Global Weekly Update June 18, 2012
Child Survival Call to Action Meeting Has Taken Place. The Media Push Continues!
On June 14 and 15, the U.S., India, Ethiopia, and UNICEF convened world leaders for a two-day Child Survival Call to Action meeting in Washington, D.C. The goal of the meeting was to create a roadmap for ending preventable child deaths in our lifetime. Leading up to the Call to Action meeting, the convenors engaged the public and others through their “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday” campaign.
The push for proper attention is not over.
We still need to to let the media, our communities, and our members of Congress know that ending preventable child deaths is now possible. Check out the latest pieces inspired or published by our grassroots on our blog. Five editorials, eight op-eds, 13 letters to the editor, and counting! Fantastic! Keep checking back with the blog, as we’ll update it as your media hits roll in.
Here’s what to do next:
1. A refreshed editorial packet, titled “Saving the Other Half: How the World Can End Preventable Child Deaths,” is available, reflecting outcomes and promises made at the Call to Action meeting. You can use the June laser talk to pitch the idea of a child survival editorial highlighting this critically important meeting and its impact.
2. Share and use the June action sheet to get letters to the editor published and to find tips on amplifying your media success by sharing your pieces and other national press through social media. Remember that when letters and relevant articles are published, it is smart to share them with the RESULTS office (if you have written them), on Twitter and Facebook, and with your members of Congress.
3. Organize a child survival conversation. Start by inviting friends and colleagues to check out the archived webcast portions from the Call to Action meeting. Then gather for coffee or at your RESULTS group’s next meeting to discuss. Or fire off a letter to the editor in response to what you heard and encourage your friends to do the same!
RESULTS is one of few organizations bringing attention to this issue through the media, so our media work is critical. Let us know if you need support making this request. Find your media contact information here. You can also listen to a recent child survival media brainstorming call or listen to the June national grassroots conference call on global poverty featuring Caryl M. Stern, President and CEO of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, if you want more good information and ideas.
Join the July National Conference Call to Hear the Amazing Stephen Lewis!
Come together with us on Saturday, July 14 at 2:00 pm ET. Dial (888) 409-6709 a few minutes before the call and gather your fellow advocates for a fantastic call featuring Stephen Lewis, co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World and former UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Want some other great tidbits of information?
1. There are new online forms for reporting your 2012 lobby meetings and other advocacy actions. Let us know what amazing actions you are taking!
2. We are happy to announce a new addition to our International Conference activities in which you can participate even from home! It is a 5K fundraising fun run for RESULTS runners and walkers! We invite all of our grassroots to join us by running, walking, or cheering for our athletes participating in the Crystal City Twilighter 5K Race. The Twilighter Race – hosted by the D.C. Pacers running club – will take place near our conference hotel immediately after our Kickoff Meeting on Saturday, July 21. We hope that some of you – our grassroots – will come together with staffers Jen Maurer, Cindy Levin, Blair Hinderliter, and Beth Wilson to take this physical and fundraising challenge. We’ll be participating at various paces from walking to running like the wind. We’re creating an online fundraising webpage where you can invite everyone to donate to your race, even if you’re only able to be with us in spirit during the International Conference. This is a great way to help your group reach your 2012 fundraising goals. Who knows? It might help with your 2012 fitness goals as well! Contact Cindy Levin for more information.
3. Speaking of fundraising, thank you to the the RESULTS who are actively working on fundraising events this year! Our gratitude goes out to Anchorage, Asheville, Atlanta, Austin, Bernardsville, Bremerton, Chicago, Columbus, D.C., Denver, Houston, Seattle, Tacoma, Santa Fe, and Sitka partners. From house parties to large dinners, these events will help generate donations for our organizations and put RESULTS in the public eye in our groups’ local communities. Remember, that a fundraiser can also help you with your outreach goals, too! Contact Cindy Levin for support in putting together your own event this year.
More Great International Conference News
An International Conferece session has been approved as an International AIDS Society Conference affiliated session! Planned for Saturday, July 21, 4:30-5:45 pm, the session entitled “An End to the Global AIDS Epidemic: How Past Progress Can Inspire Future Action” will feature Buck Buckingham, the Director of the Office of Global Health and HIV for the Peace Corps.
There’s more for you . . .
1. It’s time once again to submit nominations for the Cameron Duncan Media Award. This award, which will be presented at the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund International Conference in Washington, D.C., is given each year to a journalist who has demonstrated outstanding reporting of issues related to poverty and hunger. While there is no requirement for the journalist to accept the award in person, we will try our best to get the winner here to D.C. for the International Conference. Along with a nomination of one or two paragraphs in a letter or e-mail, please submit relevant clips from the past 12 months that demonstrate the journalist’s dedication to our issues. If you have any questions, please contact Blair Hinderliter, Communications Manager.
2. Use our IC preparation checklist to make sure you are on track with your trip preparation. Two things that should be on your to-do list this week: Take the customizable letters now available so you can begin inviting your members of Congress to our spectacular conference reception! And begin scheduling your Lobby Day meetings, letting us know the details online. Find guidance on setting up your meetings here.
3. Need a roommate? Want to ask advice from previous attendees? Anxious to chat with other folks who are coming to D.C.? Check out our International Conference discusson thread on the My RESULTS forum.
4. Fire up your Twitter account and use our official conference hashtag, #RESULTSConf (search for it on Twitter), to keep track of and contribute to the buzz before, during, and after the conference!
We are now only one month away from the conference and our special room rate at the Doubletree Hotel expires on July 2nd. Register for the conference and then book your room!
More Fundraising Kudos!
Thank you to RESULTS D.C. and Denver groups for their fantastic fundraisers held just this past week.
D.C. partners held a happy hour at Mad Hatter where RESULTS supporters, friends, staff and coalition partners mingled and had a great time to benefit our transformative work.
Denver’s event was a home-cooked summer dinner party where guests got an exclusive glimpse of RESULTS’ microcredit work through the Microcredit Summit Campaign (MSC) which focuses on initiating, building, and tracking the microfinance movement around the world. MSC Director Larry Reed was the special guest speaker. So far $7,800 has been collected or pledged.
Thank you all!
“I wish for continuing advances in the fight against preventable child deaths, so my children’s generation can inherit a more prosperous and secure world.”
– Susan E. Rice, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, on USAID’s “Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday” website
July 11: RESULTS Introductory Call. 9 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.
July 14: National grassroots conference call for global campaigns. 2 pm ET. Dial (888) 409-6709 a few minutes before the call. Join us for a fantastic call featuring Stephen Lewis, co-founder and co-director of AIDS-Free World and former UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. (Check out our conference call archive, too!)
July 16: RESULTS Free Agents call. 8 pm ET. Dial (218) 486-1611, passcode 7378587 (RESULTS) to join. Are you a RESULTS activist with our global poverty campaigns, living in a town with no RESULTS group? You are alone no more! Contact Lisa Marchal for more information on this monthly support call.
July 21–24: RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC
July 27: RESULTS Introductory Call. 1 pm ET. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call.
August 6 and 20: New Activist Orientation. Dial in to (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 at 9 pm ET on August 6 and 20 to get more details on how RESULTS works and how to bring your powerful advocacy work to life. For more information, contact us.
Click here for a printable online version of the Weekly Update.