RECENT ACTIVITIES
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CARE 2010 National Conference
Student registration rate is $40. Strapped for cash? AIDemocracy is offering travel scholarships to two students who have demonstrated commitment to fighting global poverty and who are resolved to leverage their experience at the CARE Conference to continue their work on campus. Contact Sarah@aidemocracy.org for more info. Registration closes this Friday, April 23rd. For more information and to register, visit the CARE Conference website. What Are We Doing Here?: Launches April Tour on Foreign Aid Effectiveness
The film tells the story of Brandon, Nicholas, Daniel and Tim Klein who travel 15,000 miles from Cairo to Cape Town in an attempt to uncover the true nature of foreign aid in Africa. Could our good intentions be causing more harm than good? Have humanitarian interventions prolonged suffering? Who is actually benefiting from our good intentions? Talking with aid workers, politicians, local journalists and other inspiring individuals tackle issues of famine, war, and disease affecting hundreds of millions of people across the continent. Each event will include Q&A, discussion of current opportunities to modernize US foreign assistance, and what dstudents can do to support effective development policy and practice for a more stable, prosperous and sustainable world. Please find the tour schedule below.
Contact Sarah@aidemocracy.org for more information. Stop Rape Now: Organizing Perspectives on Violence Against Women
At least one out of every three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her liftetime, with rates of domestic violence reaching 70% in some countries. Violence against women is a clear and present reality.
On February 4th, 2010, the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) was (re)introduced into Congress as part of an unprecedented effort to end violence against women and girls across the globe. This is a global health, economic development, and human rights issue. It's time to turn up the heat and urge our elected officials to support the passage of this incredibly important act!
Join Americans for Informed Democracy and Amnesty International Wednesday, April 14th at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA to learn more. Featuring:
Guest speakers will present vignettes of women who have experienced violence in their lives, contextualize the work of their respective organizations, and lead break out discussions on how to advocate to end violence against women on local, national and international levels. The idea is that each student leave empowered to effectively advocate for women's rights not only on campus, but on a national and international level. We'll even give you the opportunity to take action before you leave! Location: Berlin Lounge Please contact Ethan@aidemocracy.org with questions. Coming to a Campus Near you: International (Reproductive Health) Youth Speak Out Tour
"What Are We Doing Here?" East Coast(ish) Tour
• Jan 21: Lehigh University, PA
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This May 11-12, join Americans for Informed Democracy and hundreds of CARE supporters from across the country to raise your voice on Capitol Hill and advocate on behalf of the world's poorest people. Attend issue sessions on foreign assistance reform, rebuilding Haiti, hunger, women and climate change, women’s economic empowerment, and girls’ education with leaders in international development. Don’t miss plenaries by special guests U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and First Lady of Sierra Leone, Sia Nyama Koroma. After a little lobby role play, you’ll also have the opportunity to meet with Members of Congress and demand a world without poverty.
This April 4th - 30th, documentary filmmaker Tim Klein and AIDemocracy Global Development Campaigns Coordinator Sarah Frazer are touring college campuses throughout the US South to screen the film 
Beginning March 18th, AIDemocracy's Global Health Program with Advocates for Youth staff are visiting five US college campuses to bring together young activists from the US and the global south to fight for youth sexual and reproductive health and rights. The two day special program will feature youth activist speakers from Africa and the Caribbean who will talk about realities in their countries and show a short video documentary that highlights young people’s experiences in Jamaica, Ethiopia, and Nigeria on campuses. The following day, youth activists will meet with policy makers to make the case for greater U.S. global leadership to improve young people’s access to sexual and reproductive health information and services in the global south. The program will highlight the importance of U.S. foreign aid for family planning and reproductive health services, calling for support for an appropriation in the U.S. Fiscal Year 2011 budget of one billion dollars for international family planning and the Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Act of 2010, which would ensure that science-based reproductive health programs and family planning services reach young people. The tour will be hitting the following campuses on the following dates:AIDemocracy welcomes new Executive Director Karen Showalter
Greetings! I would like to introduce myself as the new executive director of Americans for Informed Democracy. I am thrilled to be joining this great network of young people taking action on global issues.
I found my 'global consciousness' during my time as a student at the University of Michigan. Like many of you, I took active offense at the injustices I saw in the world around me, and wanted to play a part in finding solutions to global challenges like poverty and disease. This drive led me to the Peace Corps in Niger, where for three years I worked with local communities to address challenges to food production, environmental protection, health and education. A need to connect this global awareness with my local community led me back to the US and a position with an educational program serving primarily low-income immigrant and refugee children in Seattle. Since then I have also worked on the structural factors contributing to these challenges during my time with the Bank Information Center, a World Bank watchdog group in DC, and IFIwatchnet, an online community of activists concerned with the International Financial Institutions. Most recently I managed Oxfam International's Health and Education for All campaign in Mali, West Africa.
There are not always easy answers to the challenges we work on. But, I believe that understanding the issues, the systems of power that underpin them, and how to raise our voices together are the first steps to achieving change. We have a lot to do in the coming years to secure adequate and appropriate US funding for international development, to fight disease through increased access to health information, care and medicines, to promote dialogue and peace between the US and actors like Iran, and to ensure the sustainability of our ecosystem and the future of our planet. We do have a voice, and we will be heard.
Although you probably interact with our fabulous program directors Sarah and Priti on a regular basis, please feel free to contact me at any time. I hope to meet many of you at an upcoming event, conference or training.
Thank you for all that you do, and I really look forward to working together.
Best wishes,
Karen Showalter
World AIDS Day Coverage, Washington, D.C.
AIDemocracy joined DC Fights Back, Health Gap, Campaign to End AIDS, several other non profit organizations and 150 HIV/AIDS activists on the streets of Washington, D.C. to take action against the spread of HIV/AIDS. The day’s event began with a mock funeral in front of the White House to call on the Obama administration to follow through with their promises for Global HIV/AIDS funding. The event continued with a march from Lafayette Plaza to the Wilson Building where activists demonstrated in front of the Mayor Fenty’s office demanding a comprehensive plan for Washington DC (the city with the highest percentage of HIV/AIDS cases in the US). Check out the video for footage and information about the success of the rally!
More media: Check out articles in the Washington Post and The Examiner.
October 17: UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Tell Congress to Modernize U.S. Foreign Assistance
2009 Power to the Peaceful Festival and CARE Global Action Forum in San Francisco
Power to the Peaceful Festival
September 12, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Speedway Meadow, Golden Gate Park
Cost: Free*
Join 70,000 people in San Francisco's beautiful, green tree lined Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park for a free* day of music, arts and action. Founded by singer, activist and CARE ambassador Michael Franti, the Power to the People Festival is dedicated to the promotion of cultural coexistence, nonviolence and environmental sustainability through the arts and music. Visit http://powertothepeaceful.org for more information, including a list of participating music artists and other attractions.
CARE Global Action Forum
September 13, 2 p.m.-6 p.m.,
Herbst Theater, 401 Van Ness Ave.
Cost: $20
Following the Festival, join Michael Franti, Power to the Peaceful and CARE for three sit-down conversations and workshops about climate change, girl's empowerment and global hunger with leading humanitarian representatives from CARE, Back to Earth, the Office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Potentia Foundation, Room to Read, Spark, UC Berkeley and Vitamin Angels. Workshops will be followed by a reception featuring organic food, drink and a concert with Michael Franti and brazilian dancers and drummers.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit http://www.care.org/newsroom/articles/2009/08/power-to-the-peaceful-forum-20090817.asp.
Join us as we change our world!
Rebel Rocker, Michael Franti, talks with Americans for Informed Democracy
about his decision to join CARE as a CARE Ambassador, the Obama administration,
and what it means to be a rebel.
Support the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network’s Open Letter to President Obama on
Global Development and Foreign Assistance Reform TODAY!
Nearly 150 powerful individuals and organizations, including Americans for Informed Democracy, have sent a letter to President Obama on the importance of strengthening U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, fight disease, create opportunity, and foster sustainable security in the developing world. The letter acknowledges the reality of our current situation: To be as strategic and effective with taxpayer dollars as we must at this time of economic crisis, it is critical to modernize our outdated foreign assistance system. Find our more about the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network and add your name to the letter today!
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