Alison submitted a proposal to raise awareness about the problem of malaria. She started "Knitting for Nets" as one of AIDemocracy's Buzzcuts winners. As a college sophomore at DePauw University she raised $2000 to buy bednets to prevent malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. Then, Alison went to another AIDemocracy event on Global Voices for Health and learned about ways to promote smart U.S. policy to prevent malaria, HIV-AIDS, and poverty-related illnesses. She began to advocate for policy change. Now she continues to take action through knitting and advocate through meetings with policymakers.
She is an AIDemocracy leader!
| Jessica, an AIDemocracy member at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, started a campaign to galvanize awareness for human rights in general with a more specific goal of the adoption of fair trade coffee across the campus. From frequent meetings, free coffee promotions, and community canvassing, the AIDemocracy group educated and involved students, faculty, and staff through numerous innovative means. In addition, she worked directly with the school administration and local businesses to ensure that fair trade coffee would be available at Texas Tech and in the surrounding community. Jessica believed that success of the campaign was achieved through its impact on one person, one family, or one group at a time. With the support of AIDemocracy, she was able to empower her community to make proactive decisions regarding fair trade goods and human rights. "The grant I received from AIDemocracy and the support of our own on campus chapter made this initiative both possible and potentially HUGE. Overall, the experience I have had through AIDemocracy has been amazing. It started with me learning to think big enough to dream I could even begin to organize an initiative. This has not only been a great experience but a bang of a beginning to my activist career; it has opened me up to a world of like-minded and hearted people that share the same desire and passion for change." She is an AIDemocracy leader! |
Every young person has the potential to be an AIDemocracy leader. Help AIDemocracy reach out to students to empower and equip them to address poverty, disease, and conflict through awareness and action.
The time is now. Young people were tremendously engaged around the presidential elections. Youth voter turnout increased by 19 percent from the 2004 elections. The opportunity to re-engage the world and promote responsible and principled leadership motivated many students to raise issues, knock on doors, and get out votes this season.
Now it will be important to harness the energy, zeal, and enthusiasm of young leaders into ongoing participatory democracy, civic engagement, and service. With the election settled and the work of the new Obama Administration beginning, the real work of civic engagement begins as well.
The Obama administration will be grappling internationally with the financial crisis, two wars, as well as contending with important economic and health issues domestically. It will be more important than ever to the incoming Administration to hear that global issues such as diplomacy and dialogue remain critical ways to restore our reputation. While at the same time, increased development assistance, cultural exchanges, and health programs remain a priority for proactively promoting a more holistic approach to engaging, assisting, and partnering with other countries.
In order to both applaud the incoming Administration for the promises it keeps as well as draw attention to priority items for foreign policy action, AIDemocracy is launching a "100 Days Campaign." This campaign will include three conferences; one on development, one on global health, and one on peace and security within the first 100 days of the new administration. The conferences will bring together policy and political leaders; leading think tank experts and NGO leaders; youth leaders from other countries (via the web) and our network of students and young professionals to recognize the progress achieved by the Administration and raise awareness of the challenges ahead as well as building support for moving forward on campaign promises. The conferences will include scorecards of what President-elect Obama committed to as a candidate and what he has accomplished in the first 100 days as well as the unfinished agenda. Students will gain new skills through capacity-building workshops on Administrative level advocacy, using new media for campaigns, coalition building, and dialogue on these issues. Each student will also make a commitment to take some action to move these ideas forward.
AIDemocracy will also be training students to engage on these issues by posting Youtube videos in response to policymakers Youtube postings; to increase our use of video advocacy; and to assist students in developing their ability to comment on regulatory issues and pose questions to Administration officials on critical issues.
We will engage in meeting youth advocates in Iran and Trinidad & Tobago and develop policy papers that will highlight youth perspectives on critical issues of peace and development.
To do all this, we need your help. AIDemocracy wants to ensure that our "100 Days Campaign" is an effective way to engage students and promote citizen engagement on global issues. Each conference will cost approximately $6000. We are asking members for:
- $100 Dollar for "100 Days"--$100 from 600 members will cover the costs of the conferences which will reach more than 2,000 students across the country.
- $500 will cover the costs of holding a videoconference during the 100 days events to hear from youth advocates in other parts of the world.
- $1000 dollars for "100 Days" --$1000 will cover the costs of designing and developing scorecards of the first 100 days for the conferences which will raise awareness among more than 15,000 students.
Whether you've been an AIDemocracy leader like the ones profiled in this letter, been a chapter leader, a regional director, or simply attended an event, you know that the voices and engagement of young people is key to solving the global challenges that lie ahead. Young people have the energy and optimism to end poverty, secure peace, and promote health. Help AIDemocracy do our job in continuing to support emerging leaders like the next Alison or Jessica raise aware and create change at the campus, local, and national level.
Best,
Marceline
President
Americans for Informed Democracy
No comments:
Post a Comment