Global Weekly Update May 16, 2011
Top Action: Ask Your Member of Congress to Take Action on GAVI
Vaccinate kids with two new vaccines and amazing things happen: 1) kids don’t die, 2) fewer kids need medical care, and 3) parents are happier and have more resources. It’s that simple. The cost to the U.S. of the GAVI plan to save 4.2 million lives is a total of $450 million over 3 years. This is less than one-fifth of the overall cost of the effort.
The GAVI pledging conference is on June 13 in London. Congress must communicate to the administration that we want the U.S. to take leadership on this issue. Can you get your member of Congress to become a leader on GAVI, or at least support him/her to write a letter directly to the president?
Here’s what you can do:
- WE NEED LEADERSHIP on a SIGN-ON LETTER to President Obama. Ask your member of Congress to become the lead sponsor of a bipartisan sign-on letter to the president. You can send him/her this draft letter as a starter. If you need help making your request, please contact Ken Patterson or Lisa Marchal.
- If your member of Congress is not willing to lead on a letter, ask him/her to write their own letter using our draft letter as a starting place.
- Use our action alert to write to your member of Congress about the need to fund GAVI adequately in 2012. Get others to take the action.
- Generate media. See the section below for more details.
Keep up the GAVI Media Blitz
It’s all hands on deck for our biggest media push of 2012, and your activism is needed. If fully funded, the GAVI Alliance estimates they will save 4.2 million lives by 2015 with new game-changing vaccines for the two leading causes of death for children under the age of five — pneumonia and rotavirus. This is ground-breaking, and our job is to get our local media to pay attention. RESULTS partners are in the business of savvy activism, and one thing we can do is leverage the power of the media to call on the Obama administration to pledge $450 million over the next 3 years to the GAVI Alliance at their upcoming donor replenishment meeting. We have landed one op-ed and several letters to the editors already, but much more is needed to reach the tipping point. Send this editorial packet to the editorial staff of your newspaper today or use it to write your own op-ed or letter to the editor! Read this blog post to see our successes!
FY12 Appropriations Deadline Coming Up — Ask Your Reps to Weigh In
Our members of Congress often tell us they support foreign assistance for global health, education, and microcredit, but they rarely get an opportunity to vote on these issues on the floor. The critical details of funding levels for these programs are usually wrapped up in much larger spending measures. So how can our representative express their support? They can do so by weighing in with the leadership of the Appropriations Committee right now.
Urge your representatives to submit their requests to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee before the Friday, May 20 deadline. The tools you need to make this request, including a sample letter and fact sheets for each appropriations issue, can be downloaded from our website. You can point them to this letter (PDF) from Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) in which she asks for input on foreign aid from her colleagues. Call today and tell your representatives to make their support count!
Are You In? Heck, YES!
“Heck, YES!” should be the answer when asked if you are attending the 2011 RESULTS International Conference. Trust us. It will be just what your activist heart desires. Informative plenaries and workshops, time for laughter and connection, training in advocacy best practices, a day on the Hill advocating for the end of poverty . . . it’s all in store for you.
Partner and board member Ginnie Vogts says of the conference, “Going to the RESULTS conference is like climbing to the top of a tall tree. As I look out from the top, I can see beyond the everyday view to the distant reach of RESULTS around the world. I remember that I almost cried the first time I saw all the people from each U.S. state and all the other countries where RESULTS has taken root. I had no idea of its expanse. Nor had I realized, until I heard the lists of accomplishments, what we as an organization had done.”
Make your plans today, as our discounted hotel rate ends at midnight, May 17. Be sure to check out the IC information page on our website, as we have all you need to help prepare for your trip, book and report your lobby meetings, invite your member of Congress to the dynamite reception, and more. Check out the site more than once, as we update it regularly.
See you at the conference!
Did you know we have an interactive online grassroots forum? The forum will enable activists to communicate and collaborate more directly. Click on My RESULTS, get your personalized sign-in name, and start collaborating.
May 16–22: House recess
May 25: Finale of the current New Activist Orientation series. 9:00 pm ET. Call (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262. Get more information on the next series by contacting Lisa Marchal.
May 30–June 5: Senate recess
June 6–12: House recess
June 11: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709.
June 19–21: RESULTS International Conference
July 9: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709. Expected to be a joint call with our fellow domestic campaigns grassroots advocates.