ACT FOR AFGHANISTAN ANGLICAN COMMUNICATIONS KIT

1. GUIDELINES 

The following English medium content is designed to be copied and pasted, translated or adapted by your ministry group supporting the call for Afghanistan.

Basic guidelines for communications around the Open Letter and the call to action are:

• On social, always use the #ActforAfghanistan hashtag 
• Use collective imagery where possible 

2. SOCIAL MEDIA EXAMPLES

2A. Ask Social Post Examples 

Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn: I’m joining Anglican Church leaders to ask our government to extend kindness beyond our borders and do more for Afghanistan. 

Together, with more than 60 charities, civil society groups and leaders, our Archbishops and aid agencies Anglican Missions and CWS have signed an open letter calling on our government to #ActforAfghanistan now.  

We need your help. Will you email your MP telling the government to do more for Afghanistan today? 

Twitter: More than 60 charities, civil society groups, and community leaders are calling on the NZ government to #ActforAfghanistan now. Email your MP and ask them to do more for Afghanistan here:

2B. News Update Post Examples 

Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn: Together, with more than 60 charities, civil society groups and leaders, the Anglican Church’s leaders and aid agencies have signed an open letter calling on our government to #ActforAfghanistan now.  

As our government continues to call upon us to be kind to one another, we’re asking them to extend kindness beyond our borders and do more for Afghanistan. Read the story on Anglican Taonga and download the letter in PDF here.

 Twitter: BREAKING: More than 60 charities, civil society groups, and community leaders are calling on the NZ government to do more and #ActforAfghanistan now.

2C. Body Text Paragraph Example 

As Anglicans, we agree that ‘be kind’ are words to live by. Being kind is a part of who we are as Christian and as Aotearoa New Zealanders. Today, alongside more than 60 other charities, civil society groups, and community leaders, our Church leaders and aid agencies are asking our government to extend that kindness beyond our borders and do more for Afghanistan.   

Forty years of war, natural disasters, and COVID-19 have pushed Afghanistan to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The needs are growing by the hour, and New Zealand must respond. 

Together, we’re calling on the government to:  

• Urgently increase humanitarian and development support 
• Establish and ensure safe pathways of relocation and resettlement for Afghan nationals to New Zealand. 
• Establish formal mechanisms to liaise and consult meaningfully with the Afghan community here in Aotearoa New Zealand.  
• Lead international efforts. 

You can read the story on Anglican Taonga and download the full Open Letter Here.

We need your help. Will you add your voice to the call for our government to do more for Afghanistan? 

Email your MP to tell the government to do more for Afghanistan today. On this ActionStation page you can find an easy to access list of MPs contact details and a letter form to use. Please note you do not have to tick what political party you support to get to the helpful letter form page (second page) – just scroll down the page and click “next” to exit the first political party choice screen.

2D. Web Copy Paragraph Example 

Forty years of war, natural disasters, and COVID-19 have pushed Afghanistan to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. The needs are growing by the hour, and New Zealand must respond. 

Together, we’re calling on the government to:  

• Urgently increase humanitarian and development support 
• Establish and ensure safe pathways of relocation and resettlement for Afghan nationals to New Zealand. 
• Establish formal mechanisms to liaise and consult meaningfully with the Afghan community here in Aotearoa New Zealand.  
• Lead international efforts.  

You can read the story on Anglican Taonga and download the full Open Letter Here.

We need your help. Will you add your voice to the call for our government to do more for Afghanistan? Email your MP today. 

 3. CALL TO ACTION: EMAIL MPS

3A. This text can be copied copy and to insert into  template Email as standard text

Dear [MP Name], 

My name is ___ and I live in _____, which is in your electorate. I am joining Anglican Church leaders and aid agencies to call for your support for the people of Afghanistan.

[this is issue is important to me because]

Forty years of war, natural disasters, and COVID-19 have pushed Afghanistan to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. There are compounding crises taking place, including hunger, displacement, conflict, and Covid-19. The needs are growing by the hour, and New Zealand must respond.  

I request that you do all you can to get the Government to: 

• urgently increase humanitarian and development support 
• establish and ensure safe pathways of relocation and resettlement for Afghan nationals to New Zealand. 
• establish formal mechanisms to liaise and consult meaningfully with the Afghan community here in Aotearoa New Zealand.  
• lead international efforts. 

You can get more detail about these asks in an Open Letter signed by over 60 charities, civil society groups and leaders and sent to Minister Mahuta this week.

The New Zealand Government spent 20 years and hundreds of millions of dollars in military expenditure as part of the international intervention in Afghanistan. We have an obligation to the people of Afghanistan to stand by them now. Be it the provision of aid, or safe pathways to New Zealand, the time for response is immediate and the cost of inaction is high. 

Please act now so New Zealand doesn’t abandon the people of Afghanistan in a time of great need.

3B. Web Page guidance for people using template email to MP

Act for Afghanistan: Extend kindness beyond borders

Email the government to do more for Afghanistan

This week, more than 60 charities, civil society groups and leaders, including leaders  of my Anglican Church, have signed an open letter calling on our government to extend kindness beyond our borders and do more for Afghanistan. 

The World Food Programme said 14 million people were on the brink of starvation in Afghanistan. Food could run out by the end of this month and there are fears that the economy may collapse. The people of Afghanistan need your voice.

If we show a tide of compassion and aroha in the inboxes of our people in parliament, we can create pressure for the government to do more.

3C. Use the email template provided to send an email to your local member of parliament.

The form provides space for you to personalise your message.

NB: These messages are best when they are personal to you and offer reasons why you care about this issue. Here are some suggestions of the types of things you could adapt or copy and paste into your email.

Reasons New Zealand should extend kindness beyond our borders and act now for Afghanistan

• I value our shared humanity

• I believe we are part of a global community that looks out for those in times of crisis and we can step-up to help people in Afghanistan.

• As a parent / as someone caring for loved ones at this time, I feel compassion for the situation of families in Afghanistan trying to provide for their loved ones.

• I believe we can step up with aroha and care at this time because every person should be able to access what they need and New Zealand has the capacity to contribute.

• I have donated to a humanitarian appeal for Afghanistan and I think the government should do the same.

• We have a long-standing relationship with Afghanistan and a community of over 6000 Afghan New Zealanders living here.

• New Zealand has a responsibility to support Afghanistan at this time. Our government spent many hundreds of millions in a military deployment in Afghanistan over 20 years. Our aid spending in Afghanistan has dropped off in recent years, to less than US$2 million in 2019.

• There are ongoing reports of gross human rights abuses. Women, children, and those who have worked to promote human rights, democracy and education, are amongst the people most at risk. Urgent action is needed to prevent an even greater humanitarian disaster and to ensure that every individual has their rights and dignity upheld. 

Facts about the situation in Afghanistan

• People in Afghanistan do not have enough to eat. Almost 50% of children under five are facing acute malnutrition and need life-saving treatment.

• In 2021, an estimated 16.9 million people, 42% of the population, will be in crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity.

• International humanitarian efforts are able to continue to reach those most in need amidst the political disruptions. For example, in a joint World Health Organization and World Food Programme operation this week, a series of three planes delivered around 50 metric tons of essential drugs to Mazar-i-Sharif. This is the second such delivery. The Taliban have confirmed in writing to the United Nations that they will allow humanitarian assistance to be provided in Afghanistan (here).

4. USEFUL LINKS 

• Act for Afghanistan Social Images free to use to support your social media posts
• Spinoff Op Ed
• ActionStation Email Action Page (this offers and easy to use letter format to send to MPs please note you can click “next” to skip the first page and avoid naming your political party choice)