Oxfam Tells Starbucks: Honor Your Commitments to Ethiopian Coffee Farmers

Each year, coffee companies make billions of dollars. Starbucks alone
earned almost $5.8 billion in net revenues during the first three
quarters of 2006.

With as many as 15 million Ethiopians dependent on coffee, Ethiopia has
decided to get its farmers more of what they deserve. The country’s government has asked Starbucks to sign a licensing agreement that will

allow Ethiopia to control the names of its coffees. That way, Ethiopia
can help determine an export price that makes sure farmers see a larger
share of the profits enabling them to feed their children, send them to
school and get them better healthcare.

Click here to tell Starbucks to honor its commitments to coffee farmers

Oxfam and a coalition of allies are asking Starbucks to sign this
agreement. According to one coalition member, control of the name brands
could increase Ethiopia’s coffee export income by more than 25 percent -
or $88 million annually. This money could go a long way to help lift
millions of Ethiopians out of poverty.

So please, help us convince Starbucks to sign this agreement with
Ethiopia. Poor farmers deserve a fair share of the profits.

To learn more about the campaign, click here.

Thank you for supporting coffee farmers in Ethiopia.

Tim Fullerton
Oxfam America

ONE Music: The Guggenheim Grotto

The Irish trio, The Guggenheim Grotto, have graciously donated their song “Told You So” as this week’s installment in the ONE Music series.

Listen to “Told You So” on the ONE Podcast Page

Below a note from Kevin May, Mick Lynch and Shane Power:

“When it comes to producing music we use the rule of thumb that “less is more”. However, when it comes to reaching out to those less fortunate than ourselves it really is a case of “more is more”. The more we can offer of ourselves, whether it be with time, effort or money, the more we can make an impact on global poverty. At present America allocates less than 1% of it’s budget towards fighting AIDS and Poverty around the world. The ONE campaign asks that by giving just a little more and by raising that figure by an additional 1% percent, we can change things on a global scale. Giving your voice to the ONE Campaign is an easy and powerful way to do more.”

The Guggenheim Grotto
http://www.guggenheimgrotto.com

ONE Partner Jubilee USA Tours Country Talking About Debt

Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of groups committed to debt cancellation in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, launched our 2006 Global Connections Tour a few weeks ago. The tour’s main goal is to inform people about how crushing debt fuels global poverty.

For Asume Osuoka, a tour speaker and the Energy and Mining program manager at Environmental Rights Action in Nigeria, debt is an issue that sits at his doorstep.

“We know that over the years the Nigerian government has been paying well over $1 billion annually to creditors,” Asume explained. “Oil corporations have been [profiting] from the exploitation of our resources and those profits have been made to benefit these corporations. It is essential that the debt crisis is resolved to the benefit of our people.”

Asume also pointed to the ways in which debt tied to international finance institutions is a factor that influences government decisions on quality-of-life issues such as education and health care.

“Our government does not have the freedom, to negotiate policies that help our people,” said Asume. “Most of our government’s policies are shaped by the creditors themselves-the World Bank and the IMF-and we’re in a situation where they will penalize our country if we’re not following their prescriptions. This is very unjust and very undemocratic.”

With that in mind, our time in Idaho was highlighted by an enthusiastic crowd who grabbed a stack of action alerts and unsigned letters addressed to Senator Larry Craig and Senator Mike Crapo asking them to support the sale of IMF gold reserves to finance debt cancellation for impoverished countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

We later presented the letters to the senators’ staff, who were noncommittal, but seemed impressed by the stack of constituent letters.

After a break and some time catching up on work, we left Idaho Wednesday and headed for Utah.

Stay tuned for more news from Jubilee USA Network’s New Energy for Debt Cancellation Tour as we take action at the local level to push justice globally.

-Kristin Sundell, Jubilee USA Outreach & Congregations Coordinator

Photo 1: Asume Osuoka, Global Connections Tour speaker

Emergency Room Trip After Columbus Stand-Up

The importance of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) has always been clear to me. However, it never really hit me as much it did after the “Stand-Up” event I helped organize this month. The 237 people in attendance were the most diverse support for ONE we’ve ever gotten here in Columbus. Attendees wanted to know how they could do more in Columbus, out-of-towners wanted to learn how they could start ONE groups in their area and everyone there learned about the MDG’s, which was our ultimate objective.

After the event, Mike Beaumont and I went back to our apartment to relax and watch some footage from the day’s event. Less than two hours later, he was doubled over from a pain in his right side. We thought it would go away. Unfortunately, it did not and the pain kept increasing. I finally convinced him to let me take him to the hospital. As the night began to unfold, I kept thinking about the MDG’s and how over a billion people in the world do not have access to good health care. However, we are lucky, or as Mike always tells me, “We hit the lottery the day we were born because we were born in America.”

Because we live in the U.S. we were able to drive to the hospital, and although we were there for four and a half hours, Mike’s medical condition was assessed, diagnosed and treated within that period and I was able to drive him back home. If we were in some parts of Africa, we wouldn’t have had a hospital to go to. If we were lucky, and there was a hospital, we would have most likely been too poor to afford transportation so we would have walked miles to the only medical facility - while Mike was in severe pain. Mike would have had to share a bed and they may not have had the medicines necessary to treat him once he was diagnosed which in itself could have taken days.

So, think of the pain you, your family or friends have experienced in your lifetime and think about not having the resources we have here in the U.S. Think about that when you read the MDG’s and how the world made a promise to those living in extreme poverty and made a promise to us to help our neighbors overseas.

TV Spot Spottings

Our new PSA is making the rounds around print media and the internet. Below are some excerpts:

One Campaign Blitz - Hotline Blog: National Journal, October 24, 2006

“Hollywood is returning it to politics in a big way with more than $1 million in ad time — for free. The One campaign — a coalition of non-profit humanitarian organizations aimed at allocating one more percent of the U.S. annual budget to anti-poverty causes — has secured more than $1 million in free ad time on most of the major networks last night, in addition to getting the front page on the RNC, DNC , YouTube, MySpace, AOL and Yahoo! home pages today. The 30-second spot appeared on MTV Networks channels last night followed by time on CMT, Comedy Central, MTVu and News Corp’s channels until Election Day and on the big screen at Times Square.”

Star-filled Ad Urges People To Vote - Associate Press, October 24, 2006

“Few political ads few ads, period have this kind of star power. ONE.org, an anti-poverty organization, is airing a public service announcement that features actors George Clooney, Don Cheadle, Alfre Woodard, Julia Roberts, NFL quarterback Tom Brady, singer Toby Keith and others that urges viewers to vote to fight global AIDS and Third World poverty.”

Damon, Clooney Urge Voters to End Poverty - People Magazine: October 24, 2006

“Why would George Clooney, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts and Don Cheadle be standing in line? The stars recently filmed a public service announcement that shows them patiently waiting their turn at a voting booth. The queue also includes New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady, Toby Keith and Alfre Woodard.”

Faith Leaders and Celebrities Cast “ONE vote” to Fight Global Poverty - Christian Today, October 24, 2006

“Rev. Rick Warren will join ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History, as the organisation announces the broadcast and internet premiere of a new public service to ask millions of American voters to help fight global AIDS and extreme poverty.”

Action: Call Your Candidates

We set up a television in our office to watch CNN interview Republican and Democratic Strategists Jack Oliver and Mike McCurry about the new “ONE Vote” TV Spot a few moments ago. The two, along with their national parties, have made it clear that the fight against global poverty is more important than everyday politics

Now, with less than two weeks until the November 7 election, you should find out how your candidates stand.

Visit ONE’s Voter Center and call the candidates in your area.

In the center, you’ll find all the tools you need to make these calls (except a phone, we readily admit that’s a really important tool) - and more resources - to help make poverty part of the election conversation.

As Josh put it in his email to ONE members today, “Together, we are beginning to change the way our political leaders think about the fight against global poverty.”

ONE Music: Sara Groves

Singer-songwriter Sara Groves has graciously donated her song “Add to the Beauty” as the latest installment in the ONE Music Series.

Listen to “Better” on the ONE Podcast Page

Below a note from Sara:

“Beauty comes in helping a soul find it’s worth - Love God, love my neighbor has long been the core of my faith, and yet I have only
recently understood the importance of seeking justice for my neighbor. I have learned that there is a huge difference between charity and justice. Charity says that I have some great gift to bestow, while justice says that I will seek for my neighbor the same things I seek for myself. The key difference is found in the value of the neighbor. To me, adding to the beauty is helping a soul find it’s worth.”

Sara Groves
www.saragroves.com

Spot Coverage Update

CNN will run an interview today with Mike McCurry and Jack Oliver about the new ONE spot between 12 PM and 1 PM EST on both CNN and CNNi.

All Star Tour

Back in August the Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars, a remarkable band formed by six refugees who escaped from the ten-year civil war in Sierra Leone, donated their song “Living Like A Refugee” to all ONE members.

Now they are on their world tour. Check out their tour dates here. (For
those of us in DC, they’ll be performing at the 9:30 club tomorrow
night.)

You can also check out the band’s YouTube Channel for excerpts from their
documentary, live concert footage and footage of the band’s life in
refugee camps.

OurSpace

Our “ONE Vote” Spot has hit the front page of MySpace.com!

Sign up to be a friend of the ONE MySpace page. The page was set up by, Danny, a devoted ONE member, before the Live 8 concerts, and continues to grow.