Our vision is that while
the human population will long celebrate its distinct traditions; there will also
be greater understanding and appreciation of our many shared principles.
The Art of Living Foundation in association with IAHV has instituted global
service projects to empower and enrich the lives of people everywhere.
The International Association for Human Values (IAHV)
was founded by H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in 1997 in Geneva, to foster, on a global
scale, a deeper understanding of the values that unite us as a human community.
It is an international NGO in special consultative status with the Economic and
Social Council of the United Nations.
The Association works in collaboration
with partners dedicated to similar goals, including governments, educational institutions,
other NGOs, corporations and individuals.
IAHV develops and promotes programs
of personal development to encourage the practice of human values in everyday
life. It also has programs of community education that foster greater awareness
of the shared values among the diverse cultures.
IAHV
in the United StatesThe US
branch of IAHV is a charitable organization involved in numerous
projects here
in North America, and around the world, including: 
- Prison SMART
- Dollar-a-day project
For more detailed
information on IAHV activities, please visit the official
website of the IAHV.
The
5H Program
The aim of this IAHV program is to uplift
individuals and communities so that they become self-reliant: socially and economically.
See a recent newsreport
as an example of a 5H project to provide much needed sanitation facilities to
suffering locals in a small village in India. Health
- Community education & awareness about general health practices through
Health Awareness Camps
- Emphasis is on good health with hygiene, a positive
outlook and healthy living.
- Organizing free Medical Camps - General health,
ENT, Dental, Polio Vaccinations camps & Surgery to the poor
- Mobile
dispensaries to reach out to people in the tribal regions
- Spreading awareness
and dispensing viable alternative medicines like Ayurveda
Hygiene
- Organizing cleanliness campaigns regularly through community participation
to ensure an environment free of solid waste, by creating garbage disposal systems
and biogas plants
- Creating effective drainage systems to ensure hygienic
conditions
- Building of toilet blocks for proper sanitation
- Providing
villagers safe drinking water through bore wells and rainwater harvesting methods
Homes
- Building homes for the homeless through community participation and with
the help of local resources and government schemes
Human
Values
- Conducting the Breath Water Sound Workshop,
a five-day camp for the villagers. Based on yoga, knowledge, meditation and the
aspects of 5H, the camp unites people and helps release stress from their systems
- Bringing the community together through Satsang (collective gathering
for music and celebration)
Harmony
in Diverstiy
- Establishing Panch Parmeshwar Chaupal
- a platform for the villagers to collectively work alongside the local governing
bodies to resolve their disputes and plan for development
- Establishing
Panchavati's - a garden for villagers' recreation and cultural activities
- Gram
Devta - resurrecting the village deity & bringing people of all castes and
religion, together, on a common platform
- Organizing cultural programs that inculcates respect for social & spiritual
values
5H:
Examples of achievements
- Adopted 25000 villages across
25 states in India
- Trained 25710 rural youth in the Youth Leadership Training
Program
- Employed 1350 youth for the implementation of the 5H Program
- Conducted over 75000 Breath Water Sound Workshops benefiting more than
2.3 million people.
- 2003 - 2004: Conducted more than 28350 cleanliness
campaigns
- 12857 medical camps conducted benefiting 4.3 million people
- Planted more than 1.3m trees since the inception of 5H program
- Facilitated
building of 1474 homes, smokeless chullas (indigenous stoves), borewells, soakpits,
drainages, biogas plants etc
- Formed 2000 Self Help Groups with a strong
membership of 35000 villagers
- Developed 50 model villages benefiting 100000
people
Disaster
Relief and Reconstruction IAHV provides programmatic
and emergency relief assistance and support to the affected national societies
in both the short-term effects of disaster as well as the post-trauma stresses
that haunt survivors.
Examples of some of the current and past
activities include the following:
Tsunami
Disaster (From 2004)
Over 440 tonnes of relief materials
(estimated worth US$33 million) collected and distributed so far 
Indonesia: Relief supplies - rice, water, biscuits, clothes etc. with estimated
worth US$15000 - dispatched to Aceh Tamil Nadu: About 4800 people treated
in camps in Nagapattinam and Velankanni. All orphaned children adopted in Srinivasapuram
Sri Lanka: Reached remote areas otherwise inaccessible via roads. Running
camps that are hosting over 5000 potentially orphaned children Courses
to help people overcome post-traumatic stress disorders conducted for over 3500
people South
Russia, Beslan Terror Attack (Sept 2004)
Trauma counseling
for 1,500 children and the Russian militaryIraq
(From 2003)
Continue to care for war victims, workshops for
traumatized children, parents; free medicine Afghanistan
(From 2003)
Caring for war victims (victims of bombs, landmines,
widows, and orphans), Free stress management workshops for traumatized
people and for the helpers of NGOs and for staff members of UN offices
Kosovo Conflict:
(May 2002 onwards)
Provision of food and clothing for the
needy Cleaned areas damaged by strife in conjunction with UN Civil administrators
In cooperation with the ministry of Health, conducted trauma relief courses for
700 people including UN peacekeepers, torture victims, massacre witnesses and
disabled KLA veterans New
York City 9/11 Attack USA (September 2001)
Free Stress relief
programs through the AOL workshop Provision of food for the courageous
NYPD And NYFD personnel Organized 80 free trauma
relief workshops benefiting more than 1000 people Gujarat
Earthquake (Jan 2001)
Provision of food, shelter and other
basic necessities Trauma counseling, several trauma relief camps
Establishment of several temporary schools and 2 permanent schools Adoption
of one village (Nana Dahisara) for its complete rehabilitation
