In April, Congress goes into recess and ONE members will have a rare
opportunity to meet with their representatives in their home-district
offices and talk to them directly, and in-person, about global poverty.

All of these meetings, being held simultaneously across the country, is
going to send a powerful message that Americans, across all political
divides, not only care deeply about global poverty, but pay attention
and are ready to take action.

Look here, to see if someone in your area has scheduled a meeting that
you can join.

If no one has taken a lead in your area already, you can still set one
up yourself. We’ll provide you with all the information you’ll need,
like how to schedule a meeting, talking points, lobbying tips and even
what to do after it’s all over.

Look through all of

ONE’s April “On The Move” lobbying resources and
register your new event
here.

To make sure everyone is fully prepared for their meeting, we’ll be
hosting two strategic conference calls with Susan McCue, ONE Campaign
CEO, and Tom Hart, DATA Legislative Director. Join or register for a
local event to find out more.

If knowledge is power, then this blog post is packing heat.

Below find the ONE Campaign issue facts sheets, with fresh updates compliments of ONE’s brand new Policy and Coalition Coordinator, Porter McConnell.

These 8 one-pagers cover:

-The Millennium Development Goals
-More and Better Aid
-Debt Cancellation
-Trade Justice
-Clean Water & Sanitation
-Education for All
-
Maternal & Child Health
-HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

And at the end of each sheet, please note the red letters describing ONE’s current legislative ask for each issue.

Great work team!

Greetings fellow ONE members!

Here in central Pennsylvania we have decided that any time an individual signs the ONE Declaration at an event they will also have an opportunity to sign a black “ONE Link”. These links are then joined to the ONE-Central PA chain.

We are hoping that this chain will keep growing and growing and will signify our collective efforts to raise awareness for ONE.

My daughter Grace had to help me pick up the chain as you can see in the photo!

We will be bringing the ONE-Central PA chain to our next event at Lebanon Valley College in April and I guarantee it will be growing! We’re also going to be asking one of our state representatives to join the chain after she signs the ONE Declaration at Lebanon Valley College in support of ONE’s initiatives.

We know that in the months to come that it will take many people, as ONE, to help hold the ONE-Central PA chain!

In an open letter to the people of the United States, Peru’s agricultural producers called on the US Congress to oppose a recently negotiated trade agreement between their country and the US.

“This Free Trade Agreement is going to mean a lot more poverty in my country,” said Luis Zúñiga, a Peruvian rice farmer and the president of the National Convention of Peruvian Agriculture, who came to Washington to make this plea on behalf of Peru’s 1.7 million farmers.

Free trade agreements are touted for their benefits to the poor, but the reality is not so rosy when the rules are unfair for them.

Trade could be an engine to lift millions out of poverty, but these agreements are simply bad for development. Agreements such as the ones with Peru and Colombia that are now in front of Congress will only exacerbate poverty in these countries by imposing hardships on developing country farmers, making access to affordable medicines more difficult, and constraining the kinds of policies developing country governments should enact to protect their own citizens and fight poverty.

In a new report entitled Signing Away the Future, Oxfam highlights how the US and the EU are using regional and bilateral trade deals to get what they want from developing countries one by one since they haven’t been successful at the World Trade Organization. But this has very serious implications for poor countries’ development.

“Current US agricultural subsidies distort prices on the international market and are one of the causes of poverty,” says Luis. “Farmers are left with no other options but to move to the cities, to come to the US or to produce coca, which can lead to even greater problems.”

Angélica Chaparro, who came to Washington to share the struggles of the many women who work in Colombia’s flower export industry, agrees: “We’re hoping the US Congress will look to stop these FTAs.”

For more information on Oxfam’s work on free trade agreements, click here.

When I first spoke to Pastor Gerry Johnson of Trinity Lutheran Church I was immediately struck by his enthusiasm to bring ONE’s message to his congregation. He told me that he wanted to plan a ONE Sunday for not only his church, but for every Lutheran church in Washington County, Maryland! When he brought the idea to fellow church leaders in the county, they all agreed to host a ONE Sunday on the same day!

For those of you unfamiliar with the term “ONE Sunday,” let me explain. Across America, churches are incorporating ONE into their services by relating their faith’s message on poverty to today’s world. Some church choirs even get into the spirit of things by singing songs from another country, or by singing hymns related to their belief to care for all other peoples. In Pastor Gerry’s church, even the children were introduced to the concept of ONE during their Sunday school.

I was totally blown away by the Lutherans of Washington County and their bold step to support ONE through such coordinated action. To learn how you can bring ONE’s message to your place of worship, you can contact your local ONE organizer at giveyourtime@one.org.

Called America’s biggest little band, Washington Social Club’s music is not only aggressive, fun and insightful, but their lead singer Martin Royle works for ONE partner DATA!

We’re stoked to share Washington Social Club’s song “The Breakup” with ONE members today.

“Listen to “Breakup” and all the ONE Music on the ONE Podcast page.

Below, a note from Martin himself:

“ONE is at the center of a good fight. A great fight. While a lot of people talk about making a difference, or sing about making a difference, ONE is working to make it happen. So I got a white arm band and I’m wearing it at our shows now. It’s a small thing, but I’m proud to help because in the end that’s what life’s about.”

Martin Royle
www.washingtonsocialclub.com

From November to February, three incredible men ran over 4,300 miles across the entire Sahara Desert, covering as much as 50 miles a day for 111 consecutive days, all to raise awareness for clean water in Africa.

Tune in to Jay Leno TONIGHT, to hear Kevin Lin, Ray Zahab, and Charlie Engle talk about their unbelievable feat!

(Above, children run along side Kevin, Ray, and Charlie (left to right) in a small Mauritanian village.)

Last week you scored a major victory on behalf of the world’s poorest people.

After ONE members placed thousands of calls to Senate offices last week, the Senate unanimously passed the Dodd-Smith amendment restoring $2.2 billion of poverty-fighting funding to the international affairs budget.

Congratulations on this incredible victory. Please take a moment to thank your senators.

By restoring this money, the Senate matched the president’s international affairs budget request which represents a $3.7 billion increase over 2007 levels. This is just the first step in what could be the greatest increase to the international affairs budget in recent history. We still need the House and Senate to agree on a final budget and only then will the appropriations process begin, but this is a critical first step.

The success of this amendment comes on top of a string of great victories for ONE in recent months.

In the closing minutes of the 109th Congress in December, after hundreds of thousands of letters and phone calls, we renewed a special trade benefit within the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which saved hundreds of thousands of African apparel jobs.

Then in January, again by e-mailing, faxing, and calling your members of Congress in both the House and Senate, you were able to not only protect $1 billion in poverty-focused development assistance that was at risk, but Congress actually increased the funding to $1.45 billion.

Please take a moment to thank your senator for supporting this amendment to fight extreme poverty and global AIDS.

This string of successes is no accident. Your dedication and hard work has made all of this possible.

Thank you for your time. Thank you for your energy. And most of all thank you for uniting as ONE to become a powerful anti-poverty advocacy force. We are saving lives, changing the American political scene, and changing the world.

ONE member and Chris Daughtry wears his EDUN ONE T-shirt on stage and during this interview with Fox News. Watch the full clip below.

As Fox broadcasted this interview yesterday, field organizers continued to organize ONE volunteers to table at over 25 Daughtry concerts across country this spring.

Local Atlanta ONE and RESULTS chapters organized and participated in the 500 person Tuberculosis Awareness Walk this Saturday.

The purpose of the walk was to bring attention to the problems and solutions associated with TB, a disease that kills 1.6 million people in the world each year and is the biggest killer of people with AIDS. Although we’ve been able to effectively treat TB for more than half a century, neglect of the disease over the years has allowed the emergence of drug-resistant strains of TB that are difficult, and in some cases nearly impossible, to treat. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) could soon spread out of control, especially in Africa where so many people have AIDS.

Several speakers, including CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding, addressed the crowd about the danger of TB and the need to stop it. But it was ONE and RESULTS volunteer Patti Arias who told the crowd that average citizens could have an impact in stopping TB. While she was addressing the crowd, Patti phoned her member of Congress – Rep. Hank Johnson – and with the crowd’s help, she left a message for Rep. Johnson to, “Please co-sponsor the stop TB now Act!”

The Stop TB Now Act of 2007 was introduced in Congress last week to provide America’s share of support for the Global Plan to Stop TB. Over the next 10 years, if the plan is fully implemented, it will save 14 million lives. Other ONE members who want to make a difference can call their member of Congress and ask them to co-sponsor the Stop TB Now Act ( H.R. 1567). If you don’t know who your member of Congress is, you can look it up at www.house.gov.