| Dear Friend, We're working hard to grow a movement for a more responsible and cooperative US role in the world. There's plenty to do. Here's what our community has recently been up to: Ending Violence Against Women  We continued our crusade for women's rights by supporting the One Billion Rising movement on Valentine's Day, February 14. These rallies were huge successes! We had nearly a dozen chapter leaders from around the country join us and get out the word as GlobalSolutions.org gathered signatures for our CEDAW petition. The event raised international awareness to end violence against women. As we continue our campaign to End Violence Against Women, we are aiming for 1,000 actions by International Women's Day on March 8th.
Webinar with Eleanor Smeal and Sandra Fluke On February 9th we hosted a national webinar with two amazing speakers. Eleanor Smeal of the Feminist Majority and National Organization of Women, and Sandra Fluke, lawyer and social justice advocate joined us to discuss the global human rights crisis of violence against women. Nearly 200 people registered for the webinar to listen to us discuss ways to end violence against women and what everyone can do to join the effort. To watch the webinar, click here. CEDAW Petition  If you haven't signed our petition calling for ratification of the Women's Rights Treaty, do it now! We reported last month the first day of the 113th Congress was an opportunity to make ratification of the women's rights treaty a priority and our event was a huge success! Dozens of activists spoke with 17 Senators and over 30 Senate staffers about the importance of standing up for women's rights in this congressional session. We presented all 100 members of the Senate with your petition signatures, along with a letter signed by over 100 organizations, underscoring the widespread support for the ratification of this treaty. But we're not there yet and are continuing to gather support for the treaty.
Welcome to Allyson Goldsmith, our new Campaign's Manager  We are pleased to announce that Allyson Goldsmith has joined our team as our new Campaigns Manager. Allyson will manage our campaigns strategy, social media and email communications. Allyson has managed social media and online communications for Americans for Informed Democracy and the Global Campaign for Education-US as well as grassroots organizing for RESULTS Educational Fund. She majored in Sociology at Brandeis University and holds a Masters in Public Administration and a Masters of Arts in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Allyson is passionate about international affairs, particularly access to birth registration, education, and women's rights. Have thoughts about campaigns or how we can grow our movement? Contact Allyson at agoldsmith@globalsolutions.org
2013 Membership Preference Survey Each year GlobalSolutions.org surveys the members of our community to determine what key issues we should campaign on and how best to communicate with you. Your passion is our community's power. If you haven't taken the 2013 survey yet, it is still open for your input through February 28th. The current survey results as of the end of January are now available. So far, Climate Change and the Environment, Human Rights, Peace and Conflict and Women's Rights are our top four issue areas. Upcoming Campaign The Arms Trade Treaty vs. the NRA Negotiations to finalize an Arms Trade Treaty will be held at the United Nations from March 18 to 28. While efforts to reduce gun violence in the U.S. moving forward, the international community is watching closely to see if NRA lobbyists once again seek to derail the Arms Trade Treaty when the U.N. negotiations resume next month.  When there are international laws for the sale of iPods and bananas but not AK-47s and grenade launchers, we've got a problem. The Arms Trade Treaty sets uniform standards for international arms sales -- bringing foreign governments up to high U.S. standards and the black arms markets out of the shadows. The Treaty protects legitimate trade and holds foreign governments accountable for selling arms to human rights violators. Without it, warlords and terrorists will keep exploiting loopholes to get weapons.
These weapons are used by warlords to force child soldiers to kill their parents, by terrorists to attack American soldiers and missionaries, and by gangs to rape refugee women and girls. NRA lobbyists know the Treaty only affects foreign countries, not gun laws for American civilians, and helps keep weapons out of the hands of terrorists who kill Americans overseas. The Treaty protects law-abiding Americans' freedoms and our troops overseas, but NRA lobbyists are lying about it anyway to fundraise off American gun owners. This Treaty is in America's security, business, and moral interests. It protects legitimate trade and cracks down on weapons sales to war criminals and terrorists. We can't let NRA lobbyists derail it. Stay tuned for what you can do to make sure this does not happen. GlobalSolutions.org's Annual Meeting: July 27, 2013 Please save the date. This year we will meet at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY on Saturday, July 27th. Details and logistics will be available soon. The Global Citizen If you don't regularly check out our blog, The Global Citizen, here are some recent highlights: Don Kraus,
Chief Executive Officer | 
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