Global Weekly Update April 2, 2012


April 3, 2012

Top Actions: Senate Basic Education Sign-on Letter and Appropriations Follow-up

Top action for the week: We have an extra inning!  You can still ask your senator to sign the newly released basic education sign-on letter requesting robust funding of basic education. Get a current list of signers as well as a copy of the letter, on our website. Contact your senators ASAP as the letter will likely close soon.

2013 will be a challenging year for global poverty issues with mandated spending ceilings, so we’ll need to work hard to ensure that cuts are not made to programs that matter most to those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. You did great work already with a number of sign-on letters in the House on tuberculosis, the Global Fund and PEPFAR, and one on child survival and maternal health. Read our blog to get the details about the terrific work you have done. Then thank your representative for signing the letter, for it will let them know we are watching and that we appreciate their support.

Also for this week: Although it’s important to act by specific dates outlined by the various appropriations sub-committees, we’ll be taking action on appropriations throughout the summer. Now is a great time to follow up on your requests. Check again the funding levels we are working for (below) and contact your legislators to see what funding levels they requested of the Foreign Operations Sub-Committee of Appropriations.

Use our online tool to find the office phone numbers of your legislators and see how they weighed in with chair and ranking member of the foreign operations sub-committee of appropriations on the following:

  • $1.65 billion for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria
  • $125 million for the Global Partnership for Education
  • $145 million for the Global Alliance for vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI)
  • $650 million for bilateral TB
  • $500 million for microfinance.

Learn more about our appropriations requests on our website.

Education for All Global Action Week

Every April, the world focuses on the need to get kids in school. This is a priority we share with our families and our neighbors in the U.S., in addition to those who live worlds away from us.

International Global Action Week is April 22-28, and we are partnering with our U.S. poverty RESULTS advocates to take an organization-wide look at how we can outreach to our community on this important issue. This is a particularly good time to identify community leaders with potent voices, or grasstops leaders, who care about education. We are working to compile a toolkit of outreach materials which will soon be available on our website.

So mark April 22-28 on your calendars and start brainstorming with other activists about people and organizations who care about educating kids and might be interested in collaboration. Think about your local school board, teachers union, Girl and Boy Scout troops, Head Start center, Parent-Teacher Association, or the education department at the local college. Who is in your neighborhood working for education? Do they know about RESULTS and our commitment to early childhood education in the United States as well as our work on access to basic primary education abroad? April is a fantastic time to make a phone call to one or more of those organizations in your town; you might find a new ally, op-ed co-writer, donor, or RESULTS member. Contact your group leader or regional coordinator for more assistance during this important Global Action Week, and thanks for your creativity!

What’s New in Grassroots Support and International Conference Planning

RESULTS Free Agents Groups Launch! Are you a RESULTS activist working solo in a town that doesn’t (yet) have a RESULTS global poverty campaigns group?  We love your commitment and want to offer you a new means of support through our new RESULTS Free Agents group! This “virtual” group will meet monthly by phone for relationship-building, information, and support. Members of the group will also be encouraged to participate in the monthly national conference call.  Want to check out RESULTS Free Agents working on global poverty)? Join our call on Monday, April 16 at 8 pm ET. Dial in at (218) 486-1611, passcode 7378587 (RESULTS). Questions? Contact Lisa Marchal. There will also be a companion group forming to support activists working to end U.S. poverty. You can find out more about that group by contacting Jos Linn.

2012 International Conference Financial Assistance and Updates. Earlybird registration ends April 16, so act now to get the best registration rate for our spectacular conference coming up July 21-14 in Washington, DC! Explore other financial assistance opportunities on our website, and even find out how to contribute to the Karen McQuillan Memorial Fund that offers assistance to qualifying attendees.

Also, check out the emerging agenda for the International Conference to learn about the fantastic speakers and sessions being planned. The list of exciting speakers for the IC just keeps growing. David Beckmann and Yvonne Chaka Chaka will be joining us for this year’s International Conference! David Beckmann has been president of Bread for the World since 1991, leading large-scale and successful campaigns to strengthen U.S. political commitment to overcome hunger and poverty in the country and globally. Dubbed the “Princess of Africa”, Yvonne Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South African popular music for 20 years. She is also a well-known humanitarian, especially recognized for her work on malaria and her Princess of Africa Foundation. Join them at IC 2012! Registration is only $150 for the next two weeks.

Intersection of RESULTS International Conference (IC) & International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012)

AIDS 2012 is going to be an amazing event. Since 1985, this conference has featured scientific breakthroughs to fight AIDS, opportunities for activists to be heard, and platforms where politicians can pledge their support. This year is particularly important for two reasons: 1) the conference returns to the United States for the first time in 22 years; 2) with recent scientific research, we can now envision an end to AIDS. The challenge is that, at this time of historic opportunity we are facing budget cuts around the globe that threaten to derail this vision. With over 30,000 people expected to attend AIDS 2012, it is going to be a loud and exciting environment, which is why we have planned the RESULTS International Conference (IC) at the same time. Below is a list of some of the opportunities created through the converging conferences:

  1. We have arranged time in our conference agenda on Sunday evening for all IC participants to attend the Global Village of AIDS 2012. The Global Village is an energetic space where hundreds of groups who work on issues related to HIV/AIDS will be tabling, performing, and presenting panels and workshops. It will be an amazing opportunity to learn about work being done around the world and to connect with others. The Global Village is also open Monday July 23 through Thursday July 26 from 8:30 am to 8:30 pm if you would like to spend more time visiting.
  2. ACTION, a partnership of global health advocacy organizations, and a project of RESULTS, will have a booth you can visit in the Global Village. ACTION will also present a session entitled “Women, Children, and HIV-TB” that will take place in the Global Village on Monday July 23, 1:00-2:30 pm. By coming to the ACTION booth or session, you can promote issues you care about to conference attendees and connect with other people who share your passion for these issues.
  3. A number of speakers at the IC will also be playing an important role in AIDS 2012. In fact, one of our plenary speakers, Dr. Myron Cohen, was a lead researcher on the “Treatment as Prevention” research which demonstrates that we can reduce HIV transmissions rates by 96% if we start treatment early. You’ll hear from Dr. Cohen at the RESULTS IC before everyone hears him at AIDS 2012!
  4. On Tuesday, AIDS activists and supporters will gather for a large march through DC that culminates at the White House. If you do not have any lobby meetings from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm, you can join this exciting march and encourage policymakers to fund international and domestic AIDS and TB programs.

NOTE: If you would like to spend significant time at the Global Village, attend the march on Tuesday and still have time for meaningful lobby meetings, it may make sense for you to stay in DC through Wednesday.

Stay Tuned for a Friends & Family Fundraising Campaign Update!

We’ve reached the official end of the Friends & Family Fundraising Campaign. Thank you for all your hard work that is paying off for people in poverty! Keep following up on those last contributions coming in, and remember that it’s never to soon to begin thanking people.

We will hold the fundraising websites open until April 30 to make sure to catch any late donors. After we complete the donation processing, every group will receive a report of their donors who donated online or by check for this campaign. Of course, donations made at any time of the year are welcome and you can always direct donors to use the donation portion of our RESULTS homepage after April. Any checks you send to us in properly labeled donor envelopes will be credited to your group.

Donations that were made by credit card online by 11:59 PM EST on March 31 will count towards one top-earning team and one top-earning individual receiving a free registration to the 2012 RESULTS International Conference. Stay tuned for news of the winners!

Thank you to all our participants for getting our fundraising year off to a terrific start! Let us know if you have any remaining questions.

“Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”

                                                                                                                                                        – Wilma Rudolph

 

March-May: Global Poverty Project 1.4 Billion Reasons presentations

April 4: RESULTS Introductory Call. 9 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.

April 14: Joint national conference call with domestic grassroots highlighting education and our strategic plan! 2 pm ET. Dial (888) 409-6709 a few minutes before the call.

April 16: Launch of RESULTS Free Agents global poverty group for activists in towns without RESULTS groups. 8 pm ET, (218)486-1611, passcode 7378587. Contact Lisa Marchal with questions.

April 17: Launch of RESULTS Free Agents domestic poverty group. Contact Jos Linn for more information.

April 19: Overview of Global Campaigns for the second quarter with John Fawcett with Q&A. 9 pm ET, (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262.

April 20: RESULTS Introductory Call. 1 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.

April 22-28: Global Action Week for Education

May 2: RESULTS Introductory Call. 9 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.  

July 21–24RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC

 

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