Global Weekly Update August 29, 2011
Great Support and Training Calls Coming Up!
Know any folks who would like to get to know a bit more about RESULTS? Have them register today for our August 30 RESULTS Introductory Call at 9:00 pm ET. If they can’t make that date, they can register today for other calls on the following days: September 14, September 26, October 12, and October 24. These snappy, 30-minute calls will give folks a taste of what RESULTS is all about.
If you have taken the leap and are a new RESULTS partner, welcome! Get more of your questions answered at an upcoming New Activist Orientation. We will have a couple of two-session orientation this fall, one being held September 15 and 29 and another November 2 and 16. Want to register? Contact Lisa Marchal for all the details.
If you are already hard at work in advocacy, you might want to check out the August 31 training call on developing advocacy partnerships. 9:00 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. Join in this call to examine ways you can partner with others in your community who have a commitment to our issues and might be interested in working collaboratively with you and your group.
Finally, don’t forget to put the September 10 national grassroots call for our global campaigns work on your calendar! Our theme, once again, will be Education for All with a special emphasis on the Education for All Act itself. Gather with others and call in to (888) 409-6709 for the 2:00 pm ET call. We are making progress on our three-month Education for All campaign; the momentum is exciting!
Top Action: Write to Your Paper About Education for All and Get the Community Conversation Going
As part of our all-hands-on-deck Education for All push this fall, we have some media placement goals that are ambitious but achievable. We are going for 12 editorials and 12 op-eds, and things are already starting to percolate. Additionally, we have a nationwide goal of landing 70 letters to the editor on the topic of Education for All. Papers big and small, near or far — they all matter. Legislators pay attention to community conversation and local priorities. Those priorities are both set by and reflected in local media. So why not try for a letter to the editor today? One letter per RESULTS group — we can do it! Need a hand getting started? Try our online action alert and get the support you need to write. Letters have begun to appear, and we’ll keep you updated on the progress toward our goals.
We Need 100 Cosponsors of the Education for All Act
If we can generate 100 cosponsors on the bipartisan Education for All Act of 2011 (EFA Act, H.R.2705) by October 1, we know it will have a powerful impact on the Administration, and hopefully push the President into action on global education. So far we have eight cosponsors, but hopefully there will be many more after the Congressional recess (they don’t add cosponsors to the bill during recesses).
Ask your member of Congress to cosponsor the bipartisan Education for All Act of 2011. The best way to assure your representative cosponsors is to utilize a three-pronged approach which includes:
- Making the request at district or town hall meeting. August-Sept is a good time for a meeting, as Congress is in recess.
- Making the request to the foreign policy aide. Our EFA call alert and/or EFA laser talk are handy for that.
- Contacting the Representative’s office via e-mail or phone using our action alerts. So far, 27 activists have taken action online.
Every email, call, letter, and face-to-face encounter matters! Please take one or more of the above actions. We provide guidance to those who want to act. Please contact a group leader, regional coordinator, or staff member to guide you if you need assistance. You an also share ideas with fellow partners in our website forum.
Senate is the Firewall Between Life and Death
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria stated in their 2010 progress report that, “If the momentum of the last decade is maintained and countries continue to scale up programs at the current rate, malaria could be eliminated as a public health problem in most endemic countries and indeed there would be hope for a world without malaria deaths by 2015…And it might be possible to virtually eliminate transmission of HIV from mothers to their children.” The big “if” is, will we maintain momentum? Momentum depends upon our will to continue funding and scaling up the things we know work.
Senator Gillibrand of New York is circulating a sign-on letter to heads of the Appropriations Committee asking them to increase funding for PEPFAR and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria so that we can continue making progress on these diseases. The U.S. made a pledge of $4 billion over 3 years. We need to make sure that we keep that promise. Use the action alert to write your senators about signing on to the Gillibrand letter, and then follow up by phone after the August recess ends. The action alert will provide you with the words to say. Give it a try. It’s not hard, but it is powerful.
Extreme poverty can be ended, not in the time of our grandchildren, but our time.
— Dr. Jeffrey Sachs
August 8–September 5: Congressional recess (a great time for a face-to-face meeting with your legislator back in your district).
August 30: RESULTS Introductory Call. 9:00 pm ET. Register today!
August 31: Training Call on Developing Advocacy Partnerships. 9:00 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. Join in this call to examine ways you can partner with others in your community who have a commitment to our issues and might be interested in working collaboratively with you and your group.
September 9: Last day to vote for grassroots board members
September 10: Global Conference Call: Focus on Education for All. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709
September 14: RESULTS Introductory Call. 9:00 pm ET. Register today!
September 15 and 29: Two-session RESULTS New Activist Orientation, 9 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262
September 16-18: Millennium Campus Network Conference for college students interested in the MDGs
September 26: RESULTS Introductory Call. Register today!
October 8: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709