Global Weekly Update May 6, 2013
Special Edition: Child Nutrition Campaign
Enjoy this Weekly Update focused exclusively on the debut of our child nutrition campaign!
On June 8, 2013, the UK Government and Brazil will host the first-ever global nutrition pledging event to mobilize new policy and financial commitments to fight malnutrition. This event presents a key opportunity for the U.S. to deepen its commitment to nutrition and enshrine it across all U.S. development, food security, and global health efforts.
We will be engaged in a comprehensive campaign to take advantage of this historical opportunity . . . to make our voice heard and make our influence felt. Read for information about all angles of the campaign.
Join us for the Powerful May National Grassroots Conference Call Focused on Child Nutrition
Gather with us at 2 pm ET on Saturday, May 11, for a great national conference call with other global poverty advocates. Our guest will be Kul Gautam. Mr. Gautam's distinguished career has included serving as deputy executive director of UNICEF from 2000 to 2007, holding the rank of assistant secretary-general of the United Nations. RESULTS advocates from earlier days may be interested to note that Kul was the key senior UNICEF officer responsible for drafting the Declaration and Plan of Action of the 1990 World Summit for Children, the largest gathering of world leaders in history until that time. His expertise will help provide context and inspiration as we embark on our new child nutrition campaign in the run-up to a key high-level meeting on child nutrition on June 8. Read the remarks he gave at our 2010 RESULTS International Conference, gather with others, and join us for the call! Dial (888) 409-6709 to join.
Child Nutrition Media Push Through June
On June 8, 2013, the UK Government and Brazil will host the first-ever global nutrition pledging event to mobilize new policy and financial commitments to fight malnutrition. This event presents a key opportunity for the U.S. to deepen its commitment to nutrition and enshrine it across all U.S. development, food security, and global health efforts.
If we are silent, our communities may not know about this historic opportunity, and the administration may not know that we want the U.S. to be leaders at this pledging conference.
Our goal for our media push is to have two-thirds of our groups to get letters to the editor printed (for a total of 40 letters), for groups that haven’t gotten a letter printed this year to achieve that success, and for our groups to get 10 op-eds or editorials published. Can we do it? We sure can!
Get started toward the goal this week with a poignant Mother’s Day letter to the editor. Let’s tell our communities that we will not stand idly by as one in four children (165 million in 2011) under the age of five is stunted (meaning that chronic undernutrition has resulted in serious and often irreversible physical and cognitive damage). We will have other hooks and opportunities for letter-writing as we draw closer to June, especially around World Hunger Day (May 28) and even Father’s Day, right after the pledging conference.
Start writing using one of our handy tools, and then share the opportunity with a friend!
1. Got just a couple of minutes? Use our Mother’s Day action alert to help you write your letter to the editor!
2. Got 15 minutes? Use our longer, more comprehensive May action sheet to support your letter-writing.
3. Got 30 minutes? Craft a compelling op-ed of your own, or pitch your paper’s local editorial writer or editorial board, using our new editorial packet! (Get quick support in writing your op-ed and in making your pitch to your paper through our online activist milestones.)
Need even more support? Mark May 21, 8 pm ET on your calendar. This call, held monthly, is designed to offer inspiration and ideas to keep you going toward media success. Dial 218-862-1300, passcode 682494 to join this call.
Choose to Fast and/or Tweet about Child Nutrition on World Hunger Day, May 28
Another angle to our campaign is our optional fasting day on World Hunger Day, May 28, and the social media flurry we hope to generate on Twitter. We are using all sorts of tools to call for robust U.S. leadership at the June 8 pledging conference. Social media is one of those tools.
More information will be available soon, but we can tell you today that anyone is invited to consider signing up to fast for a full or half day in solidarity with the 165 million children who are chronically undernourished worldwide. To leverage this effort, you are encouraged to use your activity as a media hook for the 40 letters to the editor and 10 op-eds/editorials we hope to generage through June.
To further leverage this unique day, you are invited to join the mass Twitter action on World Hunger Day (May 28) to tweet about the fast. The tweets will be directed to @USAID, @WhiteHouse, and @StateDept, and the hashtag is #Nutrition4Growth. Those who can’t fast are still invited to tweet and retweet, and all are encouraged to write letters to the editors and opeds.
You can even identify community leaders willing to fast, write, and tweet.
Sign up online and share this with your friends.
Finally, Check out Our Child Nutrition Resource Page!
We have a comprehensive child nutrition page on the RESULTS website that will be continually updated as we approach the June 8 child nutrition pledging conference (Nutrition for Growth). On this page, you’ll find all the different resources referred to in this weekly update — a summary of the rationales and priority requests of the child nutrition campaign, recordings of our recent support calls/webinars helping explain the campaign, support for writing your letters to the editor and op-eds/editorials, a place to sign up for the fasting/tweeting on World Hunger Day, inspiring videos, and more. Bookmark this page and refer to it often!
Backed up by good research and evidence that is presented in a very simple, understandable manner, RESULTS has been a premier advocacy and lobbying organization much respected and admired in the Capitol Hill.
— Kul Gautam, our May national conference call guest for global poverty advocates, at the 2010 RESULTS International Conference
1. May 8, 9 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Heard of RESULTS and want to know more? Join us for this 30-minute introductory call. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join.
2. May 11, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Poverty Campaigns. Dial (888) 409-6709 to join!
3. May 20, 8 pm ET. Next RESULTS Free Agents call for global poverty advocates. Dial: (218) 486-1611, passcode 7378587 (RESULTS). 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, Senior Global Grassroots Associate, for more information on this monthly group call.
4. May 21, 8 pm ET. Media Support Call. Want to be part of the on-going support that’s available to help you reach your media goals? Then this is the call for you! Join monthly for inspiration and ideas to keep you going. Dial (218) 862-1300, passcode 682494 to join this call.
5. May 31, 1 pm ET. RESULTS Introductory Call. Heard of RESULTS and want to know more? Join us for this 30-minute introductory call. Contact us with any questions and RSVP for the call. Dial (712) 432-3100, passcode 761262 to join.
6. July 20–23. RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC. Registration is open!