilian officials. I have written extensively on this topic, which I - and many U.S. military officers - consider a test of American honor. We have betrayed these Iraqis by promising in 2008 to issue them 25,000 special visas over five years and then delivering fewer than 4,000. The flow has slowed to a trickle, apparently because of new security checks, even though most of these people were already heavily vetted as part of their jobs. The situation is acute now that our troops have left Iraq; radical Shiite militias have pledged to hunt down everyone who worked for the Americans over the last eight years.
IRAP, based in New York City, offers free legal assistance on obtaining those promised visas - both to applicants inside Iraq and to those who have fled to neighboring countries. The legal advice is provided by top U.S. law firms and through projects at U.S. law schools around the country.
