New York Times- Bono: It’s 2009. Do You Know Where Your Soul Is?
ONE co-founder Bono writes as an op-ed guest columnist in the New York Times about foreign aid and advocacy.

Washington Post—A Bigger, Bolder Role Is Imagined For the IMF
In advance of this weekend’s International Monetary Fund meetings, the Washington Post writes about the coming shift in the fund from advising to actively managing the global economy.

Financial Times—US urges food output boost to avert unrest
The US agriculture secretary has warned that unless countries take immediate steps to sharply boost agricultural productivity and food output and reduce hunger, the world risks fresh social instability. In an interview with the Financial Times, Tom Vilsack indicated that food security and global stability were tied, in a sign that the United States’ worries about the global food crisis go well beyond its humanitarian implications. “This is not just about food security, this is about national security, it is about environmental security,” he said.

Financial Times—G8 acknowledges losing battle against hunger
The Group of Eight leading nations called today “for increasing public and private investment” in agriculture, but their communiqué after the first meeting on the subject acknowledged that efforts to tackle hunger were lagging. G8 agriculture ministers, meeting in northern Italy, said that the world was “very far from reaching” the United Nations’ goal of halving by 2015 the world’s proportion of malnourished people, after they reviewed what they called “alarming data” on hunger.

NY Times—Kristof: Changing Lives, Mitt by Mitt
NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof wrote this weekend about different aid groups that are helping address global poverty and ways to get involved. He writes, “Many people doubt the effectiveness of foreign aid…It’s true that aid of all kinds is harder to get right than people usually assume, but the kind that has the best record is grassroots investment — with strong local buy-in — in health, education, agriculture and microfinance. I’ve repeatedly seen these kinds of programs transform families and communities, from Africa to Afghanistan.”

Reuters—Clinton commends Zimbabwe progress, urges more
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commended Zimbabwe’s unity government on Saturday for progress in implementing reforms but said more must be done. In a message to the Zimbabwean people, timed to coincide with the country’s 29th anniversary of independence from Britain, Clinton made no mention of when or whether the United States would lift targeted sanctions or offer substantial aid to help rebuild the shattered nation.

NY Times—Subsidy Plan Seeks to Cut Malaria Drug Cost
A new campaign to save lives and prevent drug resistance by driving the price of the best malaria medicine down to as little as 20 cents was announced Friday by international health agencies and European governments.

AFP—Cheap cholera vaccine announced
An international health organization said on Monday it has developed the world’s first cheap cholera vaccine which has been licensed in India, paving the way for its global use. The Seoul-based International Vaccine Institute (IVI) said the new product costs about $1 per dose compared to the existing internationally licensed oral vaccine which was too expensive for developing countries — costing $18 a dose in Bangladesh.

-Steve Wilson