February 2012

Pushing the World Bank to Live up to its Promises on Basic Education

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Advocacy How Tos

Writing to Policymakers

Decision-makers, including parliamentarians and government officials, need to hear from you. As a Canadian, and as a taxpayer, you provide a valuable perspective on which initiatives should be prioritized and where your tax dollars should be directed. As a RESULTS volunteer, your voice supports cost-effective proven solutions to lift families out of poverty.

Handwritten letters are most effective
Write from your perspective - make a personal connection to the issue and, where possible, to the person you are writing to as well
Try to keep your letter to one page, two at maximum
Regular post and fax work best – even better, do both, fax then mail it! Time and again policymakers tell us emails generally have less impact and many are summarily met with a form response.
- Writing an MP at the House of Commons is free (House of Commons, Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6)
- MP fax numbers are available online at the House of Common page
Be sure to include all of your contact information so the person you are writing can reply.
When you receive a response, reply again, this will help develop a written dialogue and build a relationship.

The EPIC model used for speaking powerfully is also used for writing powerfully

Engage	Dear ______, As a mother of two small children, I was shocked to find out that over 70 million primary school–aged children are not in school.
Problem	Too often, the only thing standing in the way of these children having access to a brighter future are school fees, often as little as $50 a year.
Inform about the Solution/td>	How can we expect any country to develop to its full potential when its children are not getting educated? Not one developed country has been able to do so without first making education free and compulsory for its children. When school fees were dropped in Kenya over 1.2 million new children showed up for school.
Call to Action	Can I count on you, in your role as MP, to write a letter to the World Bank to them to stop making school fees mandatory parts of any funding given to the governments of developing countries?