Global Weekly Update October 3, 2011

If We Don’t Speak Out, Kids Will Be Left Out of School

We’ve seen over and over again that the only way to bridge poverty problems and their solutions is for us to get involved. When we educate our members of Congress, establish relationships with them, and ask them to take action, they often do.

We need our members of Congress to feel a sense of urgency around cosponsoring the Education for All Act of 2011 (H.R.2705). If we can gather strong support for the bill, it will tell the president and his administration that we expect action at the upcoming pledging conference for the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Right now, we have 36 cosponsors for the EFA Act, but 100 would make a powerful statement.

Providing kids with an education is the single most powerful thing we can do to address poverty, disease, and extremism, yet the U.S. has no clear plan to ensure that kids who are out of school will get back into school. The Global Partnership for Education has a proven track record of getting kids into school, and investing in global education has an immense ripple effect and is a better use of our funding.

Take action:

1. Call your Representative’s office and ask him/her to cosponsor the EFA Act of 2011.
2. If you want to take an even more powerful action, ask to speak to the foreign policy aide and use our laser talk to make the request. Follow up by emailing him/her this fact sheet on the EFA Act and this fact sheet on why education is such a great investment.
3. If you need an injection of courage before you make your call, check out this short inspirational video demonstrating that anyone can call their member of Congress in the time it take to make a sandwich.

Current list of cosponsors: Blumenauer, Capuano, Carson, Castor, Connolly, Conyers, Ellison, Filner, Garamendi, Heinrich, Hinchey, Holt, Honda, Jackson, Jr., Johnson, Larsen, Lee, Lewis, Lofgren, Lujan, McDermott, McGovern, McNerney, Moore, Moran, Napolitano, Olver, Price, Reichert, Richardson, Schakowsky, Serrano, Smith, Stark, Woolsey, Yarmuth.

Your Action Is Making a Difference!

• The National Call-in Day on September 26, which rallied us and our coalition partners to speak up for poverty-focused foreign assistance, was a rousing success. We already have some rough statistics from the day even as we are receiving more feedback: we know that at least 135 RESULTSers made calls, the ONE Campaign logged at least 600 calls, and Bread for the World logged more than 967 calls. That’s a minimum of about 1700 calls requesting that Congress take poverty-focused foreign assistance seriously! These preliminary reports give us just a glimpse of the power of our voice when we work together. And watch a powerful duo of activists demonstrate how easy it is to make a call that can help save lives. It will inspire you to future activism.
• GAVI Alliance has announced a dramatic expansion of funding to help countries battle rotavirus and pneumonia deaths in children, particularly in Africa. This is a testament to the power of your advocacy! Read their press release from September 27.
• Fundraisers in Austin, Texas, and Tacoma, Washington, demonstrate the creativity and persistence of our grassroots to fund the movement to end poverty and share the power of advocacy with allies new and old. Stay tuned to our blog and listen on the October conference call, rescheduled for October 15, for the stories behind these events.

Imagine Ending AIDS!

Sounds kind of crazy, but it’s not. Because of the progress being made on AIDS treatment and medicines, and recent research demonstrating that we can break the cycle of HIV by starting treatment early. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Check out our short fact sheet on The Beginning of the End of AIDS.

But the end of AIDS won’t happen unless we all focus and invest the resources needed. We want to take the message of the possibility to end AIDS into World AIDS Day, December 1, 2011, and into the RESULTS International Conference, July 21–24, 2012, to ensure that decison makers maintain focus and commitment. You can start by getting the message out to your community this World AIDS Day. We even have financial resources to help you out.

• Plan an outreach event to build HIV/AIDS awareness in your community with local AIDS groups. Use this World AIDS Day resource page and fact sheet to help you plan.
• Consider engaging one of the 59 members of Congress on the AIDS Caucus in your event, or one of the guest speaker we can send to your town. (Contact Lisa Marchal for a list or check out the biographies of the speaker group on our World AIDS Day resource page.)
• Apply for a World AIDS Day Mini-grant. REF offers grassroots groups the opportunity to apply for funding through a grant application process. These grants are awarded for community advocacy activities such as large outreach events, film screenings, and media plans that promote TB and TB-HIV advocacy. The grants range up to $5,000 and must be administered by a current RESULTS partner. Applications are available now and will be reviewed immediately. To receive funding by December 1, you should apply early. The deadline for applications is October 31.
• Have World AIDS Day be your kick-off to the RESULTS International Conference July 21–24, 2012. Next year the RESULTS IC will coincide with the International AIDS Conference in Washington, DC, and this presents some amazing opportunities for activism. Read RESULTS/REF Executive Director Joanne Carter’s remarks on why this moment matters. Work with your local AIDS activists and invite everyone to DC in 2012!

Grassroots Announcements: News You Can Use

• Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and prolific writer and thinker on the topic of ending poverty, has just released a book entitled The Price of Civilization and is engaged in a book tour.See if he is coming to your town.
• Our national conference call for global activists has been rescheduled for October to respect the observance of Yom Kippur by some of our activists. The new date is Saturday, October 15.
• RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund, 1730 Rhode Island Ave, NW, 4th Floor, Washington DC 20036. No change to phone numbers; new fax number to be updated soon. Thanks for your patience as we complete our transition.

We know that if you get girls into schools and keep them there, you can change the course of a nation.

— Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah, June 2007

October 12: RESULTS Introductory Call. Register today!

October 12: RESULTS Nashville Group Start Workshop. Contact Lisa Marchal for more information.

October 13: Second session of two-session RESULTS New Activist Orientation, 9pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 7612622.

(UPDATED DATE) October 15: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709.

October 24: RESULTS St. Louis Group Start Workshop. Contact Lisa Marchal for more information.

November 2 and November 16: Two-session RESULTS New Activist Orientation, 9 pm ET. (712) 432-3100, passcode 7612622.

November 12: Global Conference Call. 2:00 pm ET. (888) 409-6709.

July 21-24, 2012: RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC.

RESULTS has moved! Our new address, effective October 4 is:
RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund, 1730 Rhode Island Ave, NW, 4th Floor, Washington DC 20036

No change to phone numbers; new fax number to be updated soon. Thanks for your patience as we complete our transition.