This week, two evangelical Christian leaders from Zambia – Bishop Paul Mususu and Lawrence Temfwe – will be featured on a ONE Campaign tour of churches and Christian colleges in battleground states. As representatives of Micah Challenge, they will be calling on Christians to speak out on global poverty. These same leaders on Monday joined American evangelical leaders at a press conference calling on the UN and US presidential candidates to take bold steps to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halve poverty by 2015.

This conference was in response to a letter on poverty, written by senior evangelical Christian leaders in the Global South, representing four continents and hundreds of millions of Christians. The letter is unprecedented in its global scope and unprecedented challenge to US evangelicals (read it at here). It calls on Christians in the United States to protest the lack of progress that has been made toward cutting global poverty.

Right now, the developing world faces a major food crisis that threatens to push an additional 50 million into extreme poverty. Just as the US government is taking bold action to stem financial troubles for wealthy banks, Christians are calling on our leaders to remember their promises to the poor and to take bold actions to stem rising hunger and poverty. In response to this need for Christians to speak out for the poor, Micah Challenge USA is launching Micah’s Challenge to the Future President, an open letter calling on McCain and Obama to support a foreign policy that renews America’s commitment to the pledge to dramatically reduce poverty, disease and inequality by 2015.

Micah Challenge USA, a coalition of US evangelical denominations and institutions dedicated to fighting global poverty, is honored to join the ONE Campaign in calling on Americans to make their voices heard and to speak out on global poverty during this election.

-Brian Swarts, National Coordinator – Micah Challenge USA

P.S. Before heading off on their cross-country tour, Bishop Paul Mususu and Lawrence Temfwe visited the ONE offices in Washington, D.C. While here, they shared some of what they plan to tell American congregations and campuses over the next weeks. Check out a few clips below:

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World leaders have descended upon the United Nations this week for the 63rd annual plenary session of the General Assembly and the malaria community is all abuzz with excitement (pun absolutely intended). A major focus of this week’s events at the UN will be the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, including defeating malaria.

Malaria nearly 1 million people a year – mostly children in Africa – but increased funding and political will in recent years have put the world in a position to radically reduce deaths by 2015. Malaria is a key component to achieving the MDGs, as it affects so many of them (5 of 8). The elimination of malaria would boost school attendance, dramatically improve maternal and infant health, free up an estimated 40% of hospital beds in Africa to care for other sicknesses such as HIV/AIDS, and unlock billions in development potential in Africa. There can be no breakthrough in Africa without first addressing the malaria crisis.

Luckily, the crisis is due to be addressed this week in New York, as world leaders gather on Thursday for the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit for the single biggest day of funding announcements in the history of the fight against malaria. Organizing partners Malaria No More, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Department for International Development (UK) and the office of the United Nations Special Envoy for Malaria will be making major announcements toward reaching the target named by the Secretary-General on April 25—that of providing enough mosquito nets and access to medication for every man, woman and child in Africa by December 31, 2010—and the ultimate goal of near-zero malaria deaths by 2015.

It is an ambitious goal but one that can certainly be achieved. The global community will stand together this Thursday to prove that they are committed to it through major initiatives that promise to change the malaria landscape. We’ll act as your fly on the wall at Thursday’s summit and will report back with new commitments from world leaders, corporations and the public sector.

-Emily Bergantino, Malaria No More

Senator Obama just addressed the Clinton Global Initiative via a live satellite feed and spoke of his commitment to embrace the Millennium Development Goals, “erase” the global education gap, and advance global health.

Below, an excerpt and video from his remarks.

(Senator McCain spoke at CGI a couple of hours ago, and we covered it here.)

We all have a stake in reducing poverty. There is suffering across the globe that doesn’t need to be tolerated in the 21st century. And it leads to pockets of instability that provide fertile breeding grounds for threats like terror and the smuggling of deadly weapons that cannot be contained by the drawing of a border or the distance of an ocean. These aren’t simply disconnected corners of an interconnected world. That is why the second commitment that I will make is embracing the Millennium Development Goals, which aim to cut extreme poverty in half by 2015.

This will take more resources from the United States, and as President I will increase our foreign assistance to provide them. But resources must be focused on the right priorities. No one wants to put good money after bad, or ignore the underlying causes at the root of these problems.

We shouldn’t just settle for a status quo – anywhere – where you can’t start a business without paying a bribe. Corruption wastes our tax dollars. It also ruins lives. This is a human rights issue, and we need to treat it like one.

We shouldn’t help those in need without helping them help themselves. That’s why I’ll partner with the private sector in creating a new fund for Small and Medium Enterprise, so we’re investing in ideas that can create growth and jobs in the developing world.

Above all, we must do our part to see that all children have the basic right to learn. There is nothing more disappointing than a child denied the hope that comes with going to school, and there is nothing more dangerous than a child who is taught to distrust and then to destroy.

That’s why the third commitment I’ll make is working to erase the global primary education gap by 2015. Every child – every boy, and every girl – should have the ability to go to school. To ensure that our nation does its part to meet that goal, we need to establish a two billion dollar Global Education Fund. And I look forward to signing the bipartisan Education for All Act that was first introduced by Hillary Clinton – a true champion for children.

Finally, we must continue the progress that’s been made to advance the cause of global health. I’ve been proud to support the PEPFAR program. I think (more…)

Just before temporarily suspending his presidential campaign, Senator McCain spoke at the Clinton Global Initiative this morning and addressed many of ONE’s issues.

An excerpt, plus a link to a video of his remarks, is below. Senator Obama will also be speaking at CGI later today, so we’ll be covering that here too.

As we deal with this challenge, we must also address the others that imperil our global security. Today too many around the world are excluded from the benefits of globalization. Disconnected from the prosperity that has lifted millions out of poverty, too many societies are plagued by violence, disease, and scarcity.

It need not be this way. And in places where scarcity can breed resentment, despair, and extremism – where problems cannot be contained by borders – it must not be this way. We can never guarantee our security through military means alone. True security requires a far broader approach, using non-military means to reduce threats before they gather strength. And this is especially true of our strategic interest in fighting disease and extreme poverty across the globe.

Promoting development, creating opportunities, and eliminating disease do not only serve our national interests; they also accord with our deepest American values. We are a great and generous country, and we believe that all men and women, everywhere, are created equal and endowed by God with certain rights. In fighting disease, and sparing unnumbered lives across the world, we serve not only strategic interests. We serve our moral interests, and we show the good heart of America.

Malaria alone kills more than a million people a year, mostly in Africa. Nearly three thousand children are lost every day just to this one affliction – a disease well within our ability to eradicate. To its lasting credit, the federal government in recent years has led the way in this fight. But, of course, America is more than its government. Some of the greatest advances have been the work of the Gates Foundation and other private, charitable groups. And you have my pledge that, should I be elected, I will build on these and other initiatives to ensure that malaria kills no more.

I will also make it a priority to improve maternal and child health. Millions around the world – and especially pregnant women and children – suffer from easily preventable nutritional deficiencies. As a result, a million children under age five die every year, millions more are born mentally impaired, and entire economies are left to stagnate. An international effort is needed to prevent disease and developmental disabilities among children by providing nutrients and food security. And if I am elected president, America will lead that effort.

As we have done with the scourge of HIV and AIDS, we should embark on a more concerted effort to fight tuberculosis, which accounts for nearly two million deaths each year. We should work to dramatically raise agricultural productivity in Africa: America helped to spark the Green Revolution in Asia, and they should be at the forefront of an African Green Revolution. We should reform our aid programs, to make sure they are serving the interests of people in need, and not just serving special interests in Washington.

Aid is not the whole answer. We need to promote economic growth and opportunities, especially for women, where they do not currently exist. Too often, trade restrictions – combined with costly agricultural subsidies for the special interests – choke off the opportunities for poor farmers and workers abroad to help themselves. That has to change. And by promoting free trade, and ending unfair subsides, I intend to be the agent of change.

There’s a huge amount of attention this week on Capitol Hill focused on the economy – and rightly so. The economics dominating the news affects all of us. It’s important to note that the current financial crisis could also adversely impact poor countries already suffering from both high food and fuel prices. Understandably, most of the responses to the food crisis to date have been short-term, immediate aid. Governments and aid organizations have been working to get help to the people who are suffering, and that must not be delayed. But short-term responses only treat the symptoms. We need a long-term strategy to prevent future crises from occurring.

This week in the Senate, bipartisan legislation was introduced by Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana and Democratic Senator Robert Casey of Pennsylvania to begin to target the root causes of the food crisis. This bill, the “Global Food Security Act” (S. 3529), is a smart step forward in what must be a comprehensive and global response to the situation facing millions of people.

According to the Senators’ offices, the bill would authorize $10 billion over 5 years for agricultural productivity and rural development. Drawing on the experience and expertise of U.S. land grant colleges and universities, the bill would create a new program to strengthen institutions of higher education in the areas of agriculture sciences, research, and extension programs. Investments in human capital and institutional capacity are important to developing a robust agricultural sector. It calls for increasing collaborative research on the full range of biotechnological advances including genetically modified technologies. The legislation also would improve the U.S. emergency response to food crises by creating a separate Emergency Food Assistance Fund that can make local and regional purchases of food, where appropriate. The legislation would provide USAID with the flexibility to respond to emergencies more quickly, without supplanting other food programs.

That last point is particularly important in emergency response. Too often, when a food crisis hits a region, current U.S. law limits the American response. This proposal, if enacted, would allow U.S. funds to purchase food supplies in regions much closer to the crisis zone. Instead of waiting for the first shipments of food to arrive from the United States, which can take many days if not weeks, local officials would be able to purchase food from that region’s suppliers, speeding help to the people who are starving.

ONE also believes that we have to address the root of the problem: building the capacity for people in Africa and elsewhere to grow enough food to feed their families while increasing support for long-term rural development efforts. Put simply, the United States should help to provide people with the tools that they need to fend for themselves. When we take those steps, we begin to address the core of the food crisis.

The Lugar-Casey bill is a good approach, and ONE looks forward to working with the Senators to see it approved by Congress.

-Sara Rogge, Senior Trade Policy Advisor

Bono continues his liveblogging from the UN special summit on the MDGs this week. Some excerpts from his latest entry are below. See the full post on FT.com.

The ONE campaign has two and half million members, who urge us to make the case for increased aid as a key plank in America’s new foreign policy. ONE T-shirts have been turning up in town hall meetings for 18 months now, haranguing, hassling, but ultimately endearing themselves to all the presidential campaigns. They want the world to see what America has to offer the billion people who live on less than a dollar a day – practically speaking: medicine, new seed varieties, technology, know-how; policy speaking: what should America do more of? what should America do less of?

…Anyway we’ve now met with nearly a dozen of the presidential candidates in the course of their campaigns and of the four candidates left, three have declared their positions at onevote08.org/ontherecord, if you want to check them out.

On AIDS for example, Senators Obama and McCain both cosponsored the historic $48bn US AIDS initiative this year – an effort lead by Joe Biden – who I might add also fought in the trenches for debt cancellation for the poorest of the poor when I first started down this road. So it will be interesting to find out where Governor Palin stands.

A post from Mike of Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation on their “MDG Blogging Day” tomorrow.

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The biggest barrier to making poverty history is letting people know it can be done. Tomorrow, with the power of your blog, you can help change that.

Most Americans don’t know that eight years ago the United States and 188 other nations ratified the Millennium Development Goals 8 goals that represent the largest concerted effort ever to end extreme poverty. Tomorrow, world leaders will meet at the UN to tell us what we already know, that we’re far behind on meeting these goals by the target date of 2015 and that most of the rich nations of the world (the U.S. included) are not keeping the promises we made in aid, trade and debt relief.

The Millennium Development Goals are the best hope we have ever had of making poverty history. And it’s up to us to spread the word about what ONE can do to make them happen.

That’s why tomorrow — Sept. 25 — Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation are asking you to join with bloggers around the world to post about making poverty history. More than 300 bloggers have signed up already. Your post can be whatever you like. It can be information about the MDGs. It can be a story of extreme poverty from your own life or travels. It can be a poem, a podcast, a video clip, a jpg of a piece of art, a prayer, an open letter to your leaders … whatever your way of raising your voice to let people know about the 1.2 billion people who live on less than $1 a day — and that it is within our grasp to lift them out of that poverty if we act now, if we act courageously, if we act as ONE.

All you have to do is go to www.mdgbloggingday.org and follow the instructions, add a badge to your blog, and join the webring. Then on Thursday, pour your passion into your post … and help make poverty history by letting people know that, if we work as one, it can be done.

You can take your pick of the badge you want to use as art with the post from the ones here.

-Mike Kinman, Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation

We just got back from delivering our “Just ONE Question” petitions to the NewsHour office in Shirlington, VA, where Jim Lehrer is currently selecting his questions for Friday’s presidential debate. Specifically, we handed all 103,000 signatures over for NewsHour’s Senior Producer of Research, who is accepting them on behalf debate moderator Jim Lehrer.

As you know, only two questions about global poverty have ever been asked in the history of modern presidential debates. Thanks to your efforts, we may get a third. Keep your fingers crossed!

(And don’t worry, we’ll continue to update their office with new signers as they roll in, and as debate particulars may change, so keep sending this online petition along to your friends.)

-Ranna Lanagan

The ONE bus rolled onto the campus of George Washington University on a crisp morning last Thursday, September 18th. With the bus parked on a highly trafficked street between GW dormitories and the Lerner Auditorium, a day of recruiting for the ONE Campaign began!

The GW ONE campus chapter was out in full force, supplying energetic volunteers and free pizza to entice passersby to step up to the table. Students handed out wristbands, water bottles, and leaflets encouraging people to join ONE in fighting to make global poverty a top priority in the upcoming election. From GW students and faculty, to campus police and local coffee vendors, the response was huge. Nearly 600 people signed the ONE Declaration and put on a white wristband for the first time!

-Paige Engebretson, ONE Intern

Just wanted to let everybody know we just passed 100,000 signers on our petition to get Just ONE Question asked at Friday’s first presidential debate. Thanks to everyone who signed up and got your friends, family, and coworkers to sign up too!

If you haven’t signed up yet, there’s still time! We’ll be delivering the petition today.

As always, thank you for your voice

-Chris Scott