Ambassador John J. Danilovich, writing for the Huffington Post, yesterday offered up an eloquent and concise argument for why foreign aid is more important now than ever. He writes that the United States taking a leading role in fighting extreme poverty is the smart and right thing to do, and also warns that “poverty, when left unchecked, leads to despair and resentment that may become a breeding ground for terrorists.”
[F]ighting poverty abroad helps us here at home in concrete ways. Here’s how:
Economic empowerment makes good neighbors. People liberated from poverty’s grip have greater opportunities to participate in and contribute to the political and economic life of their countries. Democracy and economic development go hand-in-hand, and serve as a foundation to achieve stability and reduce poverty. Stable, democratic nations are more likely to work with us to counter threats to global security.
Raising the quality of life in one corner of the world raises it throughout. We live on an increasingly interconnected planet. By strengthening the capabilities of developing nations to support the health and education of their citizens, and to protect the environment and natural resources of their communities, the fight against poverty ensures a better quality of life for everyone.
Open markets offer expanded options. By stimulating the economies of developing countries, opportunities emerge for greater private investment, which is the true engine of economic growth and essential for assisting people escape poverty. Entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes — including U.S. businesses — have the potential to invest in new markets, to increase trade, and to expand commercial relationships.
Last Thursday, “Pennsylvania ONE Day” spread to the community of Mount Saint Joseph Academy. It was not long until over one hundred Mount students swarmed to sign the ONE Declaration, showing their support for their ONE state. White bands and pamphlets were distributed, and as a result there are ONE posters hanging in classrooms and hallways. The Mount girls showed their support by wearing their ONE T-shirts and continue to wear their bands.
ONE volunteers don’t just reach out to college campuses, but also to local high schools, where their response to this cause is both inspiring and remarkable. Every signature we add to the ONE Declaration brings us one step closer to eliminating the poverty that affects so many.
The Center for U.S. Global Engagement continued its Impact ’08 in Pennsylvania effort with a panel discussion on the global challenges facing the next president featuring former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin. The panel was moderated by CNN Special Correspondent Frank Sesno. The program also included remarks by Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, University of Pennsylvania President Dr. Amy Gutmann, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, and former Navy Secretary John Lehman.
ONE volunteer Amanda Waldman was fortunate enough to attend the event and shared some comments with me afterwards. She said that Rubin discussed at length the importance of utilizing SMART power instead of hard or soft power, meaning that in order for the world to recover from the very serious global recession, diplomats and world leaders need to find a balance between diplomacy, development, and defense.
As we previously reported, Bono spoke at the 2008 California Women’s Conference last night. We’ve compiled the full footage of his speech, split into 5 parts, below. Enjoy!
PS- In his speech, Bono refers to a petition organized by the ONE Campaign to hold both presidential candidates accountable in the fight to end extreme poverty. Please sign here.
Yesterday brought word that over 100 million people stood up for the Stand Up and Take Action —a remarkable number. Anita Sharma from the United Nations Millennium Campaign has more:
Congratulations ONE! I wanted to share with you the recent Stand Up and Take Action press release. Nearly 30,000 ONE members and supporters joined the recent campaign. Over the course of this past weekend, nearly 117 million people in some 130 countries participated in diverse events such as sports stadiums in Nigeria, Pakistan, and Spain, houses of worship in Indonesia and Canada, and the steps of parliament in Uganda, India, and Italy.
Because the financial crisis threatens to erase gains made in the fight against global poverty and puts resources and commitments into jeopardy, the timing of the summit and Stand Up could not be more urgent or appropriate. We intend to build on this amazing show of global support by demanding that our leaders keep their promises to ending extreme poverty.
On Sunday, ONE had the pleasure of being invited to bring the ONE bus to Northland Church in Orlando, Florida. Northland is an Evangelical Church in the Orlando community of Longwood. Since the church has 10,000 members this was a huge stop for us. The ONE bus pulled up to Northland Church at 8:00 on Sunday morning greeted by Sarah Mattingly, who helped ONE to get the bus approved at Northland. We would like to especially thank her for spending the day with us outside speaking to people. During all three services the praise pastor fully endorsed ONE and asked the attendees of each service to go out to learn more.
We were able to sign up over 700 new ONE members. After the last service, ONE staff was asked to stay and speak to the 100 + college-age group. We jumped at the opportunity and while I spoke about ONE, Sara Paterni worked the crowd getting as many volunteers as possible to sign up and answer any questions. ONE made a great partner and lots of new friends. We look forward to working closely with Northland in the near future.
Bono is scheduled to speak at the 2008 Women’s Conference in a few moments. You can watch live in the webcast player below. (Webplayer is after the “read more” jump.)
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
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.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
