World Vision has been working with people like you to ensure the passage of the Child Soldier Prevention Act — a bill that will restrict U.S. military assistance to governments that use children in conflicts. As often happens, the child soldier bill has been combined with another bill, the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). Read the summary or full text of this bill.

The TVPRA represents the first major comprehensive U.S. effort to address the global scourge of human trafficking.  Not only does the bill provide measures for combating child labor and sexual exploitation, but it includes the vital provisions of the Child Soldier Prevention Act.

Our advocacy staff in Washington, D.C., is seeking to urge senators and representatives to pass the Child Soldier Bill before the Thanksgiving recess.

YOU CAN USE YOUR VOICE TO HELP! Call your member of Congress today! Tell your friends to do the same.

Over the past several weeks, the news has been focused on two critical events: the global economic crisis and the U.S. presidential elections.

In the midst of these uncertain times, the voices of the poor have largely fallen into the background, and the economic crisis only threatens the ability to get much-needed funding for programs aimed at lifting up the more than 2 billion people living on less than $2 per day. But now that we know who the next president is, we have a responsibility to represent the poor and advocate to the new president and Congress on their behalf.

And what better way to advocate for the poor than to join more than 2,000 other Christian advocates in an unprecedented mobilization in Washington, D.C.? This April 25-29, 2009, we encourage you to join us at the AoA Summit on the Hill, where we join Sojourners' Mobilization to End Poverty to learn together and lobby members of Congress to make poverty a priority on the national agenda. Mark your calendars and register today!

Be sure to check James Pedrick's blog report from the last month's White House Summit on International Development to learn how the global economic crisis is affecting the world's poor.

Download your complete World AIDS Day Guide.

Download our AIDS Advocacy petition.

World AIDS Day is the Monday after Thanksgiving, which seems like a tough time to organize for the day. However, it doesn't take much to do something! We invite you to participate in the following three events:

• Lives Are at Stake (Missed the deadline? This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will work to get you supplies): Set up a memorial to children who are most vulnerable to the effects of the AIDS crisis.
  
• AIDS Advocacy: Now more than ever it is imperative to hold government accountable to its promises to fund AIDS, TB, and malaria prevention and treatment programs. Download the petition (.pdf) and organize a drive today! You can also sign the petition online!
• Want Less/Give More: This is an extended activity, launching on World AIDS Day and continuing through the rest of the holiday season, challenging us to evaluate our view of money, wants versus needs, and our giving and spending habits. Complete information will be ready Nov. 25.

Want to know more? Download your entire World AIDS Day guide! (.pdf). Click read full article for complete information.

advocacy  lives are at stake  want less/give more  world aids day 

We need your help to promote the Mobilization to End Poverty, an unprecedented opportunity to advocate the new President and Congress on global and domestic poverty. (This year, our AoA Summit on the Hill will join together with the Mobilization.)

Here's the challenge: Create a quick 4-minute video on YouTube that demonstrates the theme, "What you can do to end poverty."

The Prizes? The top two filmmakers will receive a FREE trip to the Mobilization in Washington, D.C., where their videos will be shown to more than 2,000 mobilized advocates. The first-place videographer will also receive a FREE trip to Africa to film a project with World Vision. Register at www.sojo.net/filmmaker

Help World Vision win $50,000 in the Western Union "Our World Gives" Facebook challenge to protect precious lives of children in Southern Africa made vulnerable by a simple mosquito bite. The organization with the most Facebook votes wins $50,000, which World Vision will use to provide nets for every family in the village of Twachiyanda, Zambia.

Go to http://apps.facebook.com/ourworldgive to VOTE DAILY and invite your network to do the same! The challenge runs until Nov. 28.