This article from yesterday’s International Herald Tribune offers an excellent rundown of where the U.S.’s support currently stands for global trade talks. People like U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab are diligently working behind the scenes to ensure that trade talks continue throughout the remainder of President Bush’s presidency and onto the next administration. Schwab makes the excellent point that whoever the next U.S. President may be, it is up to all of us to build the political will necessary to continue these vital WTO trade talks.
The most significant WTO meeting in three years aimed to pull off a broad compromise that, in short, would have let poor countries sell more produce to rich countries while giving the U.S., 27-nation EU and Japan new chances for their manufacturers and service providers in the emerging markets of Brazil, China and India.
“There are always going to be elections. There are always going to be politics intervening,” [Schwab] said, adding that the U.S. would continue to look for a trade package that generates global growth, alleviates poverty, creates new opportunities for American exporters and combats protectionism at home and abroad. “If there is a deal out there that meets those criteria, I don’t care when it shows up,” Schwab said. “We have to go for it. It can’t be dictated by our electoral cycle or anyone else’s.”
For more than a year, ONE members have been trailing the presidential
candidates asking them to go on the record with their plans to combat global poverty. Now we’re taking our message to the airwaves with this major new TV ad. The spot spot features Matt Damon with different Americans’ voices – among them Michelle Obama, Cindy McCain and Mayor Bloomberg.
Share this online sneak preview with your friends now, and then watch for it on TV nationally starting Sunday, August 24th.
Fighting poverty can be hard work and ONE members haven’t let up all year, winning big victories and keeping the pressure on both presidential candidates to make ending global poverty a top priority.
To say thank you for everything you’ve done, our brand new ONE Bus Tour is making a special stop in Omaha on its way from the Democratic National Convention in Denver to the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis and they’re bringing a special guest, legendary musician Wyclef Jean.
If you plan on being in the Omaha area on Saturday, August 30th be sure to join us! The event is free and open to all ONE members. However, you must RSVP to attend. To RSVP for your two free tickets, click here! You must be 21 years of age or older to attend and tickets can be picked up at the will-call window on the day of the show. Space is limited and tickets are available on a first come, first served basis.
When: Saturday, August 30th, 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Where: The Slowdown, 729 North 14th Street, Omaha, Nebraska 68102
Also be sure to take a moment to check out Wyclef’s great organization Yéle Haiti committed to creating small-scale, manageable and replicable projects to contribute to Haiti’s long-term progress.
Minnesota ONE members gathered in their State Capitol today to celebrate Minnesota officially becoming a “ONE State” united against global poverty and preventable disease.
Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the ONE State proclamation at an event held in the Governor’s Reception Room at the Capitol, which was also attended by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), local faith leaders and other officials from both political parties. Gov. Pawlenty and Sen. Klobuchar showcased the ways Minnesotans can get involved in efforts to save lives from extreme poverty and preventable disease in Africa and poor regions around the world. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak (D-MN) and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman (D-MN) also signed declarations earlier in the week making their respective cities official “ONE Cities.”
Yesterday’s International Herald Tribune covered this month’s 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City and outlined many of the most difficult challenges we face in our work. At the conference Bill Clinton concluded that “with no magic bullet in sight… the need now is to combine efforts to advance prevention and treatment.” The article also goes on to note that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has developed a new test that can pinpoint new infections and control them more quickly in developed countries. However, this test still needs to be “refined for use in poor countries” and many participants were unhappy with an eight-month delay in reporting the test’s success.
Reading through the article, one part stood out to me. Even in the face of an often overwhelming crisis, there remains a tremendous glimmer of hope: young people.
There were calls for innovation and recruiting more young investigators to the AIDS field. As Alan Bernstein, executive director of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise in Manhattan, put it, “The engines of discovery are new people.” Bernstein noted that recruiting new workers should be less of a problem than in the past because of an explosion of interest on university campuses about global health.
The ONE Campaign is excited to announce the ONE “Music Builds” Tour, featuring Third Day and Switchfoot, with Jars of Clay and Robert Randolph and thr Family Band.
The tour will kick off in Detroit on August 21st and wrap up in Denver on October 12, including 23 stops around the country. The show features video presentations from the ONE Campaign as well as two booths for concert-goers to learn more about how they can be involved in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world.
I want to introduce a new face around our office. Chris Scott just joined ONE’s online team – and you’ll be seeing more and more of him around the ONE Blog in the coming weeks and months.
Chris grew up in Illinois, went to school at Truman State University in Missouri and spent the last couple of years working for the Children’s Defense Fund. He’s now eager to bring his passion for helping kids to the ONE Campaign.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
