Categories: Seniors

The Carter Foundation – What You Should Know

Jimmy Carter made headlines recently when he reportedly made some strong comments about George W. Bush’s foreign policies. To understand what Jimmy Carter stands for, beyond the provocative sound bites that make headlines, one only has to go behind the scenes and look at what he has accomplished since he left office. Here is your brief peek behind the scenes.

Many presidents continue to be active in charities and politics long after they leave office. Former president Jimmy Carter has been among the most active of all former presidents. In 1982, he and Rosalynn Carter founded The Carter foundation, also called the Carter Center, based in Atlanta Georgia, and the center has been going strong ever since.

Jimmy Carter and the Carter foundation aims to advance human rights and improve living conditions all across the globe.

To date, the Carter foundation has helped people in 65 countries by promoting education, by supplying knowledge, physical assistance, and tools to help conquer poverty, by participating in peace talks as neutral, nonpartisan assistants and arbitrators through Carter Center’s conflict resolution program, and by promoting health and eradicating disease.

The Carter center has been working to eradicate diseases such as malaria by, among other things, distributing insecticidal mosquito netting to villages where malaria is prevalent. Jimmy Carter has made frequent trips to Africa for this cause. Guinea worm disease, another terrible common disease in Africa, has nearly been wiped out thanks largely to efforts from the Carter foundation and its volunteers. Malaria and Guinea worm disease are only two of many diseases and conditions that the Carter Center is actively working on.

Volunteers from the Carter Center have monitored, with permission, the election process in several countries, including Mozambique, Venezuela, Peru, and Mexico to see if the elections are fair. The Carter Center advocates democracy and freedom, and therefore promotes free, fair elections.

In the United States, the work of the Carter Center has been invaluable in its work that includes, but is not limited to advocating human rights, combating poverty, and promoting democracy. In addition, the annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health promotes advances in research and the rights of those suffering from mental illnesses. In recent years, The Carter Center received the American Psychiatric Association’s Distinguished Service Award honoring their efforts to help the plight of the mentally ill.

Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter, and the Carter Center have worked for, and produced, positive change

Around the world for many years. Their mission is complex and yet is guided by simple principles, which they list on their website:

“The Center emphasizes action and results. Based on careful research and analysis, it is prepared to take timely action on important and pressing issues.

The Center does not duplicate the effective efforts of others.

The Center addresses difficult problems and recognizes the possibility of failure as an acceptable risk.

The Center is nonpartisan and acts as a neutral in dispute resolution activities.

The Center believes that people can improve their lives when provided with the necessary skills, knowledge, and access to resources.

The Carter Center collaborates with other organizations, public or private, in carrying out its mission. ”

http://www.cartercenter.org/