Monday, Jan. 23, 4-6pm, House Rayburn Building, B-369: Briefing on Gender Based Violence in Haiti, with our ActionAid partner, Marie Ange Noel, National Coordinator of FANM DESIDE (Women Decide,) a grassroots women’s group that works in the south of Haiti, including Thiotte, where our Haiti child sponsorship program is located.

Monday, Jan. 23, 6-8pm, Capitol House Visitor Center, 215: HAWG Sponsored Haiti Reception with Members of Congress and Food and Drink! With our ActionAid partner, Jean Robert Pierre, Director of COZPAM (Coalition of grassroots organizations in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince,) a community coalition through which we are currently working in 7 camps, working to build more permanent housing and provide key post-earthquake recovery services.

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2-4pm, House Rayburn Building, 2103: Briefing on Land and Housing Rights, with our ActionAid partner, Pierre DouDou, National Coordinator for RENHASSA (Coalition for Food Security and Food Sovereignty,) a grassroots network that works in the North on land rights, agricultural development and food security.

Click here for complete details to the events.
For more info or to RSVP for the reception, email: hawgtwoyear@yahoo.com

Report on the Je nan Je march on January 11, 2012

The Je nan Je platform with ActionAid Haiti's support have once again made its voice heard.

On January 11th, 2012 the Je nan Je platform motivated more than 10,000 people across the country to march as a symbol of protest for the absence of positive change in Haitians life since the earthquake of January 2010.

The march took place in Port-au-Prince with a 5.5km path from the crossroad of Delmas and Airport road ending at the parliament.

During the march, protestors were shouting demands written on displays like: it's my right to have good housing to live in; stop land grabbing on local farmers land; if there is land for factories there should be land for housing; what happened to the money received for earthquake victims?

At arrival to the parliament around 12 senators and deputies received the Je nan Je's delegation. After distributing the charter of demands document to senators and deputies, the Je nan Je delegation shared very touching points.

Firstly, the members of parliament very hastily called an extra-ordinary session of the National Assembly (e.g. a joint meeting of both houses of Parliament.)

Secondly, the Je nan Je delegation was received officially and publicly by the fully composed and freshly elected office of the National Assembly. This is very important because we had expected to be able to present the demands to a number of members of Parliament who would individually commit to following up on the demands of the campaign. Instead we received an institutional commitment from the highest authorities of Parliament.

The senators and deputies present publicly engaged themselves to: form a commission that will study the charter of demands and change it into a bill. Give the Je nan Je delegation a hearing on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012. To take responsibilities for what concerns them and convoke the executive to do the same with the demands that concern them directly. 

And a senator also added: "It's the first time since I am senator that I have seen thousands of people walking, claims in hand to the Parliament in the objective to create laws. This gesture is especially appreciated when we know that it is up to us parliamentarians to collect this information that the platform was able to gather," said Andris Riche.

Coverage on the 2 year commemoration of the Haiti earthquake

Visit Haiti Advocacy Blog

Two years on from the devastating earthquake of 12 January 2010, ActionAid Haiti's response continues, helping the most vulnerable to rebuild their shattered lives.

We have made significant progress in supporting the most vulnerable Haitians to start to get back on their feet, and we are grateful to the many donors – both the general public and big institutions – who have helped us do this, said Jean-Claude Fignolé, Director of ActionAid Haiti.

But whilst progress has been made, rebuilding a country that had huge socio-economic and political problems even before the earthquake is a massive job, and one that will require a long term commitment from all involved.

Background

On 12 January 2010 Haiti was struck by a massive earthquake, its most powerful for 200 years. Over 220,000 people died and a further 300,000 were left injured. 300,000 houses were damaged or destroyed, leaving 1.5 million people homeless. In the months since the disaster, Haiti has also faced a cholera epidemic and election-related riots.

Two years on from the earthquake, an estimated half a million people are still living in temporary shelters. In January 2011, ActionAid's briefing Building for the Future revealed that Haiti’s reconstruction could cost an additional $50million in emergency replacement tents, unless the Haitian government and international donors – the US, Canada, France, Spain and the EU – address the land problem that has critically hampered the nation’s rebuilding.

What we’ve done

ActionAid was already present in Haiti before January 2010. When the earthquake struck, we were quick to respond, working with local partner organisations and affected communities to provide life-saving support – food, water and plastic sheeting for shelter – to tens of thousands of people in camps in and around Port-au-Prince.

Our international fundraising appeal launched immediately, raising an astonishing $13 million for our three year response to the disaster. The funds have so far enabled us to support over 200,000 people in and around Port-au-Prince, as well as areas further afield, to start rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

In February 2011 we began a campaign on land rights advocacy, working with local people and partner organizations to secure access to land, so those who lost their homes in the earthquake can build permanent housing.

The initiative, called “Je Nan Je” (meaning "Eye to Eye"), focuses on supporting people to gain access to affordable, safe, longer-term housing, women’s access to land and housing, decentralized planning and land reform.

Marking two years since the disaster, 7,500 people will march through the centre of Port au Prince on Wednesday 11 January to demand access to land and adequate housing. The march, organised by the Je nan Je campaign and supported by ActionAid, will present a charter of demands to the Haitian parliament.

“Haitian organizations, the government and the international community now have the perfect opportunity to come together and define the parameters for a structure that is inclusive, collaborative and most importantly accountable,” continued Fignolé.

Advocacy work such as this will continue alongside program work as a core component of ActionAid’s continuing response into 2013.

ActionAid has been working with local partners and communities in Haiti since 1997, supporting Haitians to find long term solutions to lift themselves out of poverty.

We thank everyone who has helped support our work in Haiti, your money really is making a huge difference.

Two years on from the earthquake which struck Haiti in January 2010, killing over 300,000 people and displacing a further 2.3 million, little progress has been made in the reconstruction of the country. Almost 600,000 Haitians are still living in camps and informal settlements and struggle to access key services such as water, food, sanitation, healthcare and education. Over 75% of the population lives on less than $2 per day, including 90% of all rural families.

The Haitian people, as well as citizens, governments, charities and other international institutions around the world, want to understand why so little has been done to resolve these many challenges. In March 2010, 55 donors from different international governments and multi-lateral institutions pledged to donate $5.6 billion in aid, including $4.59 billion in program support to Haiti by the end of 2011, to help support its redevelopment plan. Yet, with only a few months remaining, only 43 percent of pledged program funds, or $1.97 billion, has been disbursed. Haitians, however, have little access to information detailing how this money has been used and why the remaining $2.61 billion has yet to reach those in need.

What is Je nan Je?

Je nan Je (meaning “Eye to Eye”) is a grassroots movement urging aid accountability and transparency to reform the national housing and agriculture plans and provide secure safe, affordable, long-term housing for the most vulnerable displaced Haitians.

The Je Nan Je coalition, with support from the international anti-poverty charity ActionAid, was created in 2011 out of deep concern about the lack of progress in the reconstruction process in Haiti. The coalition launched an advocacy campaign under the same name, ‘’Je nan Je’’ to help guarantee Haitians’ rights to land and safe, affordable housing in the context of the country’s reconstruction.

Who is involved?

The Je nan Je coalition is made up of grassroots networks, social movements and women’s groups that represent over 800,000 Haitians. It includes the following members : KROS, RENHASSA, KONAFAP, KPGA, COSADH, APV, MPP, COZPAM, FANM DESIDE, KABAGRANGOU, MPNKP and ActionAid.

ActionAid is giving financial and technical support in campaigning and advocacy expertise.

What are the aims and objectives of Je nan Je?

The Je nan Je platform aims to promote higher transparency, accountability and participatory democracy within the reconstruction process, with special attention to the issue of land and housing rights.

The campaign, through intensive research and analysis, capacity building for grassroots partners and awareness raising for national and international stakeholders, aims to create an inclusive, participatory space for critical debate and dialogue between the different sectors so that participants can identify collective priorities and sustainable, alternative solutions to key land and housing challenges. This includes recommendations for instituting both institutional and legal reforms in four different areas:

What are the campaign’s ultimate goals?

Activities to date

In Kenya, ActionAid supports a local women’s group called the Kamangura Mwirutiri Self Help Group, providing them with the skills and resources to raise livestock for food security and an income. As a member of the group, Mary Njeri, received training in dairy goat breeding as well as a female goat to start with. With savings from not having to buy milk and a portion of her husband’s income, Mary’s family was able to start a small restaurant near their home.

In India, Rubeena Gulnaar helped set up a school to educate 400 children, many of whom are not required to pay tuition. Rubeena herself was not allowed to attend school, forced into marriage early, and abused by her husband. She became an active member of the ActionAid supported Indian Muslim Women’s Movement and a vocal advocate of women’s rights. She gets inspiration from her 15 year old daughter – no girl should ever have to endure such abuse and hardship.

In Burundi, children at a school in the Ruyigi community write to their child sponsors. ActionAid identifies the poorest and most marginalized communities for their child sponsorship program and rights projects. Like many other communities in Burundi, Ruyigi was devastated by the civil war. Children are particularly vulnerable. There were no schools, no school materials and no teachers. Through support from ActionAid and our partner organizations, schools are expanding to include hundreds more children in Ruyigi and access to school materials act as an incentive to help children stay in school.

Your symbolic gift represents support for all of ActionAid’s programs and projects in impoverished communities all over the world. You’ll help us fulfill our mission to end poverty and the injustices that cause it by allowing us to use your symbolic gift where it’s most needed, and not just toward the specific case highlighted as the symbolic gift. All of us at ActionAid thank you for choosing to make a meaningful contribution during the holidays.

Click here to learn more about their stories

* Your personal information will never be sold or shared by ActionAid.

For a photo of the delivery, click here.

Petition to Pershing:

The impacts of climate change are no longer just a threat to our future; they are with us today. In the past year, the United States has been battered by a record number of extreme weather events, including severe floods, droughts, wildfires, and heat waves. At the same time, the Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in over 60 years, putting over 13 million people at risk of famine and starvation. Unless those countries most responsible for contributing to global climate change move decisively and quickly to reduce their greenhouse emissions and help vulnerable countries communities to cope with the growing impacts, such events will only increase in frequency and severity over time.

The seventeenth Conference of Parties in Durban, South Africa, represents a major opportunity for the United States Administration to stand with the worlds’ poor and to take bold steps to address the climate crisis.

Today, 21 thousand people in the United States call on the US Administration to take the following actions in Durban:

1. Commit to stopping temperatures from rising. The Administration should lay out a clear plan for how it will meet and exceed its carbon pollution reduction target for 2020.

2. Support innovative approaches to generating climate finance.

3. Help to operationalize a democratic and equitable Green Climate Fund.

The ActionAid USA petition:

The impacts of climate change no longer just await us in the future; they are with us today. In the United States, we have been affected by tornadoes, severe floods, droughts, wild fires, and heat waves. The Horn of Africa is experiencing the worst drought in over 60 years. We call on you to show bold leadership and address an urgent crisis--the climate crisis--that is disproportionately affecting people living in poverty--particularly people who have the least capacity to adapt to changing climates and who have done least to cause the climate crisis.

The upcoming climate summit in Durban, South Africa, in November 2011, represents a major opportunity for you to stand with the worlds’ poor and to take bold steps to address the climate crisis. We call on you to commit in Durban to:

1. Support calls to stop temperatures from rising. The US administration should work to ensure that global temperatures do not rise more than a 1.5 degree Celsius above preindustrial level - the threshold beyond which irreversible, catastrophic damages may occur. Additionally, the US should lay out a clear plan for how it will meet and exceed its current emission reduction target.

2. Announce substantial new and additional funding to help communities adapt to the changing climate and reduce emissions. The United States must show its support for innovative mechanisms to generate public funding to help the world’s poor confront climate change. Possible mechanisms to generate the needed finance include the use of levies in the shipping and aviation sectors, a tax on speculative financial transactions, and use of Special Drawing Rights.

3. Deliver the funds through a democratic and equitable Green Climate Fund. The Green Climate Fund should be operationalized in a way that ensures full community and civil society participation in all layers of decision making and independence in management and government from international financial institutions such as the World Bank.

The WWF petition:

The impacts of climate change are no longer just a threat to our future; they are with us today. In the past year, the United States has been battered by a record number of extreme weather events, including severe floods, droughts, wildfires, and heat waves.

At the same time, the Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in over 60 years, putting over 13 million people at risk of famine and starvation. Unless those countries most responsible for contributing to global climate change move decisively and quickly to reduce their greenhouse emissions and help the most vulnerable communities to cope with the growing impacts, such events will only increase in frequency and severity over time.

We call on you to show bold leadership at the international level to address this urgent climate crisis, which is disproportionately affecting people who have the least capacity to adapt and threatening the continued survival of the wildlife, biodiversity and ecosystems upon which all of us rely.

The climate summit taking place in Durban, South Africa represents a major opportunity for you to stand with the people and wildlife of Africa, as well as vulnerable communities around the world, by taking bold steps to address the climate crisis. Specifically, I call on your Administration to take the following actions in Durban:

1. Commit to stopping temperatures from rising. The Administration should lay out a clear plan for how it will meet and exceed its carbon pollution reduction target for 2020, including by regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and choosing not to support the construction of new high-carbon energy infrastructure, such as the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

2. Support innovative approaches to generating climate finance. In order to provide substantial new and additional funding to help developing communities adapt to the changing climate, promote clean energy, and stop deforestation, the Administration should endorse innovative approaches, such as the creation of international mechanisms that have ships and planes traveling internationally pay for their carbon pollution and redirect a portion of this funding to help the most vulnerable nations confront climate change.

3. Help to operationalize the Green Climate Fund created at COP16 in Cancun. The Administration should help to ensure that the fund manages aid to vulnerable countries in a way that is democratic and equitable and ensures full community and civil society participation in all layers of decision making.

I urge your Administration to stand with Africa and vulnerable communities everywhere by showing bold leadership this fall in Durban and acting decisively to address the growing climate crisis.

November 25th-December 10th marks International 16-Days of Advocacy Against Gender-Based Violence. As the world becomes an increasingly urbanized place, it is important to understand the relationship between urbanization and violence against women and girls. Examining the gender impacts of urbanisation is central to informing ActionAid’s programmes and policies that will reflect women’s realities and successfully promote women’s right to the city.

Protection and ensuring the human rights of women and girls is a priority for ActionAid, which we accomplish through direct support to survivors of violence; supporting and organizing advocacy movements opposing violence and discrimination against women and girls; and by working with women and girls worldwide to build their capacity to achieve their rights and protect themselves and their communities from violence.

On November 25th, to participate in the international advocacy campaign against violence against women, ActionAid International released the report, Women and the city: Examining the gender impact of violence and urbanisation, which provides insights into the causes and realities of gender based violence in urban areas.

Utilising the participatory methodology of safety audits developed and tested by a range of organisations in the “safe cities movement”, the report looks into the lives of groups of women whose knowledge and views of their urban realities is central to creating safer cities. These include garment workers from urban factory areas in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, women attending universities in and around Monrovia in Liberia, and women informal vendors in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to name a few.

The research explores the ways violence and insecurity limit poor urban women’s mobility and their participation in society. Urbanisation can bring new opportunities, particularly in relation to employment and participation in organised groups. However, it also brings many challenges.

Too often, the challenges faced by women in cities are interpreted or excused as women’s fault, rather than the result of urban design that fails to take into account gendered impacts. For example, such violence may be excused on the basis of a woman’s choice of dress or her decision to travel alone, at night, unaccompanied by a male.

Across the world, women experience violence or the fear of violence on a daily basis, travelling to and from work, taking their children to schools and travelling to and from markets. Moreover, urban men and women experience violence differently. They also experience and perceive protection and safety differently. Analysing these differences is a central first step to guaranteeing women’s rights to freedom from violence or the threat of violence in urban areas.

To access the report, please click here.

ActionAid Thailand Flood Response Team and 20 volunteers used boats, supplied by the local authority, to distribute 300 relief packages to the people of Bang Pa-in District, Ayutthaya Province, an area was badly hit by the recent flooding.

ActionAid teams are on the ground in the affected areas across Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia and our emergency response is underway. We’re working with local partner organizations to deliver much needed supplies to those in need, including food packages, shelter materials and basic healthcare.

Bijay Kumar, ActionAid’s Head of Emergencies, said: “ActionAid and its partners are working round the clock to provide urgently-needed relief. Shelter, clean water, food and health and hygiene items are top priorities, along with providing fodder for animals.”

In Sindh province, southern Pakistan, we’ve already reached over 16,800 people with emergency provisions, whilst in Bangladesh our support is helping 2,500 families. In Thailand and Cambodia we've provided over 25,000 people with much needed food and items such as mosquito nets, blankets and tents.

But we urgently need to scale up our response to meet the increasing needs of those affected.

Looking to the long term

These people were already poor and vulnerable. The rice being planted is all they have, but it's been completely destroyed by the floods.

Disasters such as floods aren’t just a single event that lasts a week or so; they devastate the lives of those affected for years to come. ActionAid will be supporting families to rebuild their homes and livelihoods in the long term, and helping communities to become less vulnerable to similar crises.

We’re also undertaking a piece of research into the national emergency response policies of countries in the region, to see how these could be strengthened to reduce the impact of future disasters. 

What you can do

Signers stress the importance of the upcoming negotiations in South Africa as an opportunity to make progress on addressing climate change. In the letter, members of Congress note that Africa, which is host of this year’s summit, is already facing many of the most severe impacts of climate change, including serious threats to food security. The impacts, as members note, do not stop in Africa, however.

“In my home state of New Jersey, where scientists estimate the sea level is rising about one inch every six years, this summer Hurricane Irene forced thousands of residents from their homes and many small businesses to close,” said Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, who led the letter.

Irene was the tenth extreme-weather related disaster costing more than $1 billion in the United States this year. Communities of color and the poor are often the worst hit and last to recover from such devastation.

“Through American leadership, we can help protect the livelihoods of poor people from Newark to Nairobi,” Representative Payne added.

The letter was co-led by Representatives Russ Carnahan (D-MO), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), and was signed by Ranking Member of House Foreign Affairs Committee Howard Berman (D-CA), Ranking Member of Energy and Commerce Henry Waxman (D-CA), and the Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), among others. Underscoring the significance of these negotiations taking place on African soil, the letter was also signed by more than half of the members in the Congressional Black Caucus.

Rep. Bobby Rush, co-chair of the Congressional Black Congress Committee on Energy and Environment, said, “There is no more time for debate. The International Energy Agency report issued last week gives the world less than a decade to shift to clean energy or else suffer even greater global temperature increases and likely devastating climatic impacts. If this esteemed publication is correct, then even during an international economic crisis, delay is folly. The IEA says for every dollar avoided more than four dollars will be spent to clean up the consequences. We cannot afford to fiddle while the earth burns.”

The letter highlights three key priorities that the Obama Administration should pursue in Durban:

· Operationalize a fair, transparent and accountable Green Climate Fund.

· Support innovative approaches to generate new and additional public finance to help developing countries confront the climate crisis, including in the shipping and aviation sectors.

· Reiterate the US commitment made in Copenhagen to reduce greenhouse gas pollution.

Rep. Russ Carnahan commented that, “As a food security crisis threatens regions of the African continent, it’s urgent that we reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help disadvantaged communities cope with climate change’s effects. And as we face a jobs crisis here in the United States, creating jobs by investing in manufacturing clean energy technologies that are so needed in developing countries is also essential.”

“It is critical that policy leaders commit to an investment in building climate resilience in vulnerable countries, a reduction in climate-changing emissions, and wide-scale support for communities hardest hit by climate change,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee, a member of the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition in Congress. “Congress needs to get to work passing robust policies that will make these commitments a reality and move forward the global effort to tackle the climate crisis.”

A broad coalition of anti-poverty, environment, faith-based, and human and civil rights advocates who are involved in the Stand with Africa campaign applauded the Members’ messages to the Obama administration. The groups called on leaders, when they meet on African soil, to stand with communities in Africa and around the world who are disproportionately impacted by climate change.

Ilana Solomon, Senior Policy Analyst with ActionAid USA said, “This letter represents a strong push from leading members of Congress calling on the Obama Administration to go to the Durban summit with a just and ambitious position. With climate impacts already threatening the lives and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable communities in Africa and around the world, the Administration must not use politics as an excuse for delaying action.”

“In Durban, the Obama administration has the chance to turn words into actions for the most vulnerable people in the world,” said David Waskow, Climate Program Director for Oxfam America. “We applaud these leaders in Congress for keeping the pressure on and showing that climate action is both necessary and possible.”

Karen Orenstein, International Policy Analyst from Friends of the Earth US said, “This letter demonstrates real concern by many members of Congress for the lives of ordinary people grappling with the effects of a climate crisis they did not cause. The Obama Administration should heed this call and be a force for positive change at the UN climate negotiations in South Africa, rather than an obstacle.”

“As the US delegation lands in South Africa, many in the world are understandably questioning America’s resolve to join the world in tackling the climate crisis,” said Lou Leonard, Managing Director for Climate Change at WWF. “This letter is a strong reminder that key leaders in Congress support an ambitious and just international climate agreement. It’s now up to the Obama Administration to be a leader in Durban.”

Susan Tambi Matambo, International Policy Coordinator with US Climate Action Network said, "Now, more than ever, strong leadership from the Obama administration is paramount to support those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The US has a unique opportunity in Durban to ensure that the Green Climate Fund is operational and provided with the finances required for adaptation, technology transfer and the reduction of deforestation in developing countries.”

Stand With Africa partners include: ActionAid USA, Africa Faith and Justice Network, Americans for Informed Democracy, Center for Biological Diversity, Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC), Foreign Policy in Focus, Friends of the Earth USA, Greenpeace USA, Maryknoll Office for Global Concern, NAACP, Oxfam America, the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network at the Institute for Policy Studies, and World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

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FULL TEXT OF LETTER:

November 22, 2011

Dear Secretary Clinton and Secretary Geithner:

We are writing to show our strong support for a just and ambitious United States position at the upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit in Durban, South Africa, starting in November 2011.

The upcoming negotiations in South Africa present an important opportunity to make progress on addressing climate change. It is of particular importance to Africa, which is both acting as host to this year’s summit and is facing many of the most severe impacts of a changing climate, including serious threats to food security.

This year, researchers found that global production of corn likely fell more than five percent in the last three decades because of climate change. Such drops in food production have contributed to increased global food prices, which have in turn led to social instability in some countries and have undermined the food security of vulnerable communities.

Furthermore, the unprecedented number and intensity of disasters in 2011 falls squarely in line with climate science projections of increasingly severe and frequent floods, droughts, and other disasters. Tragically, communities living in poverty, those who have done the least to cause the problem, are also the most affected by it.

Ambitious and urgent action by the US to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to help poor countries and communities adapt to climate impacts, protect forests, and embark on clean development pathways is both a moral imperative and in our national interest. Such action is essential to maintaining global stability and human security, protecting US investments in global development, and creating economic opportunities for American businesses and workers.

In our current fiscal environment, supporting international climate programs makes sound economic sense. The World Bank estimates that for every dollar invested in disaster risk management seven dollars in post-disaster costs can be saved. Further, there are significant job growth opportunities in reducing global emissions. According to a World Wildlife Fund study, the U.S. could create 280,000 to 850,000 new jobs if just 14% of clean energy technologies in developing countries came from the United States.

In preparation for the upcoming summit, we urge the Administration to build upon the accomplishments and strong leadership demonstrated last year in Cancun in establishing the Green Climate Fund and support the following:

· Operationalize a transparent and accountable Green Climate Fund that ensures the meaningful participation of women, affected communities and civil society, including on the Fund’s board. The fund should also subject financing, including through the private sector, to environmental and social safeguards and make substantial contributions to sustainable, vibrant local economies in developing countries.

· Support innovative approaches to generate new and additional public finance to help developing countries confront the climate crisis, including mechanisms in the shipping and aviation sectors. Shipping and aviation mechanisms should be designed to generate climate finance, reduce emissions, and protect developing countries against undue burdens or costs.

· Reiterate the US commitment made in Copenhagen to reducing greenhouse gas pollution.

We look forward to working with you to advance equitable and effective solutions to the global climate crisis.

Sincerely,

Rep. Donald Payne (D-NJ)
Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-MO)
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL)
Rep. Eleanor Holmes-Norton (D-DC)
Rep. Donna Christensen (D-VI)
Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA)
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)
Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA)
Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)
Rep. Jesse L. Jackson (D-IL)
Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL)
Rep. Bruce Braley (D-IA)
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN)
Rep. Melvin L. Watt (D-NC)
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)
Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)
Rep. Sam Farr (D-CA)
Rep. James Moran (D-VA)
Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA)
Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
Rep. Henry C. Johnson (D-GA)
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-CA)
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
Rep. Michael Honda (D-CA)
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)
Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA)
Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)
Rep. James McGovern (D-MA)
Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT)
Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA)
Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA)
Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN)
Rep. Keith M. Ellison (D-MN)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA)
Rep. Eni Faleomavaega (D-AS)
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL)
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA)
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)
Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY)
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA)
Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO)
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)
Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY)
Rep. Yvette Diane Clarke (D-NY)
Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY)

Washington D.C. – In lead up to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit in Durban, South Africa, members of the Stand with Africa campaign today urged U.S. policymakers to focus their attention on the people already suffering from the impacts of climate change rather than playing politics and making other excuses for delaying action. The full name of the campaign is Stand with Africa; Act Now for Climate Justice.

The Durban summit takes place on a continent severely impacted by climate change. Africa is particularly prone to increased food and water stress due to climate change. According to the World Food Program, approximately 65 percent of the global total increase in climate related hunger is projected to occur on the continent of Africa. And according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 75-250 million people across Africa could face more severe water shortages by 2020 as a result of climate change.

The United States has a particular responsibility to act, both as the single largest historic climate polluter and because we are facing great climate risks and impacts here at home.

The Stand with Africa campaign calls on the United States to:

*offer a clear plan for how the US will meet and exceed its current emission reduction target;
*commit to at least one new innovative approach to generate public finance to help countries confront climate change;
* support the operation of a transparent, accountable, and environmentally sound Green Climate Fund.

Members of the Stand with Africa campaign can speak about the range of innovative tools available to generate public finance. For example, in order to reduce emissions and generate finance, it is possible to set up mechanisms in the shipping and aviation sectors—two polluting industries—that both reduce emissions and generate climate finance in a way that ensures no new costs or burdens on developing countries.

Another widely supported option includes a tiny fee on financial transactions. According to the Austrian Institute for Economic Research, a global financial transaction tax of 0.1 percent could generate between U.S. $410 billion and U.S. $1.06 trillion per year, a portion of which could go to help developing countries confront climate change.

Members of the campaign will be available for comment on the progress of the negotiations and the role of the United States in the lead up to, during, and after the Durban climate summit.

For more information, visit http://actionaidusa.org/StandwithAfrica/.

The current list of Stand With Africa partners includes: ActionAid USA, Africa Faith and Justice Network, Americans for Informed Democracy, Center for Biological Diversity, Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative (EJCC), Foreign Policy in Focus, Friends of the Earth USA, Greenpeace USA, Maryknoll Office for Global Concern, NAACP, Oxfam America, the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network at the Institute for Policy Studies, and WWF.

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Commentary and Quotes

Ilana Solomon, Senior Policy at Analyst ActionAid USA, says:

“The Durban climate summit is taking place against a backdrop of climate-driven disasters. Recent floods across Asia have killed hundreds, displaced millions, and have led to severe food shortages across the region. Droughts across East Africa have threatened the lives and livelihoods of more than 13 million people.

The US and other developed countries must go to the climate summit and uphold the interests of the poor—not of corporations and polluting industries. The US must stop delaying progress and work with others to agree to new sources of public finance to help poor countries confront the climate crisis.”

Ilana Solomon is available in Durban and can be reached at ilana.solomon@actionaid.org. To schedule an interview, contact Patricia Brooks in the U.S. at patricia.brooks@actionaid.org or +1 202-351-1757.

Karen Showalter, Executive Director at Americans for Informed Democracy, says:

"Young people in the US are keenly aware of the impacts of climate change both here at home and around the world. It is time for the United States to lead the way in addressing what is truly a global challenge!"

Karen Showalter can be reached at karen@aidemocracy.org. 

Rose Braz, Climate Campaign Director at the Center for Biological Diversity, says:

“2011 should make clear that climate change is not an abstract problem for the future. Climate change is happening now, it’s caused by human activity, and Africa is particularly vulnerable and hard hit. The longer we wait to act, the harder the problem will be to solve. It’s long past time for the United States and other developed countries to act urgently and ambitiously to curb global warming pollution.”

Rose Braz can be reached at rbraz@biologicaldiversity.org.

Michelle Knight, Advocacy Associate at the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, says:

“Columban missionaries in countries, such as Peru and the Philippines, are already seeing the effects of climate change harming the communities with whom we live and serve. The U.S. must work with all countries at the summit towards reducing emissions and generating finance for affected countries.”

Michelle Knight can be reached at mmknight@columban.org.

Kari Fulton, Interim Director, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative, says:

“The Environmental Justice Climate Change Initiative is heading to Durban with a delegation of youth and community leaders to ensure that our government, and the world knows that within the United States there are people who are feeling the impacts of climate change and environmental injustice.

We stand in solidarity with those impacted across the global south and are pushing our government to join the rest of the world in addressing the worst impacts of climate change with humanity, humility and as a true comrade of the world. We stand with Africa because Africa's story is not too far from our own. We are all facing the battle to adapt but if we push together we all have a chance to thrive.”

Kari Fulton is available in Durban and can be reached at Kari@theejcc.org, +1 202-340-0976 (cell) or on skype at Karifulton.

Karen Orenstein, International Policy Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, says:

“The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is critically needed to support developing countries in confronting the climate crisis, and it must be operationalized in Durban. However, the GCF must not serve to subsidize developed country corporations.

GCF resources must not be used to directly finance the private sector, particularly through the establishment of a private sector facility, and the U.S. must stop pushing this. The role of the private sector in the Green Climate Fund must be decided and regulated at the national and sub-national level in line with countries’ preferences and people’s needs, not corporate bottom lines.”

Karen Orenstein is available in Durban and can be reached at korenstein@foe.org or +1 202-640-8679.

Jaqueline Patterson, NAACP Director of Economic and Climate Justice Programs, says:

“US communities of color and low income communities share a common cause with our African brothers and sisters as all of us are on the frontlines of climate change impact driven by the excesses of a wealthy few nations and corporations.

Policymakers in the United States must uphold their ethical obligations to significantly reduce emissions and ensure financial support to communities and countries most affected by climate change.”

Jacqueline Patterson will be in Durban and can be reached at jpatterson@naacpnet.org or +1 443-465-9809 (cell). To schedule an interview, please contact Ben Wrobel, bwrobel@naacpnet.org or +1-917-846-0658.

Janet Redman, Co-director of the Sustainable Energy & Economy Network at the Institute for Policy Studies, says:

“People living in poverty in the US and throughout the African continent are already feeling the impacts of climate change. How many more lives must be imperiled before the US acts? The US and other developed country governments should learn from the Occupy movements that people are not willing to sacrifice the security of vulnerable communities for corporate profits.”

Janet Redman is available in Durban and can be reached at janet@ips-dc.org. To schedule an interview, contact Lacy Macauley in the U.S. at lacy@ips-dc.org or +1 202-445-4692.

Lou Leonard, Managing Director of Climate Change at WWF, says:

“The impacts of climate change are no longer just a threat to our future; they are with us today. As the Horn of Africa experiences its worst drought in more than 60 years, threatening millions with starvation, the United States is being battered by severe floods, droughts, and wildfires. The climate crisis disproportionately affects the people least capable of adapting, and threatens the survival of the wildlife, biodiversity, and ecosystems upon which we all rely.

Meanwhile, Washington is absent at home and abroad on addressing risks posed by climate change, leaving cities and towns across America dangerously unprepared for these severe and growing impacts. The Obama administration needs to rise above the Washington gridlock and show leadership by developing and executing a U.S. strategy to meet our international climate commitments.”

Lou Leonard is available in Durban and can be reached at lou.leonard@wwfus.org. To schedule an interview, contact Ian Morrison at Ian.Morrison@wwfus.org or (202) 372-6373.

“The G20 summit outcomes show progress on tax and banking secrecy but fall far short of what is needed to resolve the world`s food crises,” said Soren Ambrose, Head of Policy for ActionAid.

On Global Food Security

Maíra Martins, Food Policy Adviser with ActionAid Brazil said:

“With global food prices at record highs and promises of leadership from French President Sarkozy, we had high hopes that G20 leaders would take bold action in Cannes to address global food insecurity.

“But aside from an endorsement of the West African emergency food reserve project, G20 leaders ducked serious action on global food security. The baton now passes to Mexico in 2012 to provide the bold leadership that G20 have failed to provide.”

Every day nearly a billion go hungry or survive on one meal or less a day. But the G20 failed to take the bold steps needed to curb hunger and food price volatility:

• They endorsed the West African regional emergency food reserves pilot project, an important step towards food security in the region. But the G20 has also continued to refuse to even discuss the idea of the use of strategic buffer reserves, the most effective tool governments could have to modulate price volatility. Several governments oppose the idea because it could interfere with “free markets;” ActionAid maintains that safeguarding the right to food must come first.

• G20 leaders failed to address what the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has identified as the three key drivers of global food price volatility: EU/US biofuels mandates; climate change induced extreme weather; and commodity speculation.

o On biofuels, G20 leaders ignored the report they commissioned by 10 leading international organizations, which called on governments to eliminate market distorting biofuels mandates and incentives.

o On climate change, leaders broke no new ground. Neil Watkins, Director of Policy and Campaigns at ActionAid USA said: “The G20 stated that financing the fight against climate change is one of their main priorities. Yet at every opportunity, leaders have failed to agree on any mechanism that could generate sustainable predictable public finance. With the critical Durban conference just weeks away, leaders should do what Bill Gates suggested in his report and support levies in the heavily-polluting shipping and aviation industries and ensure a majority of the proceeds go to help poor countries to confront climate change.”

o On commodity speculation, the G20 endorses the use of position limits – the proportion of a given commodity any single investor may control. The communiqué also endorses the use of position limits – the proportion of a given commodity any single investor may control. Depending on how this is implemented, this could be a significant step in limiting food price volatility.

On Tax and Banking Secrecy

Martin Hearson, ActionAid’s tax policy adviser, said: “While the world’s attention has focused on Greece, the G20 has quietly chipped away at the protective shell of financial secrecy, which hurts developing and developed countries alike. The era of banking secrecy is still far from over, but the movement towards that end is unmistakable.”

“The question now is whether this progress will continue next year, when Mexico is the G20 chair. The G20 must demonstrate it will use its political power to exert sustained pressure on tax havens in the future, and throw its weight behind efforts to help developing countries crack down on the tax dodging that undermines development.”

Specifically, the G20 have:

o Committed to signing a convention on fighting tax evasion and urged tax havens to join them. 

o Received a report on the fight against tax havens that includes 11 jurisdictions on ‘black’ and ‘grey’ lists.

o Recognised for the first time the impacts of tax dodging by multinational companies and of tax havens on developing countries.o Received expert reports with recommendations on how developing countries can fight tax dodging and raise more tax revenue: one from the IMF, World Bank, OECD and UN, one from the Global Forum on tax transparency, and one from Bill Gates on financing for development.

However ActionAid believes the G20 has missed a chance to commit to greater transparency for multinational companies.

Hearson said: “Having commissioned three expert reports on tax and development, it’s sad that the G20 has ignored so many of the key recommendations. In particular, the OECD, IMF and Bill Gates all called on the G20 to commit to greater transparency for multinational companies, but they failed to do so.”

On the Financial Transactions Tax

Martin Hearson, ActionAid’s tax policy adviser, said:

“Bill Gates, one of the world’s most successful businessmen, supports the FTT. All G20 members should be brave enough to do the same and pave the way for a tax which could help the economies of both rich and poor countries and strengthen efforts to finance development and climate adaptation.”

###

ActionAid is an international anti-poverty agency working in 50 countries, taking sides with poor people to end poverty and injustice together. Together with more than 2,000 civil society partners worldwide, ActionAid works with and supports the poorest and most vulnerable people to fight for and gain their rights to food, shelter, work, basic healthcare and a voice in the decisions that affect their lives. View the website at www.actionaidusa.org.

Your Senators can take a stand to protect these programs but they will only do that if they know that their constituents are behind them. This is why we need you to raise your voice today and urge your Senators to defend global hunger, climate chagne and poverty alleviation programs.

These investments in anti-hunger programs, which focus on long-term food security by investing in smallholder farmers, especially women, are already beginning to have a big impact around the world. Without additional funding, however, these investments and the promises the U.S. has made to poor farmers would be cut short.

Instructions:

Making a call is really easy and it only takes a few minutes! When the office receptionist answers the phone, follow the basic call script below. The receptionists' job is to make sure messages from constituents are relayed to their boss, so make sure you give them your name and address so they can officially log your call into their database.

Call the Capitol switchboard (855) 393-4546 and ask for your member of Congress. If you aren't sure who your Senators are, go to: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Call-In Tips

Sample Call Script

Please feel free to add any powerful facts or stories you want to share.

Hi, my name is ______, and I'm a constituent. I'm calling to ask [Senator's name] to oppose all amendments that would cut international affairs, including cuts to global hunger and poverty alleviation programs. I'm a volunteer with ActionAid.

The U.S. spends a fraction of 1% the federal budget on global hunger and poverty programs - but with food prices rising and the population growing it is critical to fight global hunger by supporting smallholder farmers today. By making small investments to give people the tools they need to lift themselves out of poverty, we are saving lives, protecting our national security, and helping to ensure our economic future. The current Senate levels will allow these vital programs to continue and the Senator should oppose all amendments that would make cuts to these programs.

Please take my name and address so I can hear back from [Senator's name] on whether he/she takes action to protect poverty-focused foreign aid. Thank you.

What Else Can I Do?

I just told @NAMEOFSENATOR to oppose cuts to global hunger programs, & u can too. (Click HERE for more details) #cutscostlives

Tell @NAMEOFSENATOR cutting foreign assistance is a bad idea #cutscostlives (Click HERE for more details)

@NAMEOFSENATOR now is not the time to cut food programs in a food crisis. #cutscostlives (Click HERE for more details)

Tell @NAMEOFSENATOR not to balance the budget on the backs of the poor (Click HERE for more details)

Tell @SENATOR cuts to foreign aid while worst famine in decades kills more than 30,000 children = #FAIL #cutscostlives (Click HERE for more details) 

Tell @SENATOR, don’t balance the budget on the backs of the poor #cutscostlives (Click HERE for more details)

Tell @SENATOR SAVE THE 1%—THE 1% THAT GOES TO FOREIGN AID HUNGER PROGRAMS #cutscostlives (Click HERE for more details)

75 percent of Americans think that it is important for the U.S. to provide foreign aid. I am one. If you agree, call your Senator today. #cutscostlives (Click HERE for more details)

ACTION ALERT: Senators will vote on budget cuts to lifesaving global hunger programs, even as the famine in the Horn of Africa rages on and food prices remain volatile across the globe. These cuts could destroy critical U.S. investments in programs to fight hunger. Call your senator and let them know we shouldn’t balance the budget on the backs of the poor. (Click HERE for more details)

I just told @NAMEOFSENATOR to oppose cuts to global hunger programs, & u can too. (Click HERE for more details)

20 months after the January 12 earthquake, which killed over 300,000 Haitians, injured 200,000 to 300,000 and displaced another 2.3 million people, few reconstruction accomplishments can be claimed. Despite the fact that over 1,900 temporary shelters have been built, almost 600,000 Haitians are still living in inhumane conditions and struggling to access key services such as water, food, sanitation, healthcare and education. Over 75% of the population is living on less than $2 per day, including 90% of all rural families. Most financial and governmental services are still centralized in Port-au-Prince, which has a 70% population rate living in poor slums. Lack of infrastructure and health services and improper implementation of the Haiti National Risk and Disaster Plan has made the country increasingly vulnerable to storms, flooding and cholera outbreaks. Although a documented 439,604 Haitians have been infected by cholera and another 6,266 killed by it, the actual numbers could reflect well over 1 million Haitians infected and 40,000 killed, as so many Haitian cannot access official hospital and health clinics.

The Haitian people, as well as citizens, governments and international institutions around the world, want to understand why the situation has not improved much over the last 20 months. In March, 2010, 55 donors from different international governments and multi-lateral institutions pledged to donate $5.6 billion in aid, including $4.59 billion in program support to Haiti by the end of 2011, to help support its redevelopment plan. Yet, with only a few months remaining, only 43 percent of pledged program funds, or $1.97 billion, has been disbursed. Luckily, we as American citizens can access detailed information on this aid money at the Office for the Special Envoy for Haiti. Haitians, however, have little access to information on how this money has been used and why the remaining $2.61 billion has not yet been disbursed. This is especially true for the country’s grassroots, women’s and peasant movements as well as for the most vulnerable still living in displacement camps. Hence, a new commitment to aid transparency and overall accountability must be undertaken, if the majority of the Haitian people are to have ownership over their own reconstruction process.

The ‘Je Nan Je’ Haiti Land and Housing Rights Campaign

Watch live stream HERE

The ‘Je Nan Je’ Land and Housing Rights Platform, which means ‘Eye to Eye’ in Creole, was created in 2011 out of deep concern for the reconstruction process taking place in Haiti. The platform is made up of a dozen grassroots networks, social movements and women’s groups that represent over 800,000 Haitians around the country. The platform members, constituting a great diversity of Haitian women’s networks, rural peasant movements and urban community development organizations, have a long history of advocating for progressive development and human rights policies within country. Experts in their field who work closely with poor and marginalized communities, the platform promotes higher transparency, accountability and participatory democracy within the reconstruction process, with special attention to the issue of land and housing rights. With support from ActionAid, the Platform is ready to launch on October 13 a new advocacy campaign under the same name, ‘’Je Nan Je,’’ to help guarantee high aid accountability, especially peoples’ right to land and safe, affordable housing. The term ‘Je Nan Je’ indicates a well-known expression in Haiti. It explains that if I look at you straight in the eye, you will have no choice but to tell me the truth. The ‘Je Nan Je’ platform feels that this beloved phrase explains the goal behind their new campaign : to meet with and look decision-makers in the eye, to break down the walls that have blocked poor Haitians from being part of their own redevelopment, and to start having honest, open and inclusive dialogue about how their country needs to be rebuilt.

The Je Nan Je Platform and ActionAid believe that access to land and housing is a fundamental human right in the rebuilding process, and consider the condition of 5.4 million Haitians living in abject poverty, including 600,000 living in displacement camps, to be a major violation of that right. Having a safe and secure place to live, and a sustainable livelihood, are critical components of ensuring the welfare and dignity of the country’s citizens. Therefore, the January 12 earthquake presents a crucial opportunity for the Haitian people, with support from international donors and institutions, to collaboratively rebuild the country on the basis of civil rights, equity, inclusion, security and resiliency. This includes prioritizing safe, affordable housing and access to land for Haiti’s peasant population and most vulnerable earthquake survivors. The Platform and ‘Je Nan Je’ campaign believe that in order to ensure that the National Development Plan is sustainable and owned by the majority of the Haitian people, national and international stakeholders must go one step further. They must support Haitian grassroots platforms, peasant movements and women’s networks as equal partners in the reconstruction process.

‘Je Nan Je’ Haiti Campaign Objectives

The Je Nan Je Platform and ActionAid believe that the ‘Je Nan Je’ Campaign offers a vital opportunity to increase the participation of civil society in the overall process of reconstruction and to facilitate stronger communication and information sharing between key local, national, international and multilateral actors. The campaign, through intensive research and analysis, capacity building for grassroots partners and awareness raising for national and international stakeholders, aims to create an inclusive, participatory space for critical debate and dialogue between the different sectors so that participants can identify collective priorities and sustainable, alternative solutions to key land and housing challenges. This includes recommendations for instituting both institutional and legal reforms in four different areas:

• Sensitize and mobilize the national and international community on the need to guarantee access to land and housing for all Haitian citizens, especially the most vulnerable.

• Create avenues for both national and international debate, dialogue and advocacy on the issue of land tenure reform and equal access to both land and housing, so that each sector, including local, municipal and national government, Haitian grassroots networks, women’s movements and community-based organizations, youth groups, religious groups, academics and Haitian Diaspora groups, can be fully involved in the reconstruction process. Facilitate an enabling environment for the most vulnerable to voice their needs and recommendations.

• Engage all stakeholders, including local, national and international organizations, the Haitian government, multi-lateral institutions, January 12 survivors, and issues experts to help identify a set of clear recommendations for improving transparency and accountability in Haiti’s overall reconstruction process, with special attention to land and housing development.

• Empower different sectors to work together to identify alternative and sustainable solutions to current reconstruction challenges around land and housing development and help build longer-term partnerships for future development efforts.

Read About Our Past ‘Je Nan Je’ Advocacy Activities:
https://actionaidusa.wordpress.com/

Today, activists from across the country will join forces to send a clear message to Members of Congress: When Obama administration officials meet in Durban, South Africa, for a major climate summit starting in November, they must Stand with Africa, and with communities everywhere which are disproportionately impacted by climate change. President Obama’s administration must go to Durban with a just and ambitious position on climate change

Representatives from the US State Department and US Treasury will represent the US climate position at the Durban climate summit and negotiate with other countries on set of policies to come out of the summit. Congress, however, can play a big role in influencing the State Department and Treasury.

Therefore, before the Durban summit, Representative Payne (D-NJ) and Representative Carnahan (D-MO) are going to send a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to show Congressional support for a just and ambitious United States position at Durban climate summit.

Please call your Representative and urge him/her to sign this timely and urgent letter!

Instructions:

Making a call is really easy and it only takes a few minutes! When the office receptionist answers the phone, follow the basic call script below. The receptionists’ job is to make sure messages from constituents are relayed to their boss, so make sure you give him/her your name and address so he can officially log your call into their database.

Be sure to report your call here when you are finished.

Call the Capitol switchboard with our toll-free number, 1-855-393-4546, and ask for your member of Congress. If you aren’t sure who your Representative is, go to: http://house.gov/htbin/findrep?ZIP=

Sample Call Script:

Hi, my name is _____, and I’m a constituent. I’m calling to ask [Rep./Sen.’s name] to sign a letter being circulated by Congressman Payne calling for a just and ambitious US position at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change summit starting in November 2011.

The impacts of climate change are already affecting people all over the United States and the rest of the world—but particularly people living in poverty and communities of color. When US policy makers meet in Africa for the climate summit, they must stand with communities in Africa and elsewhere which are disproportionately impacted by climate change.

Signing the letter being circulated by Congressman Payne is an important first step.

Please take my name and address so I can hear back from [Rep./Sen.’s name] on whether he/she signs this important and timely letter.

Thank you.

Call-In Tips:

• Introduce yourself to the receptionist and make sure that he or she takes your name and address so that your message can be logged.

• Feel free to share why this issue is important to you. Of course, you may modify the script as you would like—it is just a guide to help you.

• Say thank you! Receptionists often have many duties, but saying thanks is a great way to let them know that the delivery of your message is important to you!

• Report your call here.

What Else Can I Do?

• Sign our petition!

• Order postcards to send to your Member of Congress urging him/her to Stand with Africa and Act NOW for Climate Justice!

• Spread the world via Twitter using the common hashtag #cutscostlives.
  Here are some sample tweets:
    o I just called my senator (or representative) & told him (or her) to STAND with Africa and Act Now for Climate Justice. Will you? #cutscostlives @ www.actionaidusa.org. 
    o URGENT: Call your member of Congress and ask him/her to sign the Congressman Payne letter calling for a just US position at the Durban climate summit.

• Spread the word via Facebook by posting a message on your facebook page.
  Here is a sample posts: 
    o Act now: Call your member of Congress and tell him/her to Stand with Africa, Act for Climate Justice, and sign the Congressman Payne letter calling for an ambitious US position on climate change. www.actionaidusa.org.

• Email your friends and family members and ask them to make a call.

• Write or email a letter to your member of Congress in addition to calling them on October 14th.

• Write a letter to the editor in your local newspaper.

• Make an appointment with your member of Congress’ local office and visit them to talk about these issues.

Today, two weeks before US policy makers join leaders from around the world for a major summit in Durban, South Africa, activists from across the country will join forces to send a clear message to Members of Congress: When Obama administration officials meet in Durban they must Stand with Africa, and with communities everywhere which are disproportionately impacted by climate change. President Obama’s administration must go to Durban with a just and ambitious position on climate change!

Representatives from the US State Department and US Treasury will represent the US climate position at the Durban climate summit and negotiate with other countries on set of policies to come out of the summit. Congress, however, can play a big role in influencing the State Department and Treasury.

Therefore, before the Durban summit, Representative Payne (D-NJ) and Representative Carnahan (D-MO) are going to send a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to show Congressional support for a just and ambitious United States position at Durban climate summit.

The deadline for your Representative to sign the letter is November 21st! Please call your Representative TODAY and urge him/her to sign this timely and urgent letter!

(Please note this letter is just being circulated in the House of Representatives, not the Senate, so just call your Representative!)

Instructions:

Making a call is really easy and it only takes a few minutes!

Call the Capitol switchboard with our toll-free number, 1-855-393-4546, and ask for your Representative. If you aren't sure who your Representative is, go to: http://house.gov/htbin/findrep?ZIP=

When the office receptionist answers the phone, follow the basic call script below. The receptionists’ job is to make sure messages from constituents are relayed to their boss, so make sure you give him/her your name and address so he can officially log your call into their database.

Be sure to report your call here when you are finished.

Sample Call Script:

Hi, my name is _____, and I’m a constituent. I’m calling to ask [Rep./Sen.’s name] to sign a letter being circulated by Congressman Payne calling for a just and ambitious US position at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change summit starting in November 2011.

The impacts of climate change are already affecting people all over the United States and the rest of the world—but particularly people living in poverty and communities of color.

The deadline for signatures to the letter is November 21st, and I'd really appreicate the Congressman's (or Congresswoman's) support! 

Please take my name and address so I can hear back from [Rep./Sen.’s name] on whether he/she signs this important and timely letter.

Thank you.

Call-In Tips:

• Introduce yourself to the receptionist and make sure that he or she takes your name and address so that your message can be logged.

• Feel free to share why this issue is important to you. Of course, you may modify the script as you would like—it is just a guide to help you.

• Say thank you!

• Report your call here.

What Else Can I Do?

• Sign our petition!

• Order postcards to send to your Member of Congress urging him/her to Stand with Africa and Act NOW for Climate Justice!

• Spread the world via Twitter using the common hashtag #cutscostlives.
  Here are some sample tweets:
    o I just called my senator (or representative) & told him (or her) to STAND with Africa and Act Now for Climate Justice. Will you? #cutscostlives @ www.actionaidusa.org. 
    o URGENT: Call your member of Congress and ask him/her to sign the Congressman Payne letter calling for a just US position at the Durban climate summit.

• Spread the word via Facebook by posting a message on your facebook page.
  Here is a sample posts: 
    o Act now: Call your member of Congress and tell him/her to Stand with Africa, Act for Climate Justice, and sign the Congressman Payne letter calling for an ambitious US position on climate change. www.actionaidusa.org.

• Email your friends and family members and ask them to make a call.

• Write or email a letter to your member of Congress in addition to calling them on October 14th.

• Write a letter to the editor in your local newspaper.

• Make an appointment with your member of Congress’ local office and visit them to talk about these issues.