Saturday, November 21, 2009

• Top 10 Ways to Take Action
• Advocacy Tools
• Fact Sheets
• Materials

• Presentations
• Organizing Tools
• Workshop Tools

Top 10 Ways to Take Action

Top Ten Ways to Take Action on Darfur
November 12, 2009
"Here is the latest top ten ways to take action for peace and justice in Darfur & all Sudan. Click here to find new ways to increase pressure on the administration in your community..."  Go >

Top Ten Ways to Take Action to End HIV/AIDS in Africa
October 13, 2009
"Here is the latest updated top ten ways to take action to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Click here to find new ways to take action in your community..."  Go >

Top Ten Ways to Take Action to Stop Vulture Funds
August 10, 2009
"Here is the latest top ten ways to take action to stop Vulture Funds. Click here to find new ways to educate, and organize your community on the impact of Africa's illigetimate debt burden..."  Go >

Advocacy Tools

08: Vote to End Global AIDS
December 21, 2007
"This poster can be used by activists on the campaign trail in the final build-up to the January primaries. It outlines the positions of leading candidates from both parties on global HIV/AIDS and rates them according to their stances on this issue. Recognizing that HIV/AIDS is the greatest global threat today, Africa Action urges voters to make fighting the pandemic a central issue in the 2008 U.S. presidential election..."  Go >

AFRICOM Action Kit!
October 20, 2009
"Join the movement against the militarization of the African continent! Learn more about AFRICOM and how to take effective action in your community..."  Go >

Media Training I: Letters to the Editor and Op Eds
March 16, 2006
Audio file (mp3) of our March media training. This hour-long training focuses on how to write effective Letters to the Editor and Op Eds, and how to craft your message for the media.  Go >

Media Training II: How to Get Press to Your Event
April 14, 2006
This training covers the building blocks of a media-friendly event, the roles of press advisories and releases, the importance of a media strategy and includes an interactive messaging exercise.  Go >

Sample Letter to the Editor
December 12, 2006
"Here is a sample letter that can be used as a template to send to the editor of a local or national newspaper to alert them of the Darfur crisis..."  Go >

Vulture Funds: Which Countries Are Affected?
June 23, 2009
"A 2008 report by the IMF reported that Vulture Funds were engaged in at least 50 separate claims, seeking a total of $1.47 billion from poor and middle income countries. Click here to view where Vulture Funds prey..."  Go >

Working with the Media
May 5, 2009
There are many ways to engage the media on issues that impact Africa. Engaging the media is important in the process of informing and shaping public opinion and setting priorities for our decision makers. By working successfully with the media, we can generate positive press coverage which will in turn help to create the public and political will needed to build more just relationships in U.S.-Africa policy.  Go >

Working with Your Member of Congress
July 19, 2005
Writing a letter is one of the most effective ways we can communicate with our elected officials. Since most Representatives and Senators tally public opinion to help them make decisions, think of the impact we can achieve by flooding Capitol Hill with thousands of letters!  Go >

Writing Letters to End Global Apartheid!
July 19, 2005
Letter writing is one of the easiest and most effective methods of campaigning for more just U.S. policies toward Africa. It shows decision makers and elected officials that we care enough to sit down, think about the issue and contact them.  Go >

Fact Sheets

Violence in South Sudan: A Timeline from March 2009
October 20, 2009
"There are alarming new indicators of deteriorating conditions in Sudan. This Africa Action resource is a timeline of documented violence in the Southern region of Sudan, including the North/South border and areas that are near neighboring countries..."  Go >

Darfur: We Won't Get Fooled Again
August 19, 2009
"Click here to watch this video on Darfur and share it with your friends. Afterwards, order our new 'poster' for just $3. To place an order write to 'outreach[at]africaaction[dot]org'.  Go >

Sudan and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
August 12, 2009
"The Global Fund has disbursed $182,759,157 for 11 grants for health initiatives in Sudan. This new Africa Action resource explains the health challenges facing the people in Sudan and how the Global Fund can address AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria- if the U.S. fulfills its financial commitment to the Global Fund ..."  Go >

more >

Materials

Africa Action knows that some of the most effective public education happens outside of books, articles and other traditional resources - no matter how well-written or compelling. With that in mind, we offer below stickers, posters and T-shirts to help spread the word on our priority campaigns.

T-Shirts

Stickers

Posters

more >

Presentations

Peace & Justice in Darfur & all Sudan
November 12, 2009
"Download and print this flyer to learn how you and your community can get involved in Africa Action's Just L.E.A.D. Campaign for peace and justice in Darfur and all Sudan. Then, take action by sending a message to the U.S. president..."  Go >

Fistula: Breaking the Silence
March 23, 2009 - Kizito Byenkya & Solomé Paulos, Africa Action
"2 million women currently suffer from obstetric fistula (OF), and 100,000 women at risk every year. To learn more about Fistula, click here to download this powerful PowerPoint presentation..."  Go >

Keynote Address: “Projecting Change and Continuity Under the Obama Administration”
March 3, 2009 - Professor Shadrack B. O. Gutto
"Last month Africa Action hosted, in coordination with Howard University African Studies Department, a policy forum featuring renown African scholar, author and educator Professor Shadrack B. O. Gutto. Read his full address here..."  Go >

more >

Organizing Tools

Choike: A Portal on Southern Civil Societies
November 10, 2009

Workshop Tools

Build Your Own Workshop!

Workshops can be fun and effective ways to educate people about an issue and engage them in action. Workshops on issues connected to Africa are especially important in light of the massive misinformation that exists in the world about Africa. The best workshops on Africa or African issues will help to educate people, de-bunk common myths and inspire people to learn more or to take action on the issue being presented. Africa Action is pleased to lead workshops, when time permits, on a variety of issues that relate to Africa. However, since we are limited in capacity, we cannot meet all the requests made to us for workshops. Thus, we have developed the following sample workshops and a series of tools and tips that can help you to lead your own workshop on African issues. If you are new to leading workshops, feel free to contact us for advice in the process. You can reach us with workshop questions at outreach[at]africaaction.org.

(These resources were prepared by Africa Action. Feel free to copy workshop samples and tools to share, but please credit Africa Action.)

More Tools and Resources
July 20, 2005

Tool: Farmworker's Circle
July 20, 2005
The Farmworker’s Circle is a tool for affirmation and inspiration, to leave the workshop feeling upbeat and empowered. This can be especially helpful if the participants are feeling overwhelmed by the challenges in the world or wondering if their action will really help.  Go >

Tool: Jelly Bean Debt Exercise
July 20, 2005
Explaining the international debt crisis to beginners can be very difficult and, for those new to issues of the global economy, it can be confusing or boring. This exercise helps to involve the participants and engage them in the issue.  Go >

Tool: Mixed Media Messages
July 20, 2005
When leading a media skills-building workshop – or section of a workshop – it is helpful to practice media messages. It is important for people to learn how to craft effective messages that support the overall goals of the work as well as to be able to identify poor messages that come through in the media. The following tool helps in this process.  Go >

Tool: RainMaker
July 20, 2005
If you need to get people moving to keep the energy up, especially if your workshop is later in the day or if people have gotten sleepy or discouraged along the way, use the RainMaker.  Go >

Tool: Rolling Reporter
July 20, 2005
When discussing the value of the media, or in media skill sharing sessions, you might consider engaging people in role-play to help participants to practice their messages. The “Rolling Reporter” is one way to do so while emphasizing the importance of media messages being short and to the point, even when the media asks seemingly irrelevant questions.  Go >

Tool: Sample Workshop on Africa
July 18, 2005

Tool: Sample Workshop on Debt
July 19, 2005

Tool: Sample Workshop on HIV/AIDS
July 19, 2005
How can Apartheid be Global? Consider: an international system of minority rule (through control of the major global decision-making bodies) whose attributes include: differential access to basic human rights, where wealth and power is structured by race and place, embedded in global economic processes, political institutions and cultural assumptions. The HIV/AIDS pandemic, concentrated among Black people, reflects the deadly impact of Global Apartheid. Africa Action is building a movement of informed individuals across the U.S, and this workshop will explore consistent, clear, and simple means for taking action towards Ending Global Apartheid and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  Go >

Tool: Word Association
July 20, 2005
Word Association Exercises can be a helpful tool in a variety of circumstances and for a wide range of issues. The exercise helps to gauge an audience’s awareness of an issue and to draw out myths or misunderstandings that the audience might have.  Go >

Tool: Workshop DOs and DON'Ts
July 20, 2005