The European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics (EPPSP) is a cross party platform of Members of the European Parliament that gives voice to the secularist movement in Europe.

The National Secular Society, based in London, works in the United Kingdom and Europe for the separation of religion and state and promotes secularism as the best means to create a society in all which people of all religions or none can live together fairly and cohesively.

Read the 2005 report by the United Nations Millennium Project about reducing gender inequality through education.

Read a August 23, 2012, story on the World Food Programme website about how the organization’s programs to improve maternal health have changed one community.

Read an August 2012 research report about the effects of religion on the spread of AIDS in Africa.

Read a Jan. 6, 2011, article in Bloomberg Businessweek about Kiva, a microlending non-profit, and how microfinancing can help women around the globe.

The Institute of Halal Investing in Portland, Ore., can provide an Islamic perspective on microfinance and development assistance. It is associated with Rubicon Global, a halal financial advisory firm.

Donn Moyer is the special communication project manager at Washington Department of Labor & Industries. He can discuss the department’s 2013 report on Washington’s Death With Dignity Act; the report tracked the number of individuals who made use of the law and how many doctors and pharmacists assisted them.

The Death With Dignity National Center says that “(t)he greatest human freedom is to live, and die, according to one’s own desires and beliefs.” The center is based in Portland, Ore. For inquiries, contact Peter Korchnak at the number below.