---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: 13 Sep 2000 14:27:12 -0700 From: David Mozer <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [wa-afr] FW: ACTION: Support Africa Foreign Aid & Conflict Resolution -------------------------- eGroups Sponsor -------------------------~-~> Need a credit card? Instant Approval and 0% intro APR with Aria! http://click.egroups.com/1/7101/18/_/23029/_/968881209/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> -----Original Message----- From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2000 9:04 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: ACTION: Support Africa Foreign Aid & Conflict Resolution ADNA Action: 000913 Message from: United Methodist Church For contact information see also: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna Dear ADNA members, Following find the most recent action alert from the United Methodist Church Global Board for Church and Society regarding current foreign aid appropriations and legislative initiatives relevant to conflict resolution, both of which are important for Africa in this last month of the Congressional session. Feel free to share this widely, use it as an example for other churches to adapt for their own congregartions, and as background for individual or organizational letters to Members of Congress. Regards, Vicki Ferguson ADNA Communications Facilitator From: Mark Harrison <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Urgent Action Alert on Africa Date sent: Fri, 8 Sep 2000 12:43:21 -0400 September 2000 Urgent Action Support Funding for HIV/AIDS and Conflict Resolution in Africa Congress will make final decisions on assistance to Africa before it adjourns in early October. Critical issues are funding levels for HIV/AIDS programs and UN peacekeeping operations, and legislation to prohibit the importation of diamonds mined by rebel groups in Sierra Leone and Angola. Action: Write/call your Representative and Senators during the month of September to urge them to support: 1. A funding level of $570 million to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa as authorized by the Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Relief Act (HR 3519). 2. The Administration's request of $739 million to pay the U.S. assessment for UN peacekeeping which includes operations in Sierra Leone and the Congo as well as the war crimes tribunal in Rwanda. When calling or writing your Representative express strong disapproval of the House Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations bill that zeros out funding for all peacekeeping missions in Africa. 3. The Consumer Access to a Responsible Accounting of Trade Act (Carat Act), sponsored by Reps. Tony Hall (D-OH) and Frank Wolf (R-VA), that prohibits the importation of diamonds mined by rebel groups in Sierra Leone and Angola, two countries with a large United Methodist presence. [Tell your Senators to support a Senate version of the Carat Act should it be offered.] Rep. __________ Sen. __________ U.S. House of Representatives U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20510 U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121 Background: HIV/AIDS HIV/AIDS is a pandemic in Africa. Although sub-Saharan Africa has only 10 percent of the world's population, it is home to more than 24,500,000--roughly 70 percent--of the world's HIV/AID cases according to United Nations AIDS data. Worldwide, there have already been an estimated 18,800,000 deaths because of HIV/AIDS, of which more than 80 percent occurred in sub-Saharan Africa. 12,100,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa have lost at least one parent to AIDS and are thus considered AIDS orphans. At the current infection and growth rates for HIV/AIDS, the U.S. National Intelligence Council estimates that the number of AIDS orphans worldwide will increase dramatically, potentially increasing threefold or more in the next 10 years, contribuing to economic decay, social fragmentation, and political destabilization in already volatile and strained societies. Children without care or hope are often drawn into prostitution, crime, substance abuse, or child soldiery. The Global AIDS and Tuberculosis Act (HR 3519), approved by Congress and signed by the President, authorizes $570 million each year for two years for programs to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and in other parts of the world. The new law establishes an AIDS trust fund under the auspices of the World Bank and provides grants for prevention, care and education, with funds for voluntary testing, counseling and mother-to-child transmission prevention. The U.S. contribution to World Bank trust fund is $150 million. The trust fund could leverage additional money up to an estimated $1 billion. UN Peacekeeping and Africa The Administration requested $739 million for FY (fiscal year) 2001 to pay the U.S. assessment for UN peacekeeping. A significant portion of this amount would be used to cover UN peacekeeping operations in Africa. The House Commerce, Justice and State Appropriations Committee approved only $498.1 million of the request. It zeroed out funding for all peacekeeping missions in Africa. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved $500 million for UN peacekeeping. These levels fall below the 25 percent of all peacekeeping missions that the Congress approved last year in the Helm-Biden agreement. The U.S. misses an opportunity to diffuse conflicts before they explode into larger wars that consume more lives and a greater amount of resources and require much larger sums of money in the form of humanitarian and economic assistance in the long run. Diamonds and Wars Rebel groups in Sierra Leone and Angola control areas where diamonds are mined. The sale of these diamonds--called conflict diamonds or blood diamonds--through third countries, such as Liberia and Burkina Faso in the war in Sierra Leone, allow the rebel groups to pursue bloody and costly wars, and to violate peace agreements. The Carat Act implements UN embargoes against diamonds mined by rebels in Sierra Leone and Angola, and diamonds purported to be from Liberia and Burkino Faso. United Methodist Church Positions: "We further call on the General Conference to use its best endeavors to appeal to the President and people of the United States of America...to ensure that hostilities in Sierra Leone...be halted." ("Resolution from the Delegates of the Sierra Leone Annual Conference," adopted the General Conference 2000 on May 11, 2000.) "...the U.N. should impose an...embargo [that covers] the purchase of diamonds and natural resources looted from the Congo." ("Motion from Congolese Delegates to the General Conference 2000," May 2000) "We call upon United Methodists to encourage their governments to strengthen the UN by fulfilling all treaty and financial obligations, so that it may more effectively relieve the suffering of millions through better health, protect our planet's environment, promote human rights, and bring about genuine and lasting peace in the world." ("In support of the United Nations," 1996 Book of Resolutions, p. 683) *** This message is distributed by the United Methodist Church for the Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA). Vicki Lynn Ferguson Advocacy Network for Africa Communications Facilitator c/o Africa Policy Information Center 110 Maryland Ave, NE #509 Washington, DC 20002 Ph: 202-546-7961 Fax: 202-546-1545 E-mail: [log in to unmask] Web: http://www.africapolicy.org/adna Our next meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 27, Safeco Jackson St Center, 306 23rd Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle (enter off Main St) 7:00 p.m. WSAN business meeting 8:00 p.m. Program: PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) We meet the last Wednesday of the month. To post a message: [log in to unmask] To subscribe sending a blank message to [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe send a blank message to [log in to unmask] For complete information on the Washington State Africa Network visit: www.ibike.org/africamatters ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------