This month, Meryl Streep, Bill Clinton, Jason Wu, Alec Baldwin, and Yo-Yo Ma are linking arms to take part in the RFK Center’s fifth annual online auction to support human rights worldwide. The RFK Center launched its 5th Annual Spring Auction today and will be open to bidders through May 17. The auction features nearly 100 incredible adventures donated by A-list supporters of the organization, with more celebs joining every day. Meryl has donated two premiere tickets for the New York premiere of “Hope Springs” this August (likely August 6 but not guaranteed). You can find all auctions here and Meryl’s auction in particular here. Thanks to everybody for the heads-up!

The Charlie Foundation will honor Meryl Streep this September at the Third International Symposium: Dietary Therapy for Epilepsy & Other Neurological Disorders at the Chicago Hilton Indian Lakes Resort. The Charlie Foundation was founded in 1994 after twenty month old Charlie Abrahams, having endured multiple daily seizures, and failed every available anti-convulsant drug and one brain surgery, was cured of his epilepsy by the ketogenic diet at Johns Hopkins Hospital. The diet was undertaken despite resistance from the five pediatric neurologists he had seen. When Charlie’s parents realized that Charlie was but one of hundreds of thousands of children whose families were either not being informed, or being misinformed about dietary therapy, they started The Charlie Foundation. Meryl Streep, a friend of the Abrahams family, hosted a public serive announcement for the foundation in 1994, which can be watched in the video archive. In 1997, Abrahams and Meryl Streep produced the ABC television movie “First do no Harm”, fictionalising a particular case of a young boy with the disease. The film draws many parallels to the Abrahams family’s experiences. Several minor characters in the film are played by people who have been on the ketogenic diet and had their epilepsy “cured” as a result. The gala celebration honoring Meryl will take place on September 21, 2012.

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!

Press release courtesy The Daily Beast. From March 8 though 10, remarkable leaders from every field will gather in New York City for Newsweek & The Daily Beast’s third-annual Women in the World Summit. Hosted by Tina Brown, Diane von Furstenberg, Jane Harman, Leymah Gbowee, Sheryl Sandberg, Meryl Streep, Lauren Bush, Nizan Guanaes, Maya Harris, Mellody Hobson, and Judith Rodin, the event will feature three days of storytelling by trailblazing women, and encourage creative solutions to the challenges facing women and girls across the globe. From brave women dissidents who toppled Middle East regimes to former secretary of state Madeleine Albright on war’s harrowing impact on women; from an inspiring look at how girls are harnessing social media to transform adolescence to IMF chief Christine Lagarde on the global economy’s next act; from a hard look at domestic slavery to frank discussions with firebrands including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, feminist icon Gloria Steinem, broadcast legends Barbara Walters and Christiane Amanpour, and activists from around the world, the 2012 summit promises to reveal the vital stories that are often ignored—and to provoke action. According to their lineup, there will be a special tribute by Meryl Streep on March 10.

Last night, Meryl Streep has attended the 2011 Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s A Magical Evening Benefit in New York. To learn more about the origanization, which Meryl supports for years, visit the charity section. Pictures from the event have been added to the gallery.

According to The Belfast Telegraph, Meryl Streep is set to make a high-profile return to Belfast shortly after her portrayal of Maggie Thatcher is screened at the movies in January. She’s hoping to visit the city to celebrate the opening of the £18m Metropolitan Arts Centre in the vibrant Cathedral Quarter. Four years ago, Meryl came to Belfast to raise funds for the MAC and to endorse the project, which was still in the planning stages then. She went to its forerunner, the Old Museum Arts Centre, to take part in a question and answer session with leading figures in the arts world here, and she even made a passable attempt at a Belfast accent. Streep also revealed that her family roots in Co Donegal had helped her “find” an Irish accent in a film version of Brian Friel’s play Dancing At Lughnasa. Anne McReynolds, the chief executive at the MAC, said yesterday that officials were keeping their fingers crossed that Streep could fit a return to Belfast into her busy schedule. “I stay in touch with her all the time and keep her up to speed on how the new building is progressing. She is very excited about it all. And she is totally passionate and committed to the MAC and its plans for the future. She completely gets the idea,” she said. “Meryl has been a great friend to the MAC and to Belfast.” The six-storey MAC building will include two theatres, three major visual art galleries, a dance studio, education, workshop and rehearsal spaces plus offices for resident arts groups. he new MAC is expected to attract upwards of 200,000 people every year.

A video transcript of Meryl’s appearance at the US-China Forum on the Arts and Culture Panel has been added to the video archive. Also, while being in Washington this week, Meryl talked with PBS’ To the Contrary about “The Iron Lady” and her support of the National Women’s History Museum. Edit: You can now watch the complete panel discussion, as two more parts have been added – here and here. Enjoy the clips!

Article courtesy The Washington Examiner: Actress Meryl Streep dashed in and out of Washington Wednesday night to give a boost to her favorite D.C.-based pet project, building a National Women’s History Museum on the National Mall. “Oh it’s going to happen,” she told Yeas & Nays. “We just need to get people riled up.” That doesn’t seem to be too tough a feat for Streep. During the VIP reception of the first ever Christine de Pizan Honors Gala, put on by the nonprofit that represents the future museum, Streep attracted a line of several hundred fans to pose for photos. “Oh my God, she’s my favorite actress,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney said, before giving a perfectly political response to the question of her favorite Streep flick. “My favorite film of her is the one that we make of her playing herself, in the passage of the Women’s Museum and also the Equal Rights Amendment,” the New York Democrat explained. Streep gave quite the pep talk, standing on the stage of the Ronald Reagan building. “We just got to pull together girls and get this done,” she said, before giving us a little sneak peak of her lead character in “The Iron Lady.” “As Margaret Thatcher said, ‘if you want something spoken about ask a man, if you want it done, ask a woman.'” To which she received a standing ovation from the riled up crowd.

Yesterday, a kick-off gala co-hosted by Meryl Streep, Wei Sun Christianson, Jane Harman, Maya Harris, Donna Karan, Liya Kebede, Dr. Judith Rodin and Diane von Furstenberg was helt to celebrate the launch of the “Women in the World Foundation”, a new venture from Newsweek and The Daily Beast. You can learn more about Women in the World on their new website. Pictures have been added to the gallery.

And Tina has uploaded a video of Meryl’s speech on Youtube, have a look!