BUDGET CUTS

Hi all!
Hopefully you've all heard by now about the Congressional Budget Cuts. Congress has proposed to cut the Foreign Aid budget by a huge amount, which will drastically affect our ability to do the sort of work we do abroad.

Some cuts that directly affect Darfur/ Sudan and other areas of crisis:
$431 million (50 percent) from International Disaster Assistance
$582 million (36 percent) from Food for Peace
$687 million (41 percent) from Migration and Refugee Assistance

A few people have described this as "bigger in impact than Bashir evicting the 13 aid organizations". Sooo you can get the idea, it's going to be a disaster if these cuts actually take place.

Here's the deal! It's been introduced in the House and will now go to the Senate. I really, really urge you all to call 1-800-GENOCIDE or write a letter to your Senator to tell them to reverse these cuts. I've attached FAQs, some lobbying talking points, and some language that you can use in your calls and letters. Feel free to send me an email, call, etc if you want more information on any of this. This is something we need to mobilize around ASAP! We can't expect our government to prevent or respond to international crises if it doesn't even have the funding to do it!

• https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=1ztOo1Z97AWUXXgi0okYpYF33CcK3-9Zql1A_e55tJs4fLPBU4TusQnOW0QTd&hl=en&authkey=CLDT0YQH
• https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=1bNrcj4ZXpUgoBanoPnKztnLGe5appMsj0fxsCTN_aGeyJgY_NoZIJYApfeAt&hl=en&authkey=CMaLjMkF
• https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=1-Fq4pgYWVOH9uhPAbP0S_OH6Mzc6UiVCl_Gd-Wea-SMxtKm6TeXtrYKi50lA&hl=en&authkey=CLOj_uEG
• https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=1XFEA-39AfCT4rxKv8IPbl_IgbBF9yPeZ2xTIRTYZYzQ8kweLBR_6TBSJ1KzZ&hl=en&authkey=CJ6muKwD

Courtesy of Alice Bosley

A Letter From Rwanda

I recieved this yesterday in the mail! It's really great that someone recognizes what we do. It is from the President of Rwanda, Paul Kagame.

Libya - Opposition Forces Gaining Control?

Since Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi seized power of Libya in 1969, there has been little talk of dismantling his legacy of authoritarianism. Before the 2011 unrest, the only hint of change came from his son, Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, although now it seems that the plan was to instate Seif’s older brother Mutassim, who upholds his father’s views. After Tunisia’s sudden release from its dictator, and then Egypt, who both border Libya, the Libyan people have finally begun to take steps toward shaking off their own dictator.

The situation is very different from Egypt though, and the struggle has proved to be much harder. Col. Qaddafi will not hand over his power easily, and the military is not on the side of the citizens.  On February 16th, 2011, protests began to break out demanding the release of human rights advocate Fathi Tarbel. The protesters clashed with riot police officers. The government released Tarbel, but they found that this was only the first step for anti-government protesters. The government crackdown has only become more severe since then, as the government has moved to shut down the internet. On February 23, 2011, it was thought that over 1,000 people had been killed in protests.
Even still, opposition forces have managed to liberate many cities, such as the major city of Benghazi, the second largest city in Libya, and regain relative peace in many others. There has been no mutiny among officers in the army, although it has been said that many senior officers were against attacking civilians and pro-Qaddafi officers eventually gave way, because they were vastly outnumbered by anti-Qaddafi forces.

Check out these sites for more info:

•  http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/libya/index.html 
• http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/24/opinion/24kristof.html?_r=1
• http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/2011/02/anti-government-protests-spread-libya
• http://www.standnow.org/blog/gi-netsdc-call-us-action-libyan-crisis

Call into the State Department at 202-647-5291 and urge Secretary Clinton to establish a no-fly zone to stop the government from shooting at civilians from the air, to isolate Gaddafi internationally, and to seek justice from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Gaddafi's crimes.

               

Impose a no-fly zone, as Libya’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations proposed after he defected, to prevent the government from bombing or strafing its own people. This is what we did to prevent Saddam Hussein from attacking his Kurdish population, and in Libya we could do it without dispatching NATO aircraft to hover continually over the region. We can warn Libya (publicly or quietly) that if military aircraft or ships are used against civilians, Libya’s military assets will later be destroyed. The aim is to encourage the air force and navy to keep their assets from being used against civilians.

Newspaper Article

Hey guys! For any of you who didn't see it, this article on STAND came out a couple issues ago in the West High School Newspaper!

Welcome!

Hello fellow students!
I am happy to announce that our blog is now up and running!
Over the next couple of days, I will be getting it up to date with world news, and upcoming local events. This is a great addition to our advocacy department, and I'm excited to get it running smoothly!
Hope this becomes your "go to" station for help with any project you're interested in.
All The Best,
Hanne :)