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WOMEN OF VISION ORANGE COUNTY:
ADVOCACY
Sally Alvino and Betty Younan
Advocacy Chairs
THE CHILD SOLDIER PREVENTION ACT OF 2007
Did you know that an estimated 250,000 children are exploited in armed conflicts worldwide? These "child soldiers" are forced to serve as combatants, spies, human land mine detectors and slaves.
Stopping the use of child soldiers begins at home. The U.S. Government currently provides military assistance to eight countries that are reportedly implicated in child soldier usage: Burundi, Chad, Colombia, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Uganda.
You can do something to help end this horrific practice. Join us as we speak out and say "NO child soldiers!"
The S.1175 Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007 is a bill which was recently introduced by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Sam Brownback (R-KS). It would curtail U.S. military assistance to governments that fail to take steps to demobilize and stop recruiting children into the armed forces of government supported militias. Countries that take steps to demobilize child soldiers would be eligible for certain forms of assistance in that process for up to two years, to help professionalize their forces and ensure tht U.S. taxpayer dollars are not used to finance the exploitation of chldren in armed conflict.
Ask your members of Congress to support the Child Soldier Prevention Act of 2007. U.S. tax dollars should not be used to support the exploitation of children as soldiers and U.S. weaponry should not endup in the hands of children!
Please take an easy step in making a child's life safer. It is quite simple: click on www.seekjustice.org and you will be able to contact your members of Congress regarding this important issue. Or click on the World Vision site: www.worldvision.org/nochildsoldiers
Thank you for partnering with us as we advocate for NO CHILD SOLDIERS. Time is of the essence as Congress will take up this issue in September.
Cheryl Kyle and Sally Alvino
Women of Vision Orange County
Advocacy
GOALS FOR OUR 2007-2008 ADVOCACY COMMITTEE
In our role as advocates for the poorest of the poor women and children in our world, our Orange County Chapter of Women of Vision plans to focus on two areas of the world in addtion to the United States--Africa and the Middle East. Our goal is to inform and educate our membership and friends about the grim realities for women and children in these areas.
We want to provide opportunities to also encourage our educated membership, who can then do the same with our governmental leaders and decision makers. The World Vision Senior Advisor forGlobal Affairs, Serge Duss, will provide us with an educational film, "The Wall," which we can use in educating our membership and friends.
Our 2007 Spring Luncheon Event, "Faces of Courage," was fortunate to have the dynamic Marian Wright Edelman as featured speaker. She challenged us to become involved with fifty Liberian women who will be trained there for one year in preparation for coming to US universities the folowing year. Additionally, she encouraged us to address the plight of the nine million children the United States without medical insurance. She truly put our hearts and minds to work.
Together, we can all make a difference in many women's and children's lives throughout this world. One of the first steps is education to determine how and where we can be most effective. Then, with faithful hearts, action will naturally follow as we work to make each day be filled with a little more hope for those lives we touch.
Web sites for further study and education may include the following:
www.seekjustice.org
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