Media Alert: Coalition staging Haiti Advocacy Week in DC

["Lesley Crosson" <LCrosson@churchworldservice.org>]

Media Contacts:
Lesley Crosson, Church World Service, (212) 870-2676,
lcrosson@churchworldservice.org

Jan Dragin – 24/7 – (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net
Barbara Fallon, barbarafallonpr@gmail.com, 703-489-0880
     Patricia Brooks, ActionAid, patricia.brooks@actionaid.org
 
 
MEDIA ADVISORY
 
Coalition of U.S., Haitian non-profits staging “Haiti Advocacy Week”
Jan. 23-25
Five members of Congress take tough look at U.S. role in continuing
recovery efforts  
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Monday, January 23, 2012-- Humanitarian aid agency
Church World Service and other members of theHaiti Advocacy Working
Group (HAWG), a coalition of major U.S. non-profits committed to Haiti,
aren’t stopping their efforts because the second anniversary of Haiti’s
shattering earthquake has passed: The coalition has scheduled a battery
of events in Washington this week (January 23 – January 25) to press for
a more just reconstruction and faster development to meet the severe
needs of Haiti’s vulnerable populations. 
 
HAWG will host a series of briefings and a reception, featuring five
members of Congress, Haitian and Haitian Diaspora partners in the U.S.,
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S.
Department of State. 
 
Two years after the earthquake, progress is slow and there have been a
growing number of grassroots movements in Haiti – the poorest country in
the western hemisphere. Over a half million Haitians remain in squalid
camps and, in the midst of drastic need, $500 million of U.S. funds
remain unspent. Priority issues include land and housing rights,
gender-based violence, camp conditions, health and cholera and the need
for stronger aid accountability and transparency.
 
WHAT:                Haiti Advocacy Week
 
WHEN:    Monday, Jan. 23 – Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012  
 
Key briefings:
Monday, January 23:                                 
4:00-6:00 p.m.
Gender-based Violence Briefing
B-369 Rayburn House Office Building 
Sponsored by U.S. Representatives Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Fredericka
Wilson (Fla.).
 
6:00-8:00 p.m.         
Reception in Capitol Building
(HVC215) 
With Members of Congress in honor of Haitian guests
 
Tuesday, January 24:   
9:00 -10:30 a.m.            
Cholera Briefing
Rayburn Gold Room
Sponsored by Reps. Lee, Yvette Clarke (N.Y.) and Donald Payne (N.J.)
 
12 noon-2:00 p.m.                                      
TransAfrica Forum and Center for Economic Policy Research-sponsored
documentary, “Where Has All the Money Gone?” 
and 
Aid Accountability Briefing
Rayburn 2103 
Sponsored by Rep. Clarke
 
2:00-4:00 p.m.      
Land and Housing Briefing   
2103 Rayburn
Sponsored by Reps. Lee, Wilson, Clarke and Payne
 
 
Wednesday, January 25:                           
9:00–10:30 a.m.      
Media Room for interviews with Members of Congress, HAWG members and
Haiti experts
Rayburn 2103
Sponsored by Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.)   
 
10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.                               
Democracy and Governance Briefing
Rayburn 2456
Sponsored by Rep. Waters                                 
                                    
 
WHO:      
 
Among Haitian Grassroots and Haitian Diaspora participants: 
Antonal Mortime, director of the Haitian Human Rights Platform, a
coalition of nine Haitian human rights organizations advocating for
victims in many of Port-au-Prince's 1,300+ refugee camps
 
Marie Ange Noel, coordinator of Women Decide, a Haitian-based NGO with
more than 20 years experience in women's health and human rights
 
Rene Magloire, previous Haitian Minister of Justice, now with the U.S.
Institute for Peace
 
Five Members of Congress: Rep. Yvette Clarke  (N.Y.), Rep. Barbara Lee
(Calif.), Rep. Donald Payne  (N.J.), Rep. Maxine Waters  (Calif.) and
Rep. Frederica Wilson (Fla.)
 
The Haiti Action Working Group includes: ActionAid USA, Alternative
Change/Chans Altenativ, American Jewish World Service, Center for
Economic and Policy Rese
arch, Center for Gender and Refugee
Studies-University of California Hasting College of Law, Church World
Service, Environmental Justice Initiative for Haiti, Fonkoze USA, Gender
Action, Grassroots International, Institute for Justice and Democracy in
Haiti, International Rescue Committee, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA, Latin
America Working Group, Li, Li, Li, Read, MADRE, Mennonite Central
Committee U.S.-Washington Office, National Lawyers Guild-Environmental
Justice Center, Oxfam America, Partners in Health, The Andora Project,
The Haiti Fund at the Boston Foundation, TransAfrica Forum, United
Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society, Unitarian
Universalist Service Committee, University of Miami School of Law-Human
Rights Clinic.
 
See full news release atwww.churchworldservice.org/haitiadvocacy