February 18, 2009
On February 10, MCC U.S. Executive Director Rolando Santiago joined 66 other leaders of national organizations to sign a letter urging the Obama Administration to review U.S. policy on landmines and cluster bombs. Here is an excerpt from the letter:
Your election stirred great excitement in this country and abroad in large part because of your clear commitment to restoring U.S. moral leadership in the world. Reconsidering these two treaties – and eliminating the threat that U.S. forces might use weapons that most of the world has condemned – would greatly add efforts to reassert our nation’s moral leadership.
Click here to read the entire letter. To learn more about cluster bombs, visit mcc.org/clusterbombs.
Leave a Comment » | 
Legislative Updates, Militarism, Sign-on Letters | 
Permalink
Posted by Mary Stata
February 17, 2009
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria is facing a $5 billion funding shortfall through 2010. The global health financing institution has provided over $14.9 billion in grants to 140 countries since its inception. The Global Fund has had notable successes: malaria cases in Rwanda have decreased by two thirds and by 80% in Eritrea.
The funding shortfall is due to increased requests by recipient countries, rather than falling donor contributions. However, the US has yet to approve its 2009 contribution. In fact the US is already $1 billion behind in pledges made under the Bush administration. Rajat Gupta, chairman of the Global Fund, declared that he would be satisfied if the US contributed $2 billion of the $2.7 billion it promised for 2009.
To read about MCC’s HIV/AIDS work, visit here.
Leave a Comment » | Africa, HIV/AIDS | Permalink
Posted by Mary Stata
February 16, 2009
Theo Sitther writes about the conflict in Afghanistan in his latest article for Third Way Cafe:
Following the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan to oust the Taliban government, root out al-Qaeda, set up a democratic government and build up the country. Seven years later a guerilla war continues. Much of the country remains in poverty, with a weak central government in place and a booming opium trade making Afghanistan the number one poppy producer in the world. Military operations are now coordinated under the NATO umbrella, millions of dollars in aid have flowed into the country with little results and violence against civilians and foreign aid workers has steadily risen.
U.S. strategy in Afghanistan over the last seven years has primarily focused on military objectives, while the approach that’s necessary for a stable nation is one that supports the needs of ordinary Afghan citizens. Lisa Schirch, professor at Eastern Mennonite University and the director of the 3D Security Initiative, recently stated in an article that “expensive, short term solutions, such as the proposed additional 20,000 troops, might help quell violence in the short term. But without more promising policy options – such as a diplomatic and development surge … a troop surge won’t build a foundation for Afghanistan’s future.”
Secretary Clinton’s statement that diplomacy and development are essential tools in order to achieve the long term goals of the United States is a welcome change. We can achieve peace in Afghanistan but policymakers must work to refocus U.S. strategy from an imbalanced military one to one that prioritizes peace, development and diplomacy.
The full article is available at thirdway.com.
Leave a Comment » | Articles, Middle East, Militarism | Permalink
Posted by Gabe Schlabach
February 16, 2009
MCC has published a 7-minute audio slideshow about Pedro Gonzalez, one of the 10 MCC participants in the 2007 Migrant Trail. Pedro talks about his life experiences — growing up in Mexico, traveling to the United States in the early 1990s and struggling to get by, raising a family, and ultimately ending up with MCC in Houston.
It’s a really great story, and one that highlights the challenges (and identity issues) that many immigrant face when coming to the United States.
View the slideshow.
Leave a Comment » | Immigration, Latin America/Caribbean, Migrant Trail | Permalink
Posted by Gabe Schlabach
February 11, 2009
Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL), and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) have written a letter to World Bank President Robert Zoellick, urging him to suspend all further debt service payments from Haiti and grant the nation complete debt cancellation. Rep. Waters is asking her colleagues in the House of Representatives to join her by signing the letter. The more Representatives who sign on to the letter, the stronger the message to World Bank President Zoellick – cancel Haiti’s debt and allow the Haitian government to focus on the needs of its people.
Read More >>
Leave a Comment » | Action Alerts, Global Economic Justice, Latin America/Caribbean | Tagged: debt relief, haiti, jubilee, poverty | Permalink
Posted by Theo Sitther
February 9, 2009
President Obama has made clear that alleviating hunger worldwide is a top priority of this Administration. Food insecurity and high prices pose a threat to the prosperity and security in many developing countries…And governments and nations, as you know so well, are more likely to be unstable when their populations are hungry and unfed.”
- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, January 26
To learn more about the global food crisis, come to our Spring Seminar in Wichita, Kansas!
Leave a Comment » | Capital Quotes, Events | Permalink
Posted by Mary Stata
February 5, 2009
Tammy Alexander writes in PeaceSigns about her experience participating in a health care “house party” in Goshen, Indiana. The discussion was one of at least 8,500 that occurred in December as part of an initiative by President Obama’s transition team. The anecdotes she heard (and contributed) were depressing:
Most everyone at my table raised their hands when asked if they had a family member who lacked health insurance. One man told a story about his sister-in-law who had pancreatic cancer. She had insurance but was close to reaching her lifetime maximum. There were concerns about how her medical costs would affect the insurance premiums of the other employees at the small family business where she worked. I shared a story about my sister who recently suffered a kidney stone. She’s a stay-at-home mom with preexisting health conditions and no affordable insurance options. The hospital forgave the bill, but the physician and diagnostic fees piled up.
The statistics are just as bad:
Half of all bankruptcies in the United States are a result of health-related bills. We are the only industrialized nation not to have some form of universal health care. Currently, 47 million Americans lack health insurance. Another 16 million are underinsured. Health premiums have almost doubled in the past seven years alone.
Tammy’s conclusion:
We must also recognize that there are hard choices to be made.
Is health care a right or a privilege? Is it okay to extend the life of a terminally ill patient by a week or a month if such procedures cost $100,000? One million dollars? How do we deal with lifestyle choices such as smoking and drinking? How do we tackle obesity? What are we willing to do to help bring down costs and make sure everyone has access to basic care? What will happen if we do nothing?
These are hard questions, and we didn’t come up with all of the answers that night in Goshen. But if small groups like these continue to meet and mobilize, and if government officials–and advocates–continue to listen, we’ll get there.
The full article is available on the PeaceSigns website.
Leave a Comment » | Articles, Health Care, U.S. Economic Justice | Permalink
Posted by Gabe Schlabach
