Yoga Around the World for the Right to Food, Feb. 24
With just over 1 week left, nearly 300 studios and individuals, as well as several media partners and companies, in over 40 countries, have registered to take part in World Yoga Day 2013 in support of the work of FIAN International, a human rights organization which advocates for the right to food.
Today, 870 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition – meaning their right to adequate food is violated. FIAN envisions a world free from hunger, in which every person fully enjoys human rights in dignity, particularly the right to adequate food.
For over 25 years, FIAN has supported people’s struggles to hold governments accountable to respect, protect and fulfill their right to adequate food to allow them to feed themselves, their families and communities in dignity. On Sunday, February 24, participating yoga schools, studios, teachers and students will take part in a 2-hour donation class, with the proceeds going to fund the work of FIAN International.
“It is very motivating for our work to know that thousands of yoga practitioners around the world will dedicate their practice to the defense of human rights, especially the right to food,” said FIAN Secretary General, Flavio Valente.
The donations from World Yoga Day 2013 will be used to support FIAN International’s work for the promotion and protection of the right to food, like its support of peasants in Bajo Aguan, Honduras, where more than 50 organized peasants and human rights defenders were killed during the last three years; small farmers in Mubende, Uganda, who were evicted to make way for a German company’s coffee plantation; and indigenous people in the village of Kusum Tola, Jharkhand, India whose survival is threatened by open cast coal mining, destroying agricultural lands, forests and water sources.
“Mystic Lotus Crystals is proud to support World Yoga Day 2013 and help make a stand against human rights issues,” said Paul Newton-Adams, co-owner of a yoga studio located in Oxford, UK which is offering a 25% discount to customers for the month of February, with all profits going to support World Yoga Day. “We like to think that if a few people took a lot of action, or a large group of people took a little action against these abuses globally, we could make the world a better place for everyone.”
Those wishing to take part in World Yoga Day 2013 to show their solidarity with those fighting for their right to food can organize or attend a donation-class in any yoga style on 24 February 2013. Students attending the event will donate whatever they can afford.
All contributions are welcome, and donations are not required.
For more information, click here or contact: Marina Litvinsky
To find a class near you To register