Financial Times—World Food Program in plea for $5.2 billion
The World Food Program has launched an “urgent appeal” to governments to donate a record $5.2 billion as it confronts an increase in aid recipients because of the economic crisis at a time when food prices are high and its coffers are empty. The WFP, the United Nations agency responsible for relieving hunger, said in a letter to donor countries over the weekend that it needed a significant proportion of the money immediately as it does not have enough funds left to spend in early 2009. “We would run out of food for some key operations by March,” Josette Sheeran, the WFP’s executive director, said, warning that countries such as Ethiopia, Congo, Haiti, Sudan and Bangladesh were most at risk.
NY Times—Can Africa Trade Its Way to Peace?
In a NY Times op-ed, Herman Cohen, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa, writes that like many conflicts, the conflict in the Congo has economic roots, and until the economic conundrum is addressed, there is little prospect to any solution. Cohen proposes that President-elect Obama should appoint a special negotiator who would propose a framework for an economic common market encompassing Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. This agreement would allow the free movement of people and trade, and could be key to ending the war and transforming the region.
Bloomberg News—Doubling of U.S. Health Aid Urged as Foreign Policy
A new report by the U.S. Institute of Medicine says that the U.S. government should double its health aid to poor countries by 2012 and designate a White House global health czar to coordinate the aid with other areas of international affairs, such as trade, the environment and security. The report also said that fulfilling commitments to programs such as PEPFAR will be crucial during a global economic slump likely to have serious repercussions for poor countries.
As the world gets ready to witness the inauguration of Barack Obama, we are asking the President-elect to use his inaugural address to spread hope and dignity to those most in need. President-elect Obama’s inauguration will provide an opportunity to take unprecedented action in the fight against global poverty. A few weeks ago, ONE launched a petition asking the President-elect to “make a clear affirmation of his pledge to fight poverty and preventable diseases worldwide” in his inaugural address on January 20th. Already we’ve smashed our goal of 50,000 signers with over 86,000!
Soon we will deliver this petition to Obama’s transition team. Before we do, please take a moment to add your voice, and be sure to ask your friends and family to do the same.
Dear President-elect Barack Obama,
In your inaugural address, please make a clear affirmation of your pledge to fight poverty and preventable diseases worldwide, and support that statement with an FY2010 budget request that puts the U.S. on track to meet your historic commitments.
Education and development leaders around the world will begin meeting shortly in Oslo, Norway to recommend strategies towards achieving quality Education for All by 2015. This event is organized by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and will feature UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura with the Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg, H.M Queen Rania of Jordan, H.R.H. Crown Prince Haakon of Norway and the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade.
The meeting will begin at approximately 9:00 AM EST, and you can watch a live webcast of the event here. Nora Coghlan is in Norway now and will update us on the proceedings later today.
U2 lead singer and ONE cofounder Bono was presented with the Nobel laureates “Man of Peace” award on December 12 for his activism in the fight against extreme poverty. He received the award in Paris during the 9th Annual Summit of Nobel Peace Prize winners.
Italian left-wing leader Walter Veltroni, who co-hosted the event, said, “[Bono] has put pressure on the world’s governments to reach the UN’s Millennium Goals. To give him the prize, is to say that fight will carry on.”
Mikhail Gorbachev spearheaded the creation of the award, and this year’s event was attended by many Nobel Peace Laureates including Northern Irish politician John Hume and former South African President FW De Klerk.
As part of the ceremony the Nobel Laureates and Bono issued a call for the liberation of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winning Burmese politician who is under house arrest.
“I am an over-awarded, over-rewarded rock star. You are the people who do the real work … So I am very, very pleased to be in such esteemed company,” Bono said at the event.
Today as Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe continued to downplay the cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe, claiming that the outbreak was caused by “Western germ warfare”, the UN reports that the cholera death toll has risen 25% in three days.
Excerpts below:
The U.N. humanitarian office says the total number of suspected cases reported in the southern African country has risen to 18,413 since the start of the outbreak in August.
The figures reported Monday by the World Health Organizations were up from the 792 deaths and 16,700 cases reported Friday. The World Health Organization has said the total number of cases could reach 60,000 unless the epidemic is stopped.
Director Douglas Busby and Damascus Films recently put together a video with the cooperation of The Millennium Challenge Corporation explaining the MCC’s work, the progress they’ve made, and their hopes for the next administration.
Founded in 2004, the MCC is “based on the principle that aid is most effective when it reinforces good governance, economic freedom and investments in people.”
Here at ONE we love a good news story and this is a mini-victory for transparency!
The Paris Club of creditor nations has published the list of its debt claims on individual countries. Although people have long argued for this, it’s the first time they have published this information. This is a great step forwards in terms of transparency and gives the public an opportunity to look at the figures.
The Paris Club, originating in 1956, is an informal group made up of finance officials from 19 of the world’s richest countries. According to their website their role is “to find co-ordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experiences by debtor nations”.
In April 2006, Nigeria became the first African country to fully pay off its debt (estimated $30 billion) owed to the Paris Club.
You can view the list of Paris Club’s debt claims here.
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.
