On April 19, 2012, Equality Now will celebrate its 20th Anniversary. Meryl Streep has been a supporter for years, speaking at various of their events and raising public interest in the organization. So far it hasn’t been announced if Meryl will be part of the anniversary, although their website lists her as a Honorary co-chair, alongside Jane Fonda, Gloria Steinem and Joss Whedon.

Founded in 1992, Equality Now is an organization that advocates for the human rights of women and girls around the world by raising international visibility of individual cases of abuse, mobilizing public support through our global membership, and wielding strategic political pressure to ensure that governments enact or enforce laws and policies that uphold the rights of women and girls. With offices in New York, Nairobi and London, our areas of focus include Discrimination in Law, Sexual Violence, Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and Trafficking. Combining grassroots activism with international, regional and national legal advocacy, they envision a world in which women and men have equal rights under the law and full enjoyment of those rights.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Meryl Streep paid tribute to Viola Davis this week, contributing $20,000 to two Rhode Island charities connected to “The Help” star. The donations came after Streep bested Davis in the race for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in “The Iron Lady.” The Oscar winner wrote a check for $10,000 to Upward Bound to honor Davis, the program’s director Mariam Z. Boyajian confirmed to TheWrap. Boyajian said it was the largest donation in the organization’s history. “I was writing to her when you called,” Boyajian told TheWrap. “I wanted to give her a chance to settle down from the hectic weekend before I gave her the good news.” Streep followed up that donation with a separate $10,000 check to Segue Institute for Learning, according to the Providence Journal. Segue is a charter school based in Central Falls, R.I. – the economically depressed community where Davis grew up. Davis acknowledged the school while accepting a Best Actress award from the Screen Actors Guild earlier this year, telling the students “to dream big and dream fierce.” Boyajian said it is the second time Streep has donated to the program as a tribute to Davis. The previous gift came in 2009. Upward Bound is a federally funded program that provides college preparatory classes and educational grants to high school students from low-income communities. Davis and her sister Dolores Davis Grant both attended the program, which is based at Rhode Island College, Boyajian said. Thanks to Glenn for the heads-up!

The full Best Actress segment in best quality has been added to the video archive. Thanks to everybody who has contacted me and offered help, especially Filip, it’s been very appreciated!

Then, many additional video clips from the Academy Awards have been added to the video archive, including her words on the Thank You cam, the press room and a dozen of after-party interviews from Entertainment Tonight, Access Hollywood, and more. Enjoy!

First of all, my apologies for not providing live coverage on the Academy Awards, but work schedules have prevented me from doing so. I hope you have all enjoyed the Oscars and I’ll be adding pictures and multimedia as we speak, so check back for more additions throughout the evening. About 400 pictures from the red carpet, the show and the press room and the after-parties have been added. More pictures – and video files – will be added tomorrow! Enjoy the new additions :-)

It has been a busy weekend for Meryl so far as she has attended the Academy Awards’ Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Symposium yesterday as well – to talk about the makeup process of “The Iron Lady”, alongside the Oscar-nominated makeup team of Marc Coulier and Roy Helland. Click below for the video and pictures from the conversation.

Yesterday, Meryl has attended the Weinstein Company’s Pre-Oscar party. A couple of pictures have been added to the image library. Also, over 100 additional pictures from the Berlin Film Festival (check the latest additions from the photocall, press conference, premiere and awards ceremony) and the Academy Awards’ Foreign Language Film Award Directors Reception have been added to the image library.

According to published reports, the lineup has been announced for the Rainforest Fund benefit concert on April 3rd at Carnegie Hall. The concert will feature Sting, Elton John, Meryl Streep, James Taylor, Katharine McPhee, Bryn Terfel, Rosanne Cash, Vince Gill and other surprise guests. In addition to the concert, there will also be a gala dinner and live and silent auctions. Tickets for the event go on sale on Monday, February 27. For more information visit www.carnegiehall.org. In 1989, Sting and Trudie Styler founded the organizations jointly known as Rainforest Foundation. Since then the Foundation has been supporting indigenous peoples and traditional populations of the rainforest in their efforts to conserve their land and defend their rights. Since 2008, the importance of rainforest protection as a contribution to preventing climate change has received much international attention. Thanks to Glenn for the news.

In anticipation of tomorrow’s Academy Awards, I’ve added some rare pictures of Meryl’s previous red carpet (and press room) appearances at the Academy Awards, ranging from 1979 to 1989. A full list of updated galleries can be found below the previews. Enjoy!

Appearances > 1989 > Academy Awards
Appearances > 1986 > Academy Awards
Appearances > 1984 > Academy Awards
Appearances > 1983 > Academy Awards (After-Party)
Appearances > 1983 > Academy Awards (Screencaptures)
Appearances > 1983 > Academy Awards (Press Room)
Appearances > 1983 > Academy Awards (Red Carpet)
Appearances > 1982 > Academy Awards
Appearances > 1980 > Academy Awards (Press Room)
Appearances > 1980 > Academy Awards (Stage)
Appearances > 1979 > Academy Awards

Jimmy Kimmel seems to be celebrating his special Oscar show “Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Academy Awards®” the big time! With Meryl Streep, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Martin Scorsese, Helen Mirren, Charlize Theron, Don Cheadle, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Samuel L. Jackson, Cameron Diaz, Tyler Perry, Colin Farrell have joined Kimmel for “Movie: The Movie” – the biggest, greatest, most star-studded film in the history of American cinema. Watch “Jimmy Kimmel Live: After the Academy Awards®” February 26th on ABC to witness movie history made. Get the full scoop on their official website, their Facebook page and watch the very promising teaser below. (judging from the image, Meryl’s segment was filmed back when she attended Jimmy Kimmel Live). This is going to be fun!

Yesterday, Meryl introduced Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, director and writer of the film “A Separation,” at the 84th Annual Academy Awards’ Foreign Language Film Award Directors Reception in Beverly Hills. Pictures from the event have been added to the image library.