Global Weekly Update June 28, 2010
Senate World Bank Letter — Get Co-Signers Today!
Ask your senators to sign this letter (PDF) to the World Bank urging the Bank to take action on a set of initatives to support microfinance for the very poor in Africa. This letter was initiated by Sens. Bennett (R-UT), Durbin (D-IL), and Enzi (R-WY).
To sign, have your senators contact Amber Sechrist in Sen. Bennett’s office or Nida Shakir in Sen. Durbin’s office. It closes Thursday, July 1.
Click here to take this action today! Share this action with members of your community!
Current signers: Bennett (R-UT), Durbin (D-IL), Enzi (R-WY), Sanders (I-VT), Brown (D-OH), Murray (D-WA), Dodd (D-CT), Leahy (D-VT).
Background: In December 2008, the U.S. Congress sent letters to the World Bank requesting it to: 1) create a new $200 million grant facility for MFIs trying to reach the very poor, 2) create and support Centers of Excellence at MFIs like Grameen Bank in Bangladesh where interested parties can learn how to reach the very poor with microfinance, 3) create a sub-Saharan African apex fund, a funding mechanism that will allow more MFIs focusing on the very poor to access capital. The Congress has heard that the World Bank is moving forward on a special grant facility, but it has not been clarified if it will focus on the very poor and when it will be launched.
Signers of the December 2008 letter to the World Bank on these issues: Enzi (R-WY), Brown (D-OH), Dole (R-NC), Burr (R-NC), Feinstein (D-CA), Durbin (D-IL), Cantwell (D-WA), Nelson (D-FL), Levin (D-MI), Murray (D-WA), Martinez (R-FL), Menendez (D-NJ), Sanders (I-VT), Inhofe (R-OK), Cardin (D-MD), Johnson (D-SD), Bingaman (D-NM), Isakson (R-GA), Hatch (R-UT), Mikulski (D-MD), Bennett (R-UT).
For more information and to check on current signers, visit our World Bank and Microfinance Campaign page.
Cosponsors Needed for House Letter to Obama: Three-Year Pledge to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) initiated a letter to the president asking him to make a three-year committment of $6 billion to the Global Fund. This fall, international donors will gather to make three-year funding commitments as part of the Global Fund’s replenishment process. As the founding contributor and largest donor to the Global Fund, a strong pledge from the U.S. will help leverage additional contributions from other donor countries. Historically, every $1 from the U.S. has been matched by $2 from other sources. Ask your representative to sign the letter today! Download this pdf version.
Click here to take this action today! Share this action with members of your community!
Build on the Momentum from the International Conference!
We had an amazing and inspiring International Conference! Don’t let the power fizzle out. Take these steps today.
Report: Fill out your lobby report form so we can help support your meetings and follow up.
Review: Review the global legislative update packet that summarizes our requests and provides helpful background information for making those requests.
Follow Up: Follow up on your requests to make sure the offices take action this week. We already have 20 new cosponsors for the Education for All Act, but there are probably plenty more that will come on if you follow up on your request this week!
Outreach: How will you share your experience in D.C. with your community? Are you following up with local media by writing op-eds, letters to the editor, or asking local reporters to write as story about the local group that went to the nation’s capital to lobby lawmakers on poverty?
Keep your eyes open for a survey on the conference coming soon!
“RESULTS is the greatest citizen’s lobbying organization in the history of Western civilization.”
—Senator Sherrod Brown at the RESULTS International Conference
July 10: Special Joint Global and Domestic Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. Call in at (888) 409-6709.
July 11: Group Building Workshop in Ft. Worth, Texas. Do you know people in Ft. Worth? Contact Eloise at: [email protected]
July 26–September 13: Congressional recess.
August 14: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. Call in at (888) 409-6709.