The APB (Anti-Poverty Blog)

IL Social Services 100% budget...act BEFORE July 14!!

2009-07-10T20:54:00.004-05:00

From Ounce of Prevention, a group which provides direct services, research and advocacy on behalf of children in poverty in IL.

"On July 1, the General Assembly failed to pass a tax increase needed to avoid disastrous cuts and adequately fund human services and education for young children. Governor Quinn later vetoed the “50% lump sum budget” and another budget bill to fund general state operations, forcing budget negotiations to continue.
The General Assembly will return July 14 to Springfield. We anticipate that they will attempt to override the governor’s veto of the budget bills and hope they will continue to discuss revenue options, including the income tax. One income tax option is HB174 which was endorsed by the governor, passed by the Senate, and approved by a committee of the House. This bill provides a blueprint for a fair, equitable and permanent solution to avert further budget disaster and restore responsibility to government.

Now is the most crucial time for you to take action! We must urge legislators to accept the governor’s veto and craft a new budget that is fair, responsible, and balanced. If they do not do this, the total meltdown of critical services for the most vulnerable children and families will only worsen."

PLEASE VISIT THIS LINK TO HELP YOU CALL AND/OR EMAIL YOUR STATE REP AND SENATOR BEFORE JULY 14!!!
Advocate Now!

The site will give you:
- Talking points (it will tell you exactly what bills and motions to ask them to oppose or support to get the 100% budget)
- Who your state members of Congress are
- Contact info for them and the opportunity to log your call with Ounce of Prevention (so they can say "Listen, we know exactly how many of your constituents called you to support this! Don't pretend they don't care!!")
- An email tool to send it directly to their offices for you

Even though Ounce of Prevention is about kid's issues, feel free to include your concerns about seniors, too. This is a platform for you to say whatever you want. Don't be scared to call. A call carries more weight than an email. They will not challenge you or grill you. Thank you for caring enough to act!

What I needed to learn to change the world

2009-07-01T13:29:00.003-05:00

For those of you wondering what the heck RESULTS is, this org I've been working for....this is a wonderful summation of what it's all about. It's written by Steve "The Hookman" Valk, one of my RESULTS partners that lives in GA. -ccyl
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What I needed to learn to change the world
by Steve Valk

This Tuesday will find me on Capitol Hill once again, talking to members of Congress or their aides about what we can do to end extreme poverty in our world. I’ve been doing this nearly every summer since the 1980s as a volunteer with RESULTS, a little-known but highly effective advocacy organization. Many might see my quest as an exercise in futility and me a latter-day Don Quixote tilting at windmills.

But I know better.

I first got involved with RESULTS at a time in my life when I was an angry young man who was on his way to becoming an angry middle-aged man, leading eventually to being an angry old man. I was angry about the great injustices and problems of the world and at the people who had the power to fix things but didn’t.

A young woman who would later become my wife introduced me to RESULTS. I didn’t think much about it when she tried to explain it – something about creating the political will to end hunger. I said I was glad there were people like her doing that, all the while thinking I couldn’t waste my time on something so hopeless and destined for failure. Six months later, my curiosity overcame my resistance, and I went to a meeting.

It was a conference call where we listened by speaker box to a former substitute music teacher and founder of RESULTS named Sam Harris. Hundreds of volunteers across the country were connected. At the end of the call, there was roll call for all the groups to announce how many were in the room and how many letters they would write to their representatives or how many newspapers they would call to pitch an editorial. Listening to all the cities – from Miami to San Francisco -- announce their numbers, it suddenly struck me that I was not alone. There were others like me, a conspiracy, if you will, to make the world a better place. I thought: “This might actually work.”

My newfound faith in my ability to change things was quickly tested.

In January of 1985, as famine threatened the lives of millions in Ethiopia (Remember “We Are the World”?), an emergency spending bill was introduced to provide food aid. We managed to get a meeting with a newly elected member of Congress, a conservative Republican named Pat Swindall. We asked him to support the emergency appropriation. We were dumbstruck by his response:

“I don’t think the government should be doing this sort of thing. This is something that the churches and private groups should do.”

He was unmoved by our protestations that churches and non-governmental organizations couldn’t match the resources the U.S. government could provide and that millions would perish if we failed to act.

True to his word, when the bill reached the House floor, Pat not only voted against it (one of only 15 to vote nay), he made a speech on the floor about why he opposed it. We hung our heads in shame that Pat Swindall was our representative. My first exercise in citizen lobbying was a dismal failure.

A few weeks later, Sam Harris called to check in with our group. We told him about our disappointing effort with Pat Swindall. My feeling was that if the guy wouldn’t vote for famine relief, there was little point in talking to him about anything else. Best we could hope for was that somebody else would get elected to his seat two years later.

“Well, yeah, you could do that,” Sam said, “but in the meantime there’s 40,000 children dying in the world each day from preventable causes. Are you sure you want to wait that long?”

“I get your point,” I said. “So what can we do?”

Sam said there was a group in Texas struggling with a similar situation. They had written a prayer for their congressman designed to change their view of him from one of contempt and resignation to one of respect and optimism, to see him as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. We adapted the prayer for our own use and recited it aloud when we were together.

At first, we didn’t sound very convincing, especially when we got to the end: “Help us to find the next expression of love for Pat.” There was an unspoken but palpable “yeah, right” the first couple of times we said the prayer. But the more we said it, the more we came to believe it, and eventually our view of him shifted. It was time to see him again.

Every month or so, Swindall would show up at a public place – a book store or hardware store – to talk to constituents. These small, informal gatherings were dubbed “Chat With Pat,” but they often turned into “Spat With Pat.” Folks would introduce themselves and speak their minds for a couple of minutes, some of them getting very confrontational with Pat about something he’d said or done, voices raised and fingers wagging. These exchanges agitated Pat and put him on the defensive, and he gave as good as he got. These folks clearly had something to get off their chest, which they succeeded in doing. But ten minutes later when they walked out the door, the question had to pop into their head: “What, exactly, did I accomplish in there?”

When Pat would come around to us, our hand was extended, and we greeted him with a smile instead of a scowl. We thanked him for taking the time to make himself available. We could see by his expression and body language that he was much more at ease. He was also ready to listen intently.

Our mission was to simply educate him on issues (a request would come later). We did this through a technique in RESULTS called the “laser talk,” which relates an issue in one to two minutes, making it clear, concise and compelling. We started telling him about a Bangladeshi economist named Muhammad Yunus who was making small loans to destitute women so they could start small businesses and lift themselves out of poverty. He loved the concept. We shared more about it each time we saw him.

Early in 1987, RESULTS helped draft and introduce the first microcredit legislation considered by Congress. Called The Self-Sufficiency for the Poor Act, the bill authorized funding within the foreign aid bill for micro-lending programs throughout the world such as the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Generating the political will for this required a great number of co-sponsors. It was time for an office appointment with Pat Swindall.

As the four of us prepped for our meeting, I turned to my wife and said, “I’ve got a feeling he’s going to say yes to co-sponsoring this bill, and when he does, I’m going to ask if he’ll do a piece for one of the papers about why he’s supporting this.”

“I don’t know,” Sara said. “You might be pushing your luck with that.”

“There’s nothing to lose. I’m going to ask him.”

We poured into Pat’s office, hauling in a TV and VCR with us. Our mood and our attitude had changed remarkably since that first office meeting in 1985. We knew in our hearts that Pat didn’t want to see people suffer and die needlessly any more than we did. We had a powerful solution to offer, and he was in a position to move that solution forward. We all spoke our laser talks flawlessly, and when it came time to watch the video, Pat sat on his desk, knees propped under his chin. When the video was over, I made the pitch for our request, finishing with the big question:

“Pat, will you co-sponsor the Self-Sufficiency for the Poor Act?”

There was no “I’ll have to take a closer look at the bill” or “Let me see who else is supporting this” or any of a number of things a congressman might say to wiggle out of making a commitment.

“I’d be delighted to co-sponsor this bill,” he said without a second’s hesitation.

It was all we could do to keep from jumping out of our chairs. Two years ago he had voted against famine aid. Now Pat Swindall was co-sponsoring the first microcredit bill.

With my head swimming, I struggled to gather my thoughts and make the second request, the one about publishing a column on his support for the bill. As the words were forming in my mouth, he beat me to the punch.

“You know, this is the kind of thing the public should really know about. Tell you what. I’ve got a column that runs in the DeKalb News-Sun every couple of weeks. Do you think you could write something up about this and give it to my staff to look over and then submit as my column?”

I turned to my wife with a grin so wide it hurt. Then I turned to the congressman.

“Pat, that’s a great idea. I think we can do that.”

My feet never touched the ground from Pat’s office to the car. I was now ghostwriting for a member of Congress who, two years prior, had voted against aid to keep people from starving. My view of the world was forever altered. It was no longer a world of us versus them, of good guys versus bad guys (bad guys being people who didn’t share my views). It was now a world of greater possibility.

The Self-Sufficiency for the Poor Act garnered more than 100 co-sponsors. The bill never came up for a vote, but because of all the support it generated, money was set aside in the foreign aid appropriations bill for microcredit programs. The United States quickly became the leader in funding micro-lending programs around the world, with billions now invested in this innovative strategy.

Ten years after this legislation was introduced, the first Microcredit Summit was held in Washington, DC, where 2,900 participants committed to extending microcredit to 100 million of the world’s poorest families. Ten years later, that goal was achieved, and Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize for providing loans to the poor.

So much for windmills. These are real people being given ladders to climb out of life-crushing poverty. And I’ve had a hand in making that happen.

So on Tuesday I will walk up to the Hill again and sit down with people who don’t share my party affiliation. And with a gleam in my eye I’ll look at them and, in so many words say, “Let’s talk about what we can do to change the world today.”

For some, being right is all that matters. Me? I’d rather make a difference.

Bringing Kids to Lobby

2009-06-26T10:22:00.002-05:00

I have so many cool stories from my recent trip to DC with my RESULTS group I hardly know where to begin. But, as always, when I don't know what to talk about...I talk about my kids or something they've done. :)

One of the most interesting successes of our group lobby visits on the Hill this year was our new tactic of bringing the voices of children into our visits. We didn’t literally have them with us, but with a little prep work at home we were able to help kids have a powerful impact in our message to promote Global Education.

Global Education is an easy topic for kids to connect with, so I held a letter-writing party for neighborhood moms who brought their children to write with them. We read the story of “One Hen” by Katie Smith Milway together. It’s a true story about a boy who used a microcredit loan to buy one hen, which begins his family’s path out of poverty. (Since they eventually pay school fees with it and use the proceeds of a chicken farm to send him to college, it’s a Global Ed story, too). Then, the moms and kids wrote letters for our meetings. Our local media was also invited to the party which resulted in a front page story about our lobby visits with two large color pictures of our kids busily writing the very letters we’d deliver in person on Lobby Day. In addition, another group member had her high school kids send letters with their opinions, too. Every time we brought out that front-page picture, and especially if we had kid letters with it, it brought the meeting to a halt in a very good way. Studious expressions turned to smiles, our group was complimented for our initiative, the cute kids were ooh-ed and aah-ed over.

As an example of how much children can help us, I offer a story from Senator Burris’ office. After discussing Global Education – complete with our media, kid-letters, a story about Julia and her “Journey with an Afghan School” project – I wrapped up by saying that if Julia could accomplish all she had at her own personal risk and expense, surely the U.S. could step up and do more. He then told us a story from a meeting with Bread for the World that took place week prior to our visit. Bread activists had brought 8-year-old girl Adrienne along with them. She told her personal story of selling pencils in her class and raising $900 for an international development project. With her feet swinging, not even able to reach the floor, she ended by telling him that if she could do that, she thought the American government could do more, too. It obviously made a big impression on him as he repeated the story with the comment directed toward both Bread and RESULTS, “You guys are really good at this!” He then asked if the kids’ addresses were all included because he really wanted to make sure that they each got a response.

For the RESULTS parents out there, I’d like to say this…sometimes it seems like it’s hard to merge our worlds of highly intellectual lobbying and highly emotional caretaking. Yet I urge you to find creative ways to blend the two. Our lobbying needs more emotion, personal connection and icebreakers in general. Kid-letters and media with children featured is a great way to do this. We only had actual kid-generated letters to deliver for two of our meetings. For every other meeting, I showed our front-page picture, which helped, but I wished I had more of those letters to hand out. For next year, I can only say this…we’re gonna need some more kids!

2009 Bread Lobby Day a success

2009-06-25T23:23:00.004-05:00

I couldn't attend Bread for the World's Lobby Day in Washington, DC to lobby for Foreign Assistance Reform, but many of my colleagues did. Sounds like it was a great success. I, myself, followed up a week later with the RESULTS group (more on that later!)...but I did keep my Bread hat on and made sure we talked about Foreign Aid as well to reinforce the message! Here's a Bread update about it... -ccyl

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Foreign Assistance Reform

Lobby Day 2009, held June 16, was an enormous success! Some 320 participants from 38 states held more than 180 meetings with members of Congress or their staff.
By the end of the week, 11 more members of Congress cosponsored H.R. 2139, the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009. The bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), received more than 25 phone calls from other congressional offices asking for more information.
As of yesterday, H.R. 2139 had 46 cosponsors. More are set to cosponsor as a result of Lobby Day and your calls and letters.
We are preparing for the introduction of an initial foreign assistance reform bill in the Senate within the next few weeks.
Thank you to all who attended, and also to all who could not attend Lobby Day but phoned their representatives about H.R. 2139.

Education is Basic Right for All Children

2009-06-13T00:45:00.003-05:00

Printed in the Morton Grove Champion, June 11 2009
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Education is Basic Right for All Children

School’s out for summer vacation and some of us parents are wondering what to do with kids at home all day. For many families, lack of school means squabbling siblings and child-care hassles until camp starts. But what would it mean if there were no school – ever? That’s the reality for the families of over 75 million children around the world without access to basic primary education.

As the economic crisis continues, children in extreme poverty continue to be its biggest victims as they are forced to leave school to work, care for siblings, join armies, or even be sold into slavery. Yet education is the single, most effective intervention to help them lead productive, healthy, and safe lives. Without decisive leadership to achieve Education for All, these kids will remain trapped in poverty without education. Progress made since 2000 to increase school enrollment could be reversed.

While campaigning, President Obama pledged $2 billion toward a Global Fund for Education. By eliminating school fees, improving teacher quality, and providing textbooks and other incentives to keep kids in school, the U.S. can literally change the future of an entire generation at risk. For that, $2 billion is a bargain. Plus, we would get the added value of international goodwill and make children less easy prey for extremist regimes.

Increasing the U.S. global education contribution to our fair share can greatly accelerate progress toward universal primary education for all children by 2015. Despite the dismal economy, there are countries ready and waiting for American leadership in creating a multilateral Global Fund for Education. A Global Fund would harmonize donor contributions to ensure quick and effective disbursement of educational aid. Work is being done to reform and expand existing mechanisms, but for efforts to be ambitious, the U.S. must boost the capacity of the international community. The world is waiting for us.

Our country isn’t so self-absorbed that we disregard the need for education in the world’s poorest communities. Americans care. President Obama cares. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, long-time champion of basic education rights, cares. A minivan mom like me cares. We need congressional appropriators like Representative Mark Kirk (R-10th) and Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) to care enough to appropriate the $2 billion and support a new Global Fund. Because no child should be on a permanent vacation from school.

-ccyl

John Kerry to introduce foreign aid reform in Senate

2009-06-13T00:16:00.002-05:00

Somehow I missed this. This was sent out by Bread for the World's president David Beckmann on May 22.

Exciting developments for foreign aid reform have happened in Washington, DC, this week—largely because of the persistent advocacy of Bread for the World’s grassroots network. Officials are starting to take notice. Yesterday, Senator John Kerry made an important speech calling for the comprehensive reform of foreign aid. He announced his plans to introduce a companion bill to the House’s Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 2139) in the Senate. The Obama administration has begun to weigh in on the issue as well.

Senate Praises Bread for the World's Advocacy Work

2009-06-09T21:10:00.002-05:00

Usually, advocacy organizations are recognizing members of Congress for their work. Last week, it was the other way around! Thank you, Senator Durbin!

"Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) introduced a resolution recognizing Bread for the World’s 35 years of work on hunger and poverty. Sens. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) and Richard Durbin (D-IL) were original cosponsors of the resolution. S. Res. 157 passed the Senate by unanimous consent on June 2."

Being Truthful with Ourselves: global poverty and education

2009-06-02T19:16:00.004-05:00

My fellow RESULTS partner shows us how to show constructively show our outrage about global poverty in an op-ed. Nice one, Ken!
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Being Truthful with Ourselves
By Ken Patterson

Let’s stop kidding ourselves. When I talk to people about the US helping the 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 per day, inevitably there are those who say, “We shouldn’t be sending aid to foreign countries because we need to take care of our own here at home first.” I reject this rationale because it represents a false choice—like somehow helping the world’s poorest people in addition to taking care of our citizens isn’t possible. The truth is, even if we kept all foreign aid dollars at home, and then discovered a mountain of gold somewhere that helped us wipe out all of our national debt, the needy in the US would be no better off. The reason? It’s plain and simple--because we haven’t chosen to resolve the problems of poverty. We have chosen to do many other things with our resources, but eradicating poverty isn’t one of them.

In the late 70s the National Academy of Sciences reported that the world was producing enough food so that nobody would ever have to die of hunger. The report concluded, though, that the barrier to achieving a hunger-free world was a lack of political will. We produce even more food per person today than we did 30 years ago, yet people still go hungry, so we clearly have not found the political will to end hunger. We also have not found the political will to stop nearly 10 million children from dying of preventable causes each year, or the political will to put 75 million primary school-age children in school around the globe. In the meantime, though, we have found the political will in the US to spend more on defense than all other nations combined. We have found the will to create a wealth-shifting tax code that has allowed the ratio of CEO to worker salaries to jump from 42 to 1 in 1982, to over 301 to 1 in 2005. We have had the political will to create a health care system that allows some to get liver transplants and Viagra while 46 million others can’t even get basic health care. So let’s be clear, “taking care of our own” is something we have chosen not to do, and reducing foreign assistance won’t change that.

So when will we as a people and a nation seriously decide to eradicate hunger and poverty? When will we wake up and instruct our decision makers to make different choices? It’s not rocket science—we just need to prioritize the needs of the people and stay focused on achieving our vision. For example, we know that, at any given moment, a certain percentage of our nation’s people will be out of work, down on their luck, affected by domestic violence, or struggling with mental illness. Shouldn’t we design our system to accommodate this? And right now, around the globe, there are 75 million primary school-aged children who don’t even have access to school. Yet we know that girls in poor nations will earn a 20% higher wage, and their children will be 10% less likely to die of preventable causes for each year of education they have past 3rd or 4th grade. That’s poverty reduction. And the missing funding to put these 75 million children in school is about $11 billion per year—less than the recent Wall Street bonuses we were all up in arms about. Can’t we figure out as a world community, how to come up with $11 billion per year to invest in education when we know it will help reduce poverty and build nations?

We have chosen not to solve one of the major problems of our time—abject poverty. By failing to address basic human needs of health care, education, and dignified work we have created other problems—poverty, instability, and extremism. By choosing not to educate children around the globe we have allowed poor nations to continue to be poor, and left others with no choice but to search for a path out of desperation through lives of extremism. But this can change if we have the will to change it.

During his campaign President Obama pledged to invest $2 billion to initiate a multi-lateral Global Fund for Education. Let’s encourage him to act now. His leadership on global education would catalyze the political will of the world to do one of the most important things we can do to end poverty—educate the world’s children. Now is the time.

Jan Schakowsky signs onto HR 2139!

2009-05-23T11:29:00.003-05:00

Breaking news: WE DID IT!! On Thurs, Jan Schakowsky signed on to co-sponsor HR 2139, the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act.

This bill (co-introduced by Mark Kirk, R-10th) will start the process of revamping our outdated Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (which controls all the ways we provide help to people in poverty around the world). For more info on it, you can see the Bread for the World video: http://www.offeringofletters.org/video.html There will be more for us to do on this in the fall when it involves the Senate, too, but for now please thank her for her support if you are a IL-9th district constituent.

Bread for the World and RESULTS have worked together and diligently with her office to get this to happen. When I called her staff about about HR 2139s, her global affairs aide pulled up the bill and said "Yes, what IS this exactly?" and didn't think they would be needed to sign on. Because of constituent letters and phone calls, we were able to open a door of communication for the DC anti-poverty staff, educate her office about HR 2139 and gain her co-sponsorship.

I've provided a sample letter for you to personalize if that can help you.

-ccyl

PS Don't forget your address on the letter and on the outside envelope! Sending it to her district office in Evanston will be fastest...

The Honorable Jan Schakowsky
820 Davis Street, Suite 105
Evanston, IL 60201

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Date

Dear Congresswoman Schakowsky,

Thank you for co-sponsoring H.R. 2139, the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act. This bill is a good first step in making our nations foreign assistance more effective and streamlined. As your constituent, I am very happy to see your leadership in our country's effort to help people in desperate need. Please work to ensure the bill maintains a focus on poverty so that we can provide the most good for the people who need it the most.

Sincerely,

Your Name
Your Address

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Some additional points to play with...

-U.S. foreign assistance has helped reduce child deaths, improve agricultural capacity, and increase school enrollment. But more lives can be saved if we improve the way foreign aid is delivered.
- By making our foreign assistance more efficient and effective, U.S. assistance will have a greater impact on poor and hungry people around the world - critical in these tough economic times
- Reforming foreign aid get the most of our tax dollars makes good economic sense for our country and for people in extreme poverty struggling to survive on less than $1.25 a day.

A Justice Themed Verse and Voice from Sojourners

2009-05-21T17:29:00.002-05:00

Quotes
"Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you."
- Deuteronomy 16:20

"Charity depends on the vicissitudes of whim and personal wealth; justice depends on commitment instead of circumstance. Faith-based charity provides crumbs from the table; faith-based justice offers a place at the table."
- Bill Moyers, Television journalist and social commentator

Prayer:
Pray for the leaders of the world’s richest countries, that the aid they have promised developing countries will be delivered and that the crippling debts still owed by those countries will be forgiven.
Source: Micah Challenge USA

"You have to be rich to be poor..." Wash Post article

2009-05-19T13:19:00.003-05:00

The Washington Post ran a great article on May 18, 2009 called "Poor? Pay up" shedding light on an unjust paradox. The poorer a person is, the more things cost. This whole thing just makes me ill.

A lot of is has to do with the food and convenience issues (milk at a Safeway...$2.29 for 2 gallons. milk at a corner store where you're forced to shop if you have no car? $4.99), but there is even more that really burns me up. The poorest people in our economy don't have decent access to financial services. Those who provide services to this sector are often little more than predators piling service fees onto people who can't afford it. The image of a villainous landlord twirling a mustache comes to mind, but it's much more systemized than any individual baddie. Here is an excerpt, but click here for the full article.

Hopefully, Bread for the World's Offering of Letters campaign next year may take on this very issue!!!

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"The rich have direct deposit for their paychecks. The poor have check-cashing and payday loan joints, which cost time and money. Payday advance companies say they are providing an essential service to people who most need them. Their critics say they are preying on people who are the most "economically vulnerable."

"As you've seen with the financial services industry, if people can cut a profit, they do it," Blumenauer says. "The poor pay more for financial services. A lot of people who are 'unbanked' pay $3 for a money order to pay their electric bill. They pay a 2 percent check-cashing fee because they don't have bank services. The reasons? Part of it is lack of education. But part of it is because people target them. There is evidence that credit-card mills have recently started trolling for the poor. They are targeting the recently bankrupt."

Lobbying for HR2139: train station and asian grocery

2009-05-16T21:17:00.002-05:00

Bread for the World activist Carlos Navarro shows us that how we can lobby on poverty issues anytime anywhere. New Mexico reps were out and about the state in a few unlikely places. He blogs about how he and another Bread activist sought them out to ask for their co-sponsorhip on the "Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform" bill.

This is my favorite part....
"It was with great delight that we discovered that Rep. Heinrich was holding "office hours" in the deli section of Talin World Market. This store started as an Asian supermarket, but has expanded its scope to include foods from the Caribbean, Italy, Egypt, and other regions. What better place to discuss a bill on international issues with our member of Congress? I spent a little more time with Mr. Heinrich than I did with Mr. Teague. He gave me almost as much time as we get during our Lobby Day meetings in Washington. The difference here is that we were surrounded by meat and food cases and wonderful smells!"

Bravo, Mr. Navarro!

Sachs: Ending poverty not possible w/o attn to water and climate

2009-05-14T11:05:00.004-05:00

Last night, I saw Jeffrey Sachs speak in a panel discussion in Chicago about water and sustainability. He mainly spoke about water scarcity. I got to ask him a question during the forum and here's how it went. It's a sobering answer for anti-pov folks to ponder. I apologize about the breaks in the transcript..my recording technology is rather inferior :(

ccyl: It's a common assertion among anti-poverty advocates that "We now have the resources and the technology to eliminate poverty. All we need is the political will" Given what we've been hearing tonight...especially the part about having no ready technical solutions for water...is that true for this problem? And if it isn't true for water issues, can that statement true about poverty anymore since you can't thrive or survive without water?

Sachs: I think there’s a tremendous amount of truth in that statement so I want to start by saying that it’s more true than not. We have more than a billion people on the planet who every single day are struggling for survival. That, in my view is wholly --- In the 21st century with what we know, we should not have 9 million children dying every year before their 5th birthday. And we should not be in a situation where people are struggling by the hundreds of millions, for every (yield?) and their very survival. That’s how life is for a lot of people. I believe that could be ended. Even in the dry-land areas where you do face tremendous drought in many of the places we’re working you get 4 or 5 good years and then you get a drought year. Even with that, which is very painful, one can plan for that, one can adapt to it to an extent…but I’m not recommending it as a stopping point….but it’s vastly better than the situation we have right now because the situation we have right now is that even in those four average rainfall years the people are not able because they lack the cultivation tools to generate the surplus which could carry them through a bad year. And so what I’ve been recommending for many, many years is that we make targeted, science-based, sensible investments… because the food production on average could double by virtue of it tripling in the good years. Maybe not doing so much for the bad years, but at least creating an environment that is on average much higher. Then, in a while the bad years can be fought through without utter desperation.

We haven’t talked a lot about solutions here and maybe we should. Because even if ---- water is the hardest of all the issues. There are a lot of things that can and should be done from water harvesting, landscape management, --- changes , drought resistance, crop--, low --- irrigation at least for part of the farming --- for these circumstances. So I say at the starting point, don’t lose hope ... because tremendous things can be done even up to the dry-land areas … but then let me add this sobering point as well because I think it’s important. For the true dry-land areas where it’s not 7 or 800 millimeters of rainfall, but it’s 200 or 300 millimeters, maybe too low for crops. … for those places in the world, this is a very, very hard problem… where in certain areas where we’re working we can do certain things but….that may be 1/5 of the extreme poverty, requiring even greater investment for the solution…but that 1/5 is a part of the world we need to take note of. Why? Because that’s where Darfur is. That’s where Somalia is. That’s where Afghanistan is. It’s not --- We can’t come to understand this in our country yet. That we’re facing water crises, we’re not facing Islam. We’re facing hungry places that are destabilized because they don’t have livelihoods and because the children are hungry and people are dying. In Somalia, we have the piracy and why? That place is so water stretched and therefore so economically and socially stretched that they haven’t been able to, they haven’t even been able to maintain a government in the past generation. It’s this lawless, warlord --- they’ve descended into a kind of anarchy. Why? Not just because it’s arbitrarily so. Because that is one of the driest places on the whole planet. …We just gave for the first time in a long time 250 million of aid for Somalia. But you know what it was for? For a Coast
Guard. Honest to God. It was not for a water pump. Not for water (wells?) Our problem is we view these places as means, not as ends. We don’t take at all seriously that there are people there. We only ask, “What’s it mean for us?” That’s a huge mistake for our country. We have to ask, “What’s going on there?” It’s the same thing we have to ask in Pakistan and Afghanistan. And I fear that the war is spreading right now. Because we haven’t yet come to the realization that unfortunately the military is not going to solve these problems. And the final point I would make on this: if we let climate change just run loose, these places will become uninhabitable. And so this vision of finding a way for them to escape from poverty, which I deeply believe in and spend my nights and days and days and nights working on…we will not be able to keep up with a runaway change in global climate. Similarly, we can’t keep up with a runaway population, so we have to get serious about population policy, contraception, family planning, climate change, and a lot of other favorite issues of Americans.

May 15th Deadline for RESULTS International Conference

2009-05-11T20:20:00.004-05:00

The deadline for registering for the RESULTS International conference is May 15. If you want to learn face-to-face lobbying from experts in building relationships with members of Congress, go learn from these people! www.results.org
Here's a testimonial from their website that had an eye-opening statistic...
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During an International Conference in the early 1990s, activists who had spent time lobbying during the conference came together for a meeting. What our congressman said to us has always stuck with me and illuminated just how important our voices are.
“Do you know how many bills will be introduced during this session of Congress?” he asked. Most of us had no idea. The answer? 35,000. Our minds whirled as we tried to imagine how any member of Congress or staffer could possibly know about them all.
Then he said, “Do you know how many bills will be passed?” We made wild guesses. The answer? About 220, based on the previous congressional session.
In many cases, it is only because of our persistent voices that bills will pass which are of critical importance to people in poverty.
— Bob Dickerson, Seattle partner

Obama's global health plan disappoints activists

2009-05-07T08:04:00.003-05:00

IPSnews.net ran a story today that Obama's plans to spend 63 billion dollars over the next six years overseas may not live up to the president's campaign promises. Paul Zeitz, executive director of the Global AIDS Alliance, says the FY10 budget "ignores the president's campaign promises to fully fund PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and to provide a fair-share contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria."

Here are further quotes from the article from various agencies. For the full piece, Click here

"This proposal is even worse than we had feared," said Christine Lubinski, director of the Centre for Global Health Policy. "With this spending request, Obama has broken his campaign promise to provide 1 billion dollars a year in new money for global AIDS, and he has overlooked the growing threat of tuberculosis."

"Until we see the full budget with the line item detail on U.S. bilateral AIDS programmes and on the Global Fund, we will not know just how far off the mark the budget information presented today really is," said Zeitz of the Global AIDS Alliance. "In fact, the early release of less than completely detailed budget information on the president's global health strategy makes it difficult to know what the real dollars are and how the White House intends on spending them."

Kaytee Riek of Health Global Access Project (HealthGAP) said that the U.S. was only currently meeting about one third of its expected contribution to the Global Fund - roughly 900 million dollars of contributions - and 1.8 billion dollars would constitute a fair U.S. contribution. "The Fund is facing a financial crisis," said Riek. "So when there's only a 366-million-dollar increase for (funding to combat) AIDS, malaria, and TB, how will you meet the needs of the Global Fund and expand PEPFAR, all of which Obama promised to do as a candidate" – a claim Riek said Obama had already reiterated as president. "This is not something we can fall behind on because it's going to come back and haunt us in the future," she said.

Proposed bill to honor Yunus (HR 2000, S. 846)

2009-05-06T21:08:00.003-05:00

"To me poor people are like bonsai trees. When you plant the best seed of the tallest tree in a flower-pot, you get a replica of the tallest tree, only inches tall. There is nothing wrong with the seed you planted, only the soil-base that is too inadequate. Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong in their seeds. Simply, society never gave them the base to grow on. All it needs to get the poor people out of poverty for us to create an enabling environment for them. Once the poor can unleash their energy and creativity, poverty will disappear very quickly." -Dr Muhammad Yunus

These are the words of Dr. Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and board member of RESULTS. I am happy to say that four IL members of Congress support HR 2000 which seeks to award Dr. Yunus with the Congressional Gold Medal to in recognition of his contributions to the fight against global poverty. Senator Durbin introduced the bill in the Senate (with Senator Bennett). Senator Burris has added his name to the it and Representatives Schakowsky and Kirk have cosponsored the bill in the House.

Honoring Dr. Yunus before Congress will raise public and congressional awareness of the power of microfinance to change lives and help build congressional support . It will also send a strong signal to USAID and the World Bank that the U.S. is committed to microfinance for the very poor and expects the our foreign aid and the World Bank to do the same.

Foreign Assistance Reform Bill Update (5/5/09)

2009-05-05T16:56:00.004-05:00

Happy Cinqo de Mayo! A few notes about the new Foreign Assistance Reform Bill from Bread for the World...
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-Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL), member of the House Appropriations Committee, introduced the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 2139), on April 28.

-Bread is working quickly to gain cosponsors for the bill since it is expected to move rapidly from the House Foreign Affairs Committee to the House floor. It is likely that the committee will work on the bill before Congress begins its Memorial Day recess on May 23.

- The bill is a critical first step toward making foreign assistance more effective, efficient, and transparent. It calls on the president to develop and implement a comprehensive national strategy for global development, improve the evaluation of development programs, and increase the transparency of U.S. foreign assistance to developing countries.

- Rep. Berman said that the bill is a “down payment” on a broader bill to improve foreign assistance that he plans to introduce later this year.

Global Fund Protects Us All

2009-04-30T21:51:00.004-05:00

Global Fund Protects Us All

A pediatric resident with tuberculosis treating 150 patients at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

A fourteen-year-old Zambian girl caring for three siblings because her parents died of AIDS.

A mother in India spreading a treated bed net over her children to protect them from malaria.

What do these scenes have in common? They are all reminders that diseases of poverty – AIDS, TB and malaria – are alive and well, even in our local communities.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria is one of the world’s most effective tools for fighting these deadly diseases. It provides huge percentages of the international funding to combat them: 25% for AIDS, 66% for TB, and 75% for malaria. It distributes drug treatments and bed nets as well as providing essential support services. It shelters women disowned by husbands who infect them with AIDS. It teaches villagers to detect and treat malaria. It even protects Illinois residents by working to stop the spread of global TB.

Despite the Global Fund’s proven track record, by 2010 it is projected to be $5 billion short of its budget to continue future programs. While an increasing number of poor nations are seeing success and submitting high-quality grant proposals, donor nations – including the U.S. – are not meeting pledged funding levels. Without full funding this year and next, life-saving programs will be abruptly put on hold. Millions of lives will be at risk.

In the face of economic crisis, the temptation for developed nations to reduce support for the Global Fund is understandable, but inexcusable. They are penny-wise and pound-foolish. By not viewing their contributions as smart investments, donor nations ignore public health at their peril. If the Global Fund’s shortfall is allowed to continue, developed nations will only postpone the inevitable need to send even more aid to control the resurgence of disease. They will stifle global economic development as poor countries struggle with unhealthy workforces. Worse, the heaviest price will be paid if militaries must engage in more conflicts to stabilize areas where poverty has driven people to desperate acts of violence.

Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Representative Mark Kirk (R-10th), and Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-2nd) have influence over global health funding as members of Foreign Operations subcommittees. They have been instrumental in increasing U.S. AIDS, TB and malaria contributions to the highest levels in history. The world is counting on their leadership once again.

Congress and the Obama administration have a chance in the coming supplemental appropriations bill to increase 2009 funding for the Global Fund by $1 billion. This increase would meet urgent needs, set the Global Fund on an upward trajectory and improve the U.S. image by proving we’re committed to multilateral, results-driven global health funding. Additionally, the Obama administration and Congress should work together to provide the U.S. fair share to the Global Fund for 2010: $2.7 billion.

From a financial perspective, the $1 billion for 2009 is less than one-third of the Merrill Lynch Christmas bonuses currently under investigation. Unlike irresponsible financial institutions and poorly-led auto companies coming to the taxpayer with their hands out, the Global Fund has succeeded beyond expectations in its mission to bring urgently-needed health services to the poor. It should be rewarded – not punished – for that success.

From a human perspective, a thriving Global Fund will mean children like 14-year-old orphan Catherine Phiri will be less likely to die from AIDS which claimed her parents. Mothers like Seema Paati will sleep under bed nets with their children without fear of contracting malaria. You and I will know our country used our tax dollars to protect us and honor our promise to the poorest people of the world.

--ccyl

Foreign Assistance Reform Bill Introduced by Berman and Kirk

2009-04-29T10:37:00.004-05:00

I'm going out of my mind with excitement about this one, everybody! MARK KIRK INTRODUCED A FOREIGN ASSISTANCE BILL I'VE LOBBIED HIS OFFICE ON!!!!! Yeah! My Bread for the World church wrote him letters, my RESULTS group wrote him letters and went into his district office to lobby his district aide, I talked to his DC aide on the phone...and now I see how all this pays off when we have the big guns out in DC working their end. I honestly did not expect to see any movement on this until much later. I'm feeling really great doing my little part in this movement to push this big Foreign Assistance ship around. Thanks to everyone taking me on this journey with you!

Gotta go...lotsa work to do still...starting with a thank you letter to Congressman Kirk and a call to his aide!

Here's the scoop from Bread for the World today....
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Bread for the World President Pushes for Support, Co-Sponsorship of New Foreign Aid Reform Bill

Washington, DC, April 29, 2009 –Rev. David Beckmann, president, Bread for the World, and co-chair, Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN), today urged members of the House of Representatives to pass the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009 (H.R. 2139).

The bill was introduced last night by Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA-28), chairman of the House foreign Affairs Committee and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-IL-10). It requires President Barack Obama to develop and implement a comprehensive national strategy for global development, improve evaluation of development programs, and increase the transparency of U.S. foreign assistance to developing countries.

“It is a good initial step in making our nation’s foreign assistance more effective, efficient, and transparent,” said Rev. Beckmann. “Coordinating and improving our foreign assistance can have far-reaching effects on reducing hunger and poverty, making the world more politically stable. In turn, a more effective U.S. foreign assistance system would make for a more secure United States.”

Rev. Beckmann said that a comprehensive U.S. strategy for global development needs to be linked to an ongoing monitoring and evaluation system to determine what works and what does not. Requiring any agency that provides funding to post related information on a public website or other public forum will bring increased transparency and accountability to the people being served by these programs and to U.S. taxpayers.

Currently, U.S. global development policies and programs are scattered across 12 departments, 25 different agencies, and nearly 60 government offices. “In these difficult economic times, a more efficient foreign assistance system—with better coordination, better accountability, better clarity—will ensure that people get help faster and more effectively,” said Rev. Beckmann.

U.S. foreign assistance is still largely governed by a law passed in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. “It is woefully outdated, inefficient, and ill equipped to provide the level of relief needed to address hunger and poverty in today’s more complex world,” said Rev. Beckmann. “U.S. foreign assistance has helped reduce child deaths, improve agricultural capacity, and increase school enrollment. But more lives can be saved if we improve how we deliver foreign aid. It will mean less waste and more impact for our tax dollars.”

Jeffery Sachs at Chicago Field Museum 5/13/09

2009-04-24T22:00:00.002-05:00

Water: Sustaining Our Blue Planet
Presented by the Gary C. Comer Family

This roundtable discussion, moderated by WGN radio host John Williams and featuring Jeffrey Sachs, Director of The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Peter Annin, author of The Great Lakes Water Wars, will cover topics ranging from water as it relates to poverty and health, water as a commodity, and how climate change is affecting water resources. Potential solutions to these problems will be addressed and local as well as global water issues will be highlighted.
Please call 312.665.7400 to register.

Lecture
Adult
May 13, 2009
7 p.m.
FREE
Pre-Registration Required

Poverty: A Time for Sharing on CBS, 4/26

2009-04-24T09:51:00.000-05:00

Coming to your TV this weekend is an interfaith religion special entitled Poverty: A Time for Sharing, which CBS will air on April 26th. In a recent press release, the NCC said, "Half of humanity lives on less than $2 a day, and a billion people worldwide cannot read or write. Global poverty is on the rise despite ongoing efforts by governments, the United Nations, and Non-Governmental Organizations, including religious groups." This program will include snapshots of campaigns such as the "Nothing But Nets" supported by The United Methodists, and Lutheran World Relief, in addition to the Catholic Relief Services work in response to the tsunami in Indonesia, ongoing rebuilding efforts in Ethiopia, as well as the fight against HIV in Zambia. To view the full article about this special go to the NCC website at www.ncccusa.org. Check your local station for broadcast times in your area.

Pioneers: A Zambian Perspective on perseverance and foreign investors

2009-04-23T07:44:00.003-05:00

A Zambian Perspective on perseverance and foreign investors from the Jubilee Center...
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Pioneers
Posted: 22 Apr 2009 02:08 AM PDT

The Republican President said that Zambia needed the spirit of pioneering if it wanted to get up. But how can Zambia get up when all it hears everyday is that, “You can’t get up on your own. Your hope is in the hands of foreign investors.” A pioneer spirit is not something one is born with, it is taught. How can a Zambian have a pioneering spirit when all that he knows is that of being unprotected, used and neglected? Who will help the Zambian who is asking, “What can I do to come out of poverty?” Who will guide the Zambian young men and women who are asking, “Where do I start to turn my community, my friends, my family and my country around?”

When you consider the president’s speech at Lumwana, it was not the Zambian who was being encouraged to have a pioneering spirit. It was the foreign investors. He told the investors, “We expect you to continue with your exploring programs; be the first company to produce the famous yellow cake seeing that you have uranium deposits on your mine already…” (Post 19, April). It was the foreign investors who were being invited to open processing companies to add value to our raw materials. It was not the Zambian who was being encouraged to take up the opportunity to do business in Zambia but the foreign investor.

Insert Photo: President Rupiah Banda commissioning Lumwana mine

The president acknowledged the spirit of perseverance exhibited by the investor. To practice perseverance means that a person has to be mentally and physically strong, and in unity with others, be committed to a specific goal and vision. The foreign investor was able to persevere because he developed a mutual trust with the government. The government should know better about the Zambians perseverance. It was Zambian persevering lifestyle that made it possible for our suffering freedom fighters to overcome colonialism through non-violent resistance. Can you imagine the power to set this country on the right path that lies in this quality of perseverance if it is nurtured properly?

Who will take advantage of this opportunity of the Zambian people’s attitude of self-control in the midst of famine or floods or HIV/AIDS or unemployment and turn it to hope? The Bible says, “We know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance character and character hope. And we know that hope does not disappoint us… (Romans 5: 3,4). The church must help Zambians especially Christians to take seriously their citizenry responsibilities by discipling them spiritually, morally, economically and socially that they make meaningful contribution to build Zambia into the hub for social peace and economic sufficiency and the conscience of Africa. Pray for a day when a president of Zambia will open a mining company owned by Zambian investors. Pray for a day when a president will tell us of a story of a Zambian fighting hardship and succeeding in running a mining company.

Lawrence Temfwe

A Just Way to Celebrate Mother's Day

2009-04-18T19:33:00.003-05:00

Posted on the Bread for the World-New Mexico website...
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By Alaina Paradise

Mother’s Day accounts for 25% of the sales of the entire U.S. floral industry each year. One of the greatest ironies of the holiday is the mistreatment of hundreds of thousands of mothers and other female workers on floral farms around the globe.

These ladies are often subjected to sexual harassment, cheated out of wages, and forced to work in dangerous fumigated areas without proper protection - hardly the gift that many intend to give when they hand a bunch of roses to their smiling mom. This year, Fair Trade Certified™ flowers are the new option for socially-conscious shoppers who want to give Mom a gift that truly gives back. The Fair Trade program is slowly making a drastic impact in the lives of many floral workers and their families in countries like Ecuador, Colombia, and Kenya. About 90% of these workers are female, and many are mothers themselves.

A great example of the positive change is seen in Ecuador where the minimum wage is the equivalent of around $166 per month, or $0.95 per hour according to the U.S. Department of State. Wages are even lower for the average floral worker in a non-Fair Trade business in Ecuador. They make $90 per month if they are lucky.

The Fair Trade program for Ecuadoran floral farms puts an end to this disparity by providing not just minimum wage, but a living wage to workers on Certified farms.

Women who work on these farms are now able to support themselves and their families, which means better nutrition, access to higher education, improved living conditions and greater equality for women in the home. Fair Trade flowers are new to the U.S. market, and the largest companies in the floral industry have done little to promote their availability. One World Flowers is a start-up company based in Albuquerque, N.M., that is completely dedicated to selling 100% Fair Trade flowers. The company is a licensed by TransFair USA as an official importer of Fair Trade Certified™ flowers and it acts as a wholesaler to many co-op markets, grocery stores, and florists around the country. As part of the company’s commitment to fair trade, 10% of the purchase price of the flowers is donated back to a workers’ fund each quarter.

Farm employees organize democratically to vote on ways to use the funds for community improvement, micro-lending, or education. Fair Trade farms also provide on-site doctors and healthcare for employees, 12 weeks of paid maternity leave, and year-round working agreements to prevent seasonal layoffs. With such incredible benefits it is hard to imagine that Fair Trade flowers are not offered by more places. There is confusion among consumers about other flower labels such as Veriflora and FlorVerde. These are primarily environmental protection programs that do not have the same social and human rights protections that are offered by Fair Trade. Florists and grocers around the nation often don’t make the distinction between these programs and Fair Trade, which also includes strict environmental protection standards. They are therefore unlikely to pay the extra cost for offering Fair Trade flowers to customers.

“Growth has been slow but steady,” says Joie King of One World Flowers, “we really work hard to educate consumers around the big holidays about the social and economic impacts of Fair Trade in addition to its environmental sustainability standards. Our goal is to make the biggest impact we can for the ladies on Fair Trade farms.”

As surrounding farms see the success of the Fair Trade program, the hope is that more will seek to change their policies and go through the rigorous certification process.

Before giving mom a bunch of roses for Mother’s Day this year, consider the source and the moms who grew them. It’s worth the extra few dollars per bouquet to ensure that the women who grew the roses were paid and treated fairly.
Be sure to look for the Fair Trade label on the bouquet wrapper or individual stems to ensure that what you’re really getting are Fair Trade flowers. If you can’t find them, ask your local florist or cooperative market to start carrying them.
Where to buy

The difference is peace of mind for moms worldwide who no longer have to struggle to feed their children or provide a safe home. Take it from Silvia Mariana Cualchi Rojas, a Fair Trade floral worker who said, "When I separated from my husband, my son and I had no place to go. Without my husband, I couldn’t qualify for a bank loan. [The farm’s] Housing Maintenance Program put a roof over our heads and pride in our hearts."
It’s amazing what the right gift for one can do for others!

The author is president of One World Flowers

(Editor's note: And if you decide to buy your Mother's Day bouquets from One World Flowers, please remember that orders are due by April 24)

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Posted By Carlos Navarro to Bread for the World-New Mexico at 4/18/2009 09:35:00 AM

chicken-a-la-carte: a powerful short film

2009-04-16T08:54:00.005-05:00

This comment was left in response to a different APB blog entry, but the short film it contains is so powerful, that I want to share it with everyone. It's one of those movies that really calls up a strong emotional reaction even when you're writing and reading about hunger every day. Please take a few minutes to watch.
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Please spare 6 minutes of your life and watch this film, and share it with your friends and family. This is a true story about hunger and its impact on human race when coupled with poverty. Bring awareness about food and waste. Bring change in your life and impact the world to make it a better place.

Click here to see "Chicken-a-la-carte"

April 15 Prayer Vigil: Change of Plans

2009-04-15T10:44:00.001-05:00

Hello everyone!

I have an important update for you about the April 15 Prayer Vigil for AIDS issues. I am excited to share that the planning of the prayer vigil has yielded some success. Positive discussions have taken place with members of congress, including Senators Durbin and Burris that have shifted the strategy. Instead of gathering for a prayer vigil it is now encouraged that folks write a thank you letter (see sample letter below).

We'll urge them to help our country keep it's commitment to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. We want to thank Senator Durbin in particular for being a champion and continuing to work with us.

Thank you for your interest in supporting the Global Fund!

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The Honorable Senator Durbin
230 South Dearborn Street
Suite 3892
Chicago, IL 60604

Dear Senator Durbin,

Thank you very much for your continued support of global health issues. You have been an active champion for the fight against diseases of poverty and your help is needed now more than ever.

As the global financial crisis pushes more people into extreme poverty, it is critical that developed nations keep their promises to fund life-saving programs like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. The Global Fund has been incredibly successful, saving an estimated 3.5 million lives by funding projects judged for their impact, community involvement, and transparency. Yet the fund is experiencing a dangerous shortfall.

Donor countries have not yet provided adequate money to fund the bold, high quality proposals being submitted by developing nations. Life-saving programs may be delayed or cut back.
If the U.S. comes through on its funding promise, other nations will follow. Please ensure our country lives up to its commitment to the Global Fund by increasing funding in the upcoming supplemental appropriations bill by $1 billion. I also urge you help us provide the U.S. fair share of $2.7 billion dollars in FY2010.

Sincerely,
(your name)
(your address)