Readers,
I returned from D.C. at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. I spent the last week attending the Campus Progress Conferences and lobbying congressmembers at the Capital. I had the distinct oppurtunity to listen to influential speakers such as: President Bill Clinton, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, John Prendergast-co-founder of the Enough Project, Adam-Sterling- founder of the Sudanese Divestment Task Force, and Katherine Sebelius, amongst other notable individuals. I will provide a summary of their speeches, my interaction with some of them, and my impressions/thoughts from lobbying for health-care reform and the Congo Conflict Minerals Act of 209 (CCMA).
Firstly, I spoke with a Foreign Service Employee from the State Department named Dan. He opened my eyes in regards to several topics. To start, he suggested that non-profit organizations that receive funding from the government, i. e. the IRC, Care, and Save the Children, amongst others, may be prone to avoid certain countries because of ideological reasons, i.e. they may avoid Iran because of strained relations between Iran and the U.S. He mentioned that Oxfam was an exception to this trend. Secondly, he cautioned against joining the UNHCR (a favored organization of mine) because some UNHCR officials (he stressed that this was not the case for all officials) are "lazy...over paid..." and don't "give a damn" about the fate of refugees. He stressed that organizations like USAID have to make extremely difficult and politicized decisions regarding aid distribution, citing the aid axiom that if you provide aid to one tribal group in a divided region you may cause tension between that group and another group who didn't receive the aid for whatever reason. I am sickened and not surprised to learn that aid can be a tool in Realpolitik.
Here are summaries from speeches at the Campus Progress National .
John Prendergast (enoughproject.org
-Emphasised Sister School Program- American schools are paired with 72 impoverished schools in Chad and basketball stars, such as Derik Fisher of the Lakers, help fund the schools in Chad. The program helps American students connect with students a world away while improving the conditions at Chadian schools
-There are 250,00 refugees in Chad at this time
-Emphasised the connection between tin, tantalum and tin and the violence in eastern Congo.
explained the minerals use in cell phones accordingly:
Tin: For use in Circuit Boards
Tungsten: the buzzing sound cell phones emit
Tantalum- Effectively cools off the circuit board
*All 3 minerals, along with Gold, are illegally mined by roving genocidal militias in eastern Congo. Electronic companies pay the militias for the minerals, thus inundating the militias with millions of dollars that the militias use to buy weapons.
* Over 5.4 million have died in the Congo since 1998- making the Congolese war the deadliest since WWII and the worst place in the world to be a woman
*Militias in E. Congo receive $180 million a year from the illegal mineral trade
-The solution: The Congo Conflict Minerals ACT of 2009- passage pending, help support this bill!
Van Jones- Obama's Energy Secretary
-90 % of Scientists agree on global warming (that it is real and exacerbated by mankind)
-Wind Turbine production will create a plethora of jobs, each turbine has 8,000 intricate parts
-He remarked that Obama is as inspired by us as much as we are by him
-He states that China was pouring 12 million an hour into green energy, but that the U.S. will undergo the process in a better way.
-Governement funding for green energy will serve as the impetus to a consumer-driven "green-revolution"
Katherine Sebelius- HHS Secretary
-U.S. spends 2x more on health care per person than any other developed nation and is lacking in results
-12,00 American are loosing their health insurance every day
-4 million more children have health insurance since Obama took office
Nancy Pelosi: HOR Speaker
- 80 % reduction in carbon dioxide emission by 2050
-Accelerated student loan forgiveness for engaging in public service
- A Public- option inclusive comprehensive health care bill will be introduced before the August break ( I would be amazed if this happened, more power to Pelosi though)
-" We will take insurance companies out from between you and your doctor."
Bill Clinton
-Building wind turbines creates more jobs than building coal plants
-We must change our delievery system
-Figure out the "how" in regards to making things more efficient
-Posited that "every storm in Haiti is like Hurricane Katrina"
John Oliver- the Daily Show
-The U.S. has no excuse not to cover every American (health care)
-The British health care system is flawed, but is more fair
-Beck and Limbaugh provide "bone-chilling meandering"
Over 1300 people showed up to the National Conference and some hundred or so people lobbied in the Capital. I personally lobbied the aides of Senators Hatch, Bennett, Wydon, Cantwell and Dirksen. I lobbied for public-option inclusive health care reform mostly- it is a cause I feel strongly about since I have seen the devastating effects of not having health insurance.
The conference was enlightening, it furthered my resolve to engage in the political process by expanding my local communities knowledge on the subject and possibly, running for office myself. My favorite speakers were John Prendergast and Nancy Pelosi, the former's organization is my favorite non-profit and the latter is so passionate about helping the average American.
* I recommend Naomi Wolf's, Give me Liberty, it a great read.Iran Rally-July 11th, 2009
-My friend Dave and I joined the Iranian Solidarity rally today from 11-1 at 400 south and state. A fairly solid number of people showed up (30 or so) and we chanted and held signs. Channel 5 news covered us and some local photographers were present. I lead the chant for a while and lost my voice. I lament the fact that the Iranian crisis and the Honduran coup, amongst other notable stories, have been buried by the overwhelming coverage of Michael Jackson- A man which, though talented, does not deserve this much media coverage. Gandhi, MLK jr, Bhutto- the deserve this kind of coverage.
Well, this is it for now. I will keep you posted, thanks for reading.
-Cameron
What an awesome experience!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to comment about what you said about NGOs and UNHCR...the latter first. In my experience the upper echelon of all orgs are overpaid and don't really give a damn. But, to examine the efficacy of any organization you need to look at where the wheel meets the road. I've worked with the UNHCR on the ground in Russia - the workers who bust their asses day in, day out to help the refugees (documented or otherwise) in the RF definitely give a damn. And believe me, they're far from overpaid. Now, most unfortunately their efficacy is greatly undermined by the dysfunctional distribution of monetary assistance...so it may look as though the agency suffers from "don't give a crap-itis" when in fact it's crippled by lack of funding and resources (insert any aid orgs name into that sentence and it would ring true).
Next, IRC, Care etc receiving funding from gov't therefore (I believe you're aserting the following) doing its bidding internationally (by avoiding hot topic areas). I, in the case of IRC, strongly disagree with this statement. IRC will go where it's safe for their workers and where they're invited...and, it must be said, the IRC's US Programs receives the bare minimum of funding required by US Resettlement. (Hence the title, non governmental, not doing, representing, maintaining the bidding of any government) It's true that sometimes, in order to do good somewhere, you may have to hold hands with the devil for a time (no, not aserting the US is the devil) - that's the realistic idealist in me speaking. It's most unfortunate if and when it is the case - but the way it was presented by your friend is far too simple.
Keep fighting the good fight...you're not alone!
Dani,
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting. Dan mentioned that there were a lot of good people in UNHCR, but that the executives didn't give a damn. I appreciate your comments, especially since you have a wealth of experience in the area.
I find that there is always a danger in simplifying things, making events polemic- not seeing the vast swaths of gray! I agree with your assessment that aid agencies are vastly underfunded for the most part and that critics are quick to point out that aid agencies, like the UNHCR, don't "get much done" without acknowledging that funding might be the issue.
Thanks Dani!