Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is set to claim victory in the country’s recent election, despite many reports that he received significantly less votes than opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Once prosperous, Zimbabwe suffers from the world’s highest inflation rate, chronic shortages of food and fuel, a steep increase in HIV/AIDS rates and a decline in life expectancy.

From IWPR:

In what can best be described as a shock result, President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party are about to announce victory for Mugabe in the parliamentary and presidential elections, according to unofficial results leaked from the ZANU-PF and Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, ZEC, command centres.

But sources within the ZEC centre – newly christened the National Collation Centre – say Mugabe clearly lost the election to his opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai, polling only 20 per cent of the vote. He is also said to trail Simba Makoni who garnered 28 per cent.

And from the Washington Post:

A sheet of blue paper hanging on the notice board of a drab community hall told the tale of a remarkable upset:

President Robert Mugabe: 3,066 votes.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai: 8,154 votes.

…The electoral commission remained silent more than 24 hours after polls closed, but Zimbabweans took it upon themselves to tabulate results on pieces of paper gradually appearing outside 9,000 polling stations across the country…Outside another polling station in Chinhoyi, a 38-year-old law student marveled that the results were available for all to see. “In the past it was hidden. You couldn’t see what was on the ground,” the student said. “Now you know.”

Read more from the full IWRP and Washington Post articles.

Snohomish RESULTS and The Snohomish County Health District (a community north of Seattle) held very inspiring event to honor World Tuberculosis Day (TB) at at the Wired & Unplugged Internet Coffeehouse and the region’s ONE members came out to support.

TB is the leading cause of death worldwide among women. More than nine million people are infected and nearly two million lives are lost to TB globally . Over one-third of the population of the earth has been exposed to the bacterium and is according to the World Health Organization, a new case develops every second. Not everyone infected develops the full blown disease, but one in ten will, and without prompt and thorough care, will die from this disease.

(more…)

Over the last year, I have been traveling throughout the Midwest, holding training sessions for ONE volunteers. From Minneapolis, MN, to Bloomington, IN, dedicated ONE members came together in large and small groups to learn how to speak with ONE voice and bring the fight against extreme poverty and global disease to their communities.

After all these trainings, I thought I would share the materials that the other field organizers and I developed for these trainings with everyone interested in raising awareness on global poverty.

Download this document to learn about ONE, the issues and learn what books you can read to get more information.

Then look at this document for ideas on bringing the fight to your community, ONE volunteer guidelines, ways to engage your elected officials and the media on behalf of the world’s poor, and much, much more!

(Pictured – Indiana University students practice tabling for ONE.)

-Annisa Wanat

Throughout this year’s presidential campaign, the three remaining candidates have all discussed their plans to fight malaria. Malaria is the largest killer of children of under 5 in Africa. Each year, the disease claims the lives of more than 1 million people globally each year and makes between 300 and 500 million extremely ill.

Yesterday, Senator John McCain reiterated his commitment to establish the goal of eradicating malaria at a speech at the LA World Affairs Council. Senator McCain had previously announced this in an article in Foreign Affairs.

Several months ago, Senator Hillary Clinton announced a plan to eliminate deaths on the continent on Africa at a speech at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church. She committed to spend $1 billion per year towards this goal.

Senator Barack Obama has committed to doubling funding for the President’s Malaria Initiative as well as lift a cap on the United States contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Malaria is a disease that we know how to stop. Bed nets and indoor spraying of houses with insecticides coupled with prophylactic and curative treatments are all inexpensive and highly effective ways to prevent transmission of the disease and prevent severe illness or death in those that do get. The fight against malaria is primed for an increased fight and ONE is pleased that the presidential candidates have given it so much attention. ONE will continue encouraging the candidates to discuss their commitments on malaria and tackle other critical global development challenges.

-Josh Lozman

Britain and France will today announce a joint initiative to help send 16 million African children to school in the next two years, in partnership with international football authorities.

The Guardian: Plan to put 16m African children into school

At the East African Health and Scientific Conference in Kenya on Wednesday, experts testified that constraints in the health sector are exacerbating health problems in rural communities. Some blamed conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund in the early 1990s.

Daily Nation: Shortage of health staff hits East African states

An editorial by Michael Steele, former lieutenant governor of Maryland, appeared in today’s Washington Times. The piece praises President Bush’s work in Africa, noting that this story hasn’t made headlines in the United States but is making headlines around the world.

Washington Times: Bush’s Africa legacy

-Chandler Smith

Ed Streitelmeier opened the sermon at Zoar Lutheran Church’s “ONE Sunday” with “Bambelela,” a South African term for encouragement. Throughout the month of February, the congregation held two Bible Studies and devoted a sermon to educating their congregation about extreme poverty, its reality, and Christianity’s role in fighting extreme poverty.

The Bible Studies included a Hunger-Awareness Sunday for first grade and pre-school children. The children were given cheerios, crackers and donuts to represent the different amounts of food given at different economic levels, from the most minimal to the overstuffed and over-glazed. Using treats may have been the best way of grabbing their attention, and it assured every little attendee was involved in the event.

For the older students (those probably less impressed with dry cheerios and donuts) the studies included a run through of the bind that holds Christianity to the duty of social justice by adding a biblical application to each MDG:

8. Create a Global Partnership for Development
Biblical Application: “If you lend money to my people, to the poor around you, you shall not deal with them as a creditor; you shall not exact interest from them. If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else should that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.” Exodus 22:25-27.

Adults were able to contribute to the “Noisy Bucket” and throw loose change, bills and checks. Those attending generated almost $3500 in donations for the ELCA World Hunger Appeal!

- Betsy Avila

• The U.S. scientific community is rethinking its approach to developing an AIDS vaccine after a much-touted vaccine that was tested in half a dozen countries not only failed to benefit people who received it, but also may have actually increased their chance of becoming infected with HIV.

  Washington Post: AIDS Vaccine Testing at Crossroads

• Forty aid agencies urged the world today to focus attention on Somalia’s catastrophic humanitarian crisis where hundreds of thousands of people are suffering from war, drought and food shortages.

  Reuters: Aid agencies urge world not to forget Somali crisis

• Western countries have failed to deliver $10 billion of nonmilitary assistance pledged to Afghanistan over the last six years, and two-thirds that has been delivered has bypassed the Afghan government and failed to do enough to relieve the poverty of the Afghan people, a new report claims.

  NY Times: Afghans Lack $10 Billion in Aid, Report Says

-Steve Wilson

With no cases of polio in Somalia in the last year, the WHO has declared the country’s massive vaccination campaign a success.

“Some 10,000 volunteers and health workers delivered multiple doses of oral vaccine to children in Somalia’s hard-to-reach villages, nomadic communities and makeshift camps that have grown as a result of clashes between Islamic insurgents, warlords and Ethiopian-backed Somali government forces.

Bruce Aylward, director of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, said the campaign showed that the virus could be stopped in highly insecure pockets of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and densely populated corners of India where sanitation facilities are lacking.”

Read more in the Reuter’s article.

On Sunday, April 13th, the hit band DAUGHTRY is coming to Las Vegas to play a special concert, with all ticket proceedings going to ONE to support our advocacy work.

DAUGHTRY has set aside 200 tickets in a special Ebay Auction. The top 200 bids win tickets. Click on the link below to go to the auction or check out the widget at the bottom of the post.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200209512439

Here are the details:

What: A Concert with the Grammy-nominated band DAUGHTRY

When: Sunday, April 13^th 2008

Where: The Beatles REVOLUTION Lounge, The Mirage Hotel & Casino, 3400 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89109

Lead singer Chris Daughtry is a ONE member and has been to Africa to help raise awareness about the fight against extreme poverty and global disease. This a great chance for anybody in the Vegas area to rock out and support ONE.

A Reuter’s article today highlights the devastating toll of AIDS in Mozambique – and the interconnected nature of disease, education and economic development.

“More than one-sixth of Mozambique’s 9,000 teachers are dying of HIV/AIDS each year, lowering the quality of education and jeopardising future development, a government official told Reuters on Tuesday…

Health officials say more than 16 percent of the 20 million Mozambicans between the ages of 14 and 49 — generally the most economically productive — are infected with HIV, and an estimated 500 new infections occur each day.

“This is a crucial issue for us and we are trying to train more teachers for them to be able to deal with it (the pandemic) in the communities. Teachers play a major role in the economic development of this country”, he said.

Despite its limited skilled labour force, Mozambique’s economy has boomed in recent years, spurred by a rise in foreign investment and development aid, and GDP growth is projected to hit 8 percent this year after reaching 7.5 percent in 2007.

Aly said the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS on the country’s human resources threatened to damage its economic prospects.”

Read the full piece here.