This is Shayne Moore, ONE Volunteer, writing from the G8
Summit in St. Petersburg,
Russia.  I’m
having an extraordinary experience from the International Media Center
here on the shores of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic
Sea. Being in the midst of all the international journalists is
quite an experience for this stay-at-home-mom from the suburbs of Chicago.  Temporary
buildings full of reporters, computers, cameras, and endless gear prov ide the
backdrop for hundreds of sober and single-focused people.  Everyone has a
purpose for being at the G8 and the importance of the event permeates
everything.

I too have a purpose for attending the G8.  I left my
three children and husband and traveled to a time zone nine hours different to
urge G8 leaders to keep their important commitments made to Africa at last year’s G8 Summit.  I attended the G8 Summit
in Gleneagles, Scotland where historic promises were made to
Africa and to the world’s poorest
people.

What did the G8 promise at the 2005 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland?  World leaders promised $50
billion more in effective international assistance per year by 2010 with half of
that for Africa, agreeing to cancel crushing
debts, providing primary education for every child by 2015 and near universal
access to HIV/AIDS drugs by 2010.

This year’s G8 has been focused on the urgent
geo-political crisis in the Middle East and today’s meeting with G8 leaders
produced no new promises to Africa.  However,
the commitments made in 2005 still stand and are saving lives.
 

I am here representing 2.3 million Americans who have
added their voice to the ONE Campaign.  And together we need to keep the
momentum started in Gleneagles and continue to build on it.  The promises made
to Africa are not just policies on a document
released to the world’s press.  These promises affect real people in a real
place and save real lives.  In fact, 800,000 real people are alive today because
of the President’s plan and the Global Fund.  But the way this works for us as
Americans is that Congress plays a crucial role. The President makes
commitments, but Congress writes the checks. 

The ONE Campaign continues to grow.  From the G8 Summit
in St. Petersburg,
Russia I urge all
ONE Campaigners to tell Congress to fully fund these initiatives.  Tell your
neighbors, family, friends and co-workers to join their voices with ONE.  Let us
communicate a sense of urgency around these issues, not only to the world
leaders, but also to our closest neighbors and to Congress. 
 

This entry was posted on Monday, July 17th, 2006 at 6:00 pm and is filed under The ONE Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.