She added, “With democracy under threat, RESULTS will build an even bigger movement. As hundreds of millions of people continue to face the consequences of the pandemic, poverty, inequality, and structural racism, there is far too much at stake.”

RESULTS advocates gathered on February 6 to kick off our First 100 Days campaign, launching a wave of advocacy to push forward anti-poverty goals in the initial 100 days of the new Congress and Biden administration. “The first hundred days will set a marker for the next four years,” said guest speaker Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA), noting that “RESULTS was probably the first organization to help me get my agenda together.” She added, “RESULTS is such a great example of advocacy and the people’s lobby on Capitol Hill.”

Over the next 100 days, our advocates set out to meet with members of Congress across the country and the political spectrum. They delivered, holding more than 300 congressional meetings — including reaching all 100 Senate offices — and encouraging Congress to set a new agenda to reduce poverty nationally and globally.

We also supported the development and advancement of the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act of 2021, which directs the U.S. Agency for International Development to focus on the highest-impact nutrition interventions. It also mandates robust monitoring and oversight of nutrition programs to ensure that U.S. investments are used effectively. Introduced in both the House and Senate late in the year, we will push for its passage in 2022.  

In addition, we worked with Congress to address the global education crisis by increasing support for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), the world’s largest and only fund dedicated exclusively to delivering quality education globally. RESULTS helped to secure the first U.S. contribution at the inaugural pledging conference in 2011. In the decade since, RESULTS has led a successful effort to build and sustain bipartisan support in Congress for GPE, and funding has grown from $20 million to $125 million annually. In 2021 we built bipartisan support for a five-year $1 billion pledge — 110 members of Congress signed a bipartisan letter to the White House calling for the pledge, and dozens of members of the House and Senate cosponsored bipartisan resolutions in support of GPE.

When the Biden administration announced an intention to cut U.S. funding at the GPE financing summit, the bipartisan congressional commitment remained strong. The final foreign aid bill from Congress rejected the proposed cut. It’s now up to Congress to help ensure the COVID-19 education crisis does not turn into a permanent catastrophe for an entire generation.

We were also able to influence international funders like the World Bank by collaborating closely with our advocacy partners across four continents. 2021 was a critical year for this advocacy, as the World Bank fast-tracked a replenishment event for International Development Association (IDA), which provides low-interest loans and grants to low- and middle-income countries. Donor countries committed over $93 billion to IDA, the largest amount ever. Our deep ongoing advocacy and engagement with the Bank, network of international partners, and decades of experience allowed us to hold the Bank to account and push for the funds to be put to the best possible use. In particular, the Bank agreed to increase investments in education, early childhood development, nutrition, and primary health care.