Global Weekly Update September 16, 2013

Top Actions: Bipartisan Support for the Education for All Act & Child Nutrition Resolution

No matter which political party they are from, most of our representatives value educating and nourishing children. The Education for All Act (HR 2780) and the Child Nutrition Resolution (H. Res. 254) will improve how we spend existing foreign aide resources. In order for these measures to receive serious consideration we need to generate a significant number of cosponsorships from both parties. Our goal is to get 100 cosponsors for each of the two measures with a nice bipartisan split. Here’s what you can do today:

• 5-Minute Action: Send a letter to your Rep. requesting he/she cosponsor the Education For All Act and the Child Nutrition Resolution. Remember to personalize your letters, and yes, you can do both in about 5 minutes.
• 10-Minute Action: Use the Education for All laser talk or the Child Nutrition laser talk to call the foreign policy aide in your representative’s office.
  • If you don’t know it, find the name of your representative.
  • Find out if your representative has cosponsored the EFA Act or the Child Nutrition Resolution.
  • Call the office using the Capitol Switchboard number ((202) 224-3121), ask for the foreign policy office, then use your laser talk to make the request.

Not Too Late: Saturday Sept. 21 Book Parties and Call

Many of you are gearing up for book parties this Saturday, September 21. Remember to follow up on your invitations and have plenty of fun on hand. But even if you haven’t been planning, you can still gather with your local chapter or a few friends and dial in on Saturday night at 8 pm ET to hear Sam Daley-Harris, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, and Joanne Carter. Dial in to (888) 409-6709 and ask for the RESULTS call. Here’s what the call will look like:

• Opening by Joanne Carter: Welcome, why RESULTS is different, how our model demystifies change
• Sam Daley-Harris: Why RESULTS got started, key ideas from Reclaiming Our Democracy that show up in our work
• Dr. Muhammad Yunus: Why RESULTS matters
• Open phones for responses to the question: Who were you before RESULTS as a citizen, change maker, community leader and who are you now?

You can find resources for planning book parties. We encourage you to organize a book discussion after the call, perhaps 6-8 weeks later to give people time to read all or part of the book.

Closing the Loop on Actions: Global Fund Media Call, Child Survival Briefing

Global Fund Media Call. Thanks to everyone who asked their papers to be on the 9/12 Global Fund media call with Mark Dybul, Ray Chambers, Lucy Chesire, and Joanne Carter. You can find a recording of the 30-minute call, and a great summary of the call on the ACTION blog. The speakers make the case that it is significanlty more cost effective to invest in controlling AIDS, TB, and Malaria than it is to underfund efforts to control these killers. It is very compelling and worth sharing with your editors and health writers. None of the journalists from your communities were on the call, so please sent them a link to the blog and the recording.

Child Survival Briefing. Thanks to those of you who invited the staff from your resentatives’ offices to the Child Survival briefing on 9/12. There were representatives from the following offices at the briefing:

Rep. McCollum (MN), Rep. Reichert (WA), Rep. Bera (CA), Rep. Burgess (TX), Rep. Capps (CA), Rep. Costa (CA), Rep. DelBene (WA), Rep. Fattah (PA), Rep. Lowey (NY), Rep. David Price (NC), Rep. Sinema (AZ), Rep. Wasserman Schultz (FL).

The briefing highlighted the most recent child survival estimates by UNICEF. Find more on the report. There is good news and bad news. Here are some highlights:

• If current trends continue, the world as a whole will not meet its commitment to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds until 2028 — 13 years after the MDG deadline.
• The stakes are high: based on current projections, an additional 35 million children will die between 2015 and 2028 — children who could have lived, had we met MDG 4 on time and sustained the progress. These figures are all the more unconscionable because the world has affordable, evidence-based interventions that can prevent so many of these deaths.
• The report also inspires hope. The global under-five mortality rate has roughly halved, from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 48 per 1,000 in 2012. The estimated annual number of under-five deaths has fallen from 12.6 million (34,520 per day) to 6.6 million (18,082 per day) over the same period.
• Moreover, the world is currently reducing under-five mortality faster than at any other time during the past two decades. The global annual rate of reduction has steadily accelerated, more than tripling since the early 1990s.

This is why our top action on Child Nutrition Resolution 254 (above) is so important.

Development Update: Fundraising Engages

Virtual Fun-raising. Know anyone who loves Lord of the Rings and likes to run or walk? We have a fun new virtual run fundraiser going right now for donors to support RESULTS Educational Fund by running/walking at their convenience and earning medals inspired by the villains of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. Please share the site with anyone you think might be interested! Registration is open now through October 31. See our registration website for more details: LOTR Virtual Villains Challenge.

Out with the Old. Please recycle or discard any RESULTS donation envelopes you may have with a “Uniondale, NY” or “1730 Rhode Island Ave” address. We are printing new donation envelopes for your events with our new address of “1101 15th Ave NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20005” If you need envelopes for an upcoming event, please contact your event coach Jen Defranco ([email protected]) or Cindy Levin ([email protected]).

That’s when I feel most alive, when I’m helping people.

— Dr. Paul Farmer in Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

The RESULTS DC office has moved! The new address is 1101 15th St. NW, Ste. 1200, Washington, DC, 20005.

1. September 17, 8 pm ET (Tonight). 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. The Cameron Duncan Media Award is given to a deserving journalist at the annual International Conference, and we want to create professional media champions worthy of this award! This month, we’ll share highlights from the Media 101 workshop at the International Conference; also, bring your stories of success to share! Dial (218) 862-1300, passcode 682494 to join this call.

2. September 21, 8 pm ET/5 pm PT. Outreach Conference Call to Re-launch Reclaiming Our Democracy. Dial in to (888) 409-6709 and ask for the RESULTS call. To celebrate the release of the 20th anniversary edition of Reclaiming Our Democracy by RESULTS founder Sam Daley-Harris, Sam will be joined on a conference call with Dr. Muhammad Yunus and RESULTS Executive Director Joanne Carter. Use this call, and the companion planning guide, to create a great book party for outreach in your community.

3. September 23 (special date), 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. September 27, 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.

5. October 5. World Teacher Day

6. October 9, 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.

7. October 12, 2 pm ET. RESULTS National Grassroots Conference Call for Global Poverty Campaigns. Dial (888) 409-6709 to join!

8. October 16. World Food Day. Contact Carly Pildis ([email protected]) if you want to plan a Dinner in a Box event for friends, colleagues, your chapter, or local school.