Archive for May, 2006
May 15th, 2006 7:00 PM UTC
By Shannon
Four years ago, Bono and DATA traveled to
Sub-Saharan Africa with journalists and politicians, including then-U.S.
Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil, to draw the world’s attention to the emergency
of AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa — and
the numerous ways in which that emergency could be tackled. We focused on the crisis in Africa,
but also on the opportunities to solve it.
Click here to read the full overview of the trip.
We are now making a public return trip to
Sub-Saharan Africa with ONE.org to see what progress has been made since that
well-recorded visit in 2002 and what remains to be done in the fight against
extreme poverty, the kind that every day ends the lives and cripples the
futures of millions of men, women and children.
Over the last few years, culminating in last
year’s G8 Summit, the world’s wealthier nations have made historic aid and debt
cancellation promises to Africa. But we must
keep up the pressure to ensure follow-through. Even as we leave for Africa, some governments are cutting back on proposed
increases. For example, just last week leaders in the U.S. House of
Representative cut President Bush’s appropriations request by nearly $2.5
billion. A cut of that size, if sustained, would result not just in broken
promises, but in lives lost and futures derailed. We will be visiting the
clinics and schools where western aid has been effectively used, and where its
retraction or absence will be bitterly felt.
Over the coming 10 days, Bono will be traveling to Africa with DATA (debt AIDS trade Africa) and ONE.ORG. The trip is an opportunity to shed light on the crisis of global AIDS
and extreme poverty that disproportionately affects many African
nations. The trip will include stops in six countries: Mali, Rwanda,
Tanzania, Nigeria, Lesotho and Ghana. Keep checking the ONE blog for
information on Bono and his trip to Africa. We will be providing
exciting updates as well as important actions you can take here in the
U.S. that will make a difference in the lives of people in Africa and
the world’s poorest countries.
This Mother’s Day you can join me and everyone else at the ONE Campaign
in supporting mothers around the world. A mother, when given an
education and the resources she needs to support her family, can be the
single most effective force in the fight against AIDS and extreme
poverty.
To show your mom how much you care, send her a Mother’s Day card
from CARE and the ONE Campaign. I racked my brain trying to figure
out what to get my mom, and already I’ve sent her one of the impressive
e-cards. It was a unique and moving way to show my appreciation not
only for
what she’s done for me, but also my appreciation for what mothers in
the poorest countries – who have to overcome tremendous obstacles – do
to provide a better future for their children.
To learn more
check out Save the Children’s recently released State of the World’s
Mothers report.
Happy Mother’s Day!
I have some great news! Matt Damon, the Academy Award
winning actor, just returned from Africa where he traveled with the ONE
Campaign and DATA (debt AIDS trade Africa) for
a listening and learning trip. On his 6-day trip he visited many places,
including a micro credit program, an organic cotton farm and an HIV/AIDS
clinic to see firsthand how American funding to fight global AIDS and extreme
poverty is saving lives. Here’s what Matt had to say:
“To see so much hope from people who have so little made
this an inspiring and life changing journey for me. The promises America and other rich countries have made to Africa must be more than words. Those promises need to
put hopeful children in school; help parents put roofs over the heads of their
children; and get life saving AIDS medicines to the patients who need them
now.”
His visit to Africa
draws attention to the need of so many around the world (over one billion!) who are
living on less than $1 a day. This is something that we here in the Unites
States – and in wealthy countries around the world – have an opportunity to
change. With the support of people like Matt Damon and the 2 million other ONE Campaign
supporters across the country, we are helping to make poverty history.
If you want to take action and do something TODAY to make a difference, call your
Senators and make sure they are fully funding the President’s budget request to
fight global AIDS and extreme poverty.
Dial 1-800-786-2663 and ask your Senators to support critical development
assistance.
I’ve called my Senators. It really takes only ONE minute,
and it’s free! Now it’s your turn…
I spent this weekend with some of the ONE Campaign’s most
dedicated Chicagoland supporters. On Sunday evening a group of more than 100
ONE supporters gathered at the Fourth Presbyterian Church – right off of
Michigan Avenue for those of you familiar with Chicago – for a meeting with
people of different faiths, political backgrounds and nationalities to
encourage Illinois leaders to fund the President’s budget request to fight global
AIDS and poverty.
The meeting was an incredible success. Even I was surprised at
how many people showed up. We actually RAN OUT of chairs – a huge feat for the
ONE Campaign’s local organizer who dedicates her time to inspiring people
around the country to get involved in the ONE Campaign.
Following a presentation by a Senegalese human rights lawyer
and other volunteers from a handful of organizations, including CARE
and Bread for the World, every person in the room took the time to
write letters to their Senators (Richard Durbin and Barack Obama) and asked
them to help make poverty history by fully funding the President’s budget
request.
It was inspirational to see so many people taking the time
to come together, on a Sunday, to write their leaders and ask them to do more
to fight global AIDS and poverty. Events like the one yesterday in Chicago are happening all over the U.S., so it’s no wonder that the
ONE Campaign and all of its supporters have had such a positive impact on
combating poverty and AIDS.
Many of the people I had the privilege of meeting yesterday
had never written to congress, yet by coming together and recognizing that
their voice could make a difference for people in the world’s poorest
countries, every person in the room felt empowered to take action. I know I
did, and I encourage you to take the time to write your senator and tell him or
her that you care about fighting poverty and AIDS.
On May 21 more than 90 countries, including the
U.S., will participate in the 23
rd annual International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. The Memorial is
held every year on the third Sunday in May to recognize those who have been
affected by HIV/AIDS.
Around the world, more than 25 million people have died
of AIDS, and in sub-Saharan Africa – home to
over 70% of the HIV-positive population – one in every five people is now living
with the virus. The AIDS candlelight memorial is an opportunity to support the
fight against HIV/AIDS.
There are more than 650 vigils planned worldwide, so visit the AIDS
Candlelight Memorial website to see if there’s one in your hometown.
Through U.S.
support, hundreds of thousands of people with HIV/AIDS are now receiving life-saving
anti-retroviral treatment. But much more must
be done to put an end to this global pandemic. I plan to attend my local vigil
to demonstrate that I am committed to the fight against global AIDS, and I hope
you will join me – if not here in D.C., then in a vigil in your own
community.
Last summer I was introduced to a rough cut documentary that has been sweeping the globe. The film is called Invisible Children. It tells the story of the plight of children in Northern Uganda who face the serious risks of abduction and being forced to kill by a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army. In response to the threat of abduction, the children of Gulu in northern Uganda have become known as the night commuters or night walkers because they travel, often great distances, to city centers where they can find shelter and safety in numbers. Though this has been happening for over twenty years, the plight of these children has gone virtually unnoticed in the west. The children have been seemingly invisible, until now.
After seeing the film, I took a trip to Uganda to experience firsthand what these children our enduring. I walked with the commuters and heard story after story from children who have had their innocence and youth stolen by this ongoing war. I returned to the United States and talked to our fans about what I had seen. But now, I do it differently. I’m no longer just asking for charity. I’m asking for Justice.
