UNITED SIKHS Needs Your Help to Serve

Do you know where your donation is going? At UNITED SIKHS you can rest assured you fund human rights and needs globally.

UNITED SIKHS takes up Civil Rights cases and many such issues in response to calls and letters from Sikhs and minorities around the world. Our work is expanding and we need your help to fund it. Your dasvand will help us carry out our advocacy, humanitarian relief and human development projects.

Many unjust incidents take place everyday around the world, and cannot be addressed without the help of generous community members like you.

With only 10% in operating costs, UNITED SIKHS devotes 90% of all donations toward raising a voice against hate crimes, providing humanitarian aid to those affected by disasters, advocating for every Sikh’s right to Kakkars, educating the larger community about who Sikhs are, and using the expertise and inter-disciplinary skills of a large base of volunteers internationally.

We are the only Global Sikh organization with chapters in 10 countries serving Sikhs and minorities all over the world. We are your foot soldiers and we need your donation to support projects globally.

UNITED SIKHS projects include work on International Civil and Human Rights Advocacy (ICHRA), Sikh Aid (Humanitarian Relief), and Empowerment-Education. A few examples of ongoing projects at UNITED SIKHS that would benefit from your generous donations include:

Advocating for Right to Turbans and Right to Kakkars:

• The Sikh identity is frequently targeted due to the turban and beard, and Sikhs become targets for bullying and/or physical violence. UNITED SIKHS takes up cases of hate crimes or discrimination across the world, providing legal counsel.
• Countries like France and Belgium have banned ostensible religious symbols in school and photo identification documents, affecting thousands of Sikhs who call these countries home. UNITED SIKHS is fighting for the basic right of young Sikh students to get an education while maintaining their religious right to wear Dastaars.
• UNITED SIKHS is working with law enforcement officials in several countries to allow Sikhs to wear their Kirpans in public places, and making air travel easier.
• Employment discrimination on the basis of turban or beards forms an important part of UNITED SIKHS’ legal team’s work.

Humanitarian Aid to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Pakistan:

• The insurgency in Pakistan has led to over a million people in Pakistan being displaced from their homes and livelihoods. UNITED SIKHS works with the United Nations and other non-profit organizations in Pakistan to provide humanitarian aid to Sikhs and others. Food and medical supplies are urgently needed!

Empowerment-Education:

• UNITED SIKHS offers scholarships to village children, along with an education program for Sikhi in colleges.
• Educare community centers in Richmond Hill, NY, Carteret, NJ and London, UK provide a variety of empowerment and education services to Sikh communities, including homework help from teachers.
• UNITED SIKHS offers competitive internship positions to introduce young professionals to the world of civil and human rights advocacy, and the Sikh way of life.

UNITED SIKHS participation at the United Nations is not possible without support from community members like you!

As a UN affiliated organization, UNITED SIKHS participates at a global level, and has represented the human and civil rights of the Sikh community and other minorities at meetings and events at the UN. UNITED SIKHS is a member of various NGO sub-committees, and works directly with the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

• UNITED SIKHS has made several presentations in international conferences, including the presentation on nuclear disarmament between India and Pakistan, and the effect on the Sikh community. UNITED SIKHS also participated in several inter-faith events to address climate change.
• The 2008 Global Sikh Civil Rights Report was submitted to the High Commissioner on Human Rights and Special Rapporteurs
• Special Report Submitted to Special Rapporteurs on Racism, Xenophobia; Religious Freedom; and Education
• UNITED SIKHS filed the Right to Turban cases against France in the United Nations to Defend the Right to Education and Right to Dignity and Freedom of Religion

We are 10 this year. But there is no time to celebrate. Not until we secure Sikh rights globally. We appeal to the Sikh nation to fund us so we may serve a Sikh anywhere in the world through our 10 chapters. All donations to UNITED SIKHS are tax-deductible in the United States, and UK donors can make a Gift Aid declaration which increases their donation by up to 28%.

For a previous press release, please visit: https://unitedsikhs.org/say-yes-so-we-dont-have-to-say-no/

Issued by:
Kuldip Singh
Director
UNITED SIKHS
Email: act@unitedsikhs.org