Oxfam’s Sisters on the Planet Ambassadors arrive in Washington to support funding for the International Affairs Budget and refugee programs
As Congress finalizes the FY 2018 budget and starts working on the FY 2019 budget, Oxfam is hosting 25 Sisters on the Planet Ambassadors in Washington to urge elected representatives to support full funding of lifesaving foreign assistance programs, especially programs supporting refugees.
Participants include Former US Representatives Claudine Schneider, Lynn Woolsey, and Barbara B. Kennelly, former Indiana Lt. Governor Kathy Davis, author and social entrepreneur Ellen Gustafson, the Mayor of Hyattsville, MD, Candace Hollingsworth, and retired army colonel Jill Morgenthaler.
“I’m proud to stand with Oxfam to call on Congress to join our historical fight against global poverty, to establish the moral authority of our country even as we take the smartest path to global security,” said former Wisconsin Lt. Governor and Sister on the Planet Ambassador Barbara Lawton. “In this critical time of unrest and rising need around the world, we must not turn our backs on the poorest and most vulnerable, too often women.”
Violence, persecution and conflict have forced more than 65 million people to flee their homes, a number unprecedented in recorded human history. Sisters on the Planet Ambassadors are meeting with more than 47 Congressional offices, including 23 member level meetings, from California to New Hampshire.
“We are so proud to be joined by such a diverse and accomplished roster of women leaders to advocate for refugees, both here in the United States and around the world,” said Oxfam America President Abby Maxman. “Congress must urgently fund America’s humanitarian response in the midst of record breaking need. For the people on the frontlines of such crises, anything less would be unacceptable.”
Sisters on the Planet Ambassadors also participated in Oxfam’s “Refugee Road,” an event that helps raise awareness of Oxfam’s work to support refugees oversees and here in the US. Refugee Road helps humanize the Syrian refugee crisis and create a sense of shared humanity by inviting people to spend a short time identifying with the difficult choices refugees are forced to make in their struggle to protect their loved ones and survive.
