Over the next few days, Congress will be debating our budget for the
next year and how to best spend each and every penny so that we can
help the most people. The amazing thing is that some of the best
ideas to beat global AIDS and poverty cost just that – pennies. For
less than a dollar, a vaccine can save a life. For $5, a bed net can
stop a child in Africa from dying every 30 seconds from something as
small as a mosquito bite. We can turn back the tide on AIDS with
something as simple as a pill that costs less than a dollar a day,
treatment that helps people live and continue to care for their
families and communities. And we can lift even more families out of
poverty only $60 a year keeps a child in school or helps an
entrepreneur start a small business. Please email Congress today
to say that you support the FY06 Senate Appropriations funding levels
to fight extreme poverty, including $3.6 billion to beat global AIDS.
It’s more important than ever that this doesn’t come at a cost to other key poverty-fighting efforts.
UPDATE: As of 3:30pm Wed we have sent over 56,600 letters so far!
Great article came out in the LA Times the other day.
The organization that Bono asked his fans to join is called One: The
Campaign to Make Poverty History. It was formed last year by 11 leading
anti-poverty and charitable organizations, including Care, World Vision
and Bono’s own group, Data — an acronym for debt, AIDS, trade in Africa.
Moral authority has never been a problem for these groups on Capitol
Hill. What they have lacked is political clout. Other than venerable
but limited church networks, development advocates have never built a
mass community of voters for their cause. One wants to change that.
NOTE: The LA Times requires a sign up to view full articles – we have created one for your convenience:
Tuesday night I was at the U2 concert in New York’s Madison Square
Garden with ONE volunteers from Viewpoint who have helped the ONE
campaign immensely in getting our message out to the America people –
such as getting the ONE Spot on America Online! The photo below
is of the team that helped put it there. That’s me in the blue
with George, Luca, Rebecca, Tom, Kelly, Joe Joe and Ryan.
During the concert and after the song “Where the Streets Have No Name”
and before “One”, Bono makes a powerful ask of the audience to join the
ONE Campaign. He speaks of his own time in Africa, the incredible
suffering there and the new hope and how we can help change the world.
He then asks people to take out their cell phones and light the arena –
all the lights go out except the massive amount of blue lights
emanating from cell phones then he asks for people to join ONE through
text messaging! You too can text in your name to the short code UNITE
(86483) and sign up to the campaign to help fight AIDS and global
poverty. Together as ONE we can make a difference.
If you are near a TV this afternoon make sure you tune in to the Oprah
Winfrey show to get a look at Orlando Bloom wearing his ONE t
shirt! It’s just a small show of support, but this program will
be seen by millions of people and many of them will come to the website
after seeing it to learn more. Thanks Orlando for your support!
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
