On Tuesday, Transparency International (TI) released their 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), revealing that many sub-Saharan African countries remain among the most corrupt world-wide.

The annually-released index ranks how corrupt governments are perceived to be, according to international institutions such as the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The 2009 CPI ranked 180 countries on perceived levels of domestic public sector corruption based on up to 13 independent surveys per country. The countries are ranked on a scale of 0 (perceived to be highly corrupt) to 10 (perceived to have low levels of corruption).

Somalia was ranked as the most corrupt nation in the index, followed by other conflict-ridden and fragile states, such as Sudan and Chad. The vast majority of sub-Saharan African countries ranked in the bottom of the index, demonstrating that much of the region is still plagued by poor governance and corrupt practices.

Patrick Berg, program coordinator for TI, explained the link between poverty and corruption: “Where you find poverty, corruption usually hits people the hardest,” he said. However, the news is not all bad: Berg said that countries who have made consistent efforts to improve their governance, such as Botswana, Mauritius and Cape Verde, have improved their rankings.

Huguette Labelle, chair of TI maintains that countries at the bottom of the index should not be left out of development efforts. The poor rankings indicate, rather, that there is a need to strengthen country institutions. “Stemming corruption requires strong oversight by parliaments, a well performing judiciary, independent and properly resourced audit and anti-corruption agencies, vigorous law enforcement, transparency in public budgets, revenue and aid flows, as well as space for independent media and a vibrant civil society,” said Labelle. “The international community must find efficient ways to help war-torn countries to develop and sustain their own institutions.”

Check out this interactive map to see how countries scored in this year’s CPI.

Check out this post from Erin Swanson of Water.org:

Remember playing the Oregon Trail game growing up? You chose your companions, forded rivers with your oxen, went hunting, and occasionally had a brief funeral for someone on your team lost to measles, a snakebite, dysentery, typhoid, cholera, and diarrhea.

Would you believe that MILLIONS of people are suffering from some of those same diseases today? Yes: dysentery, typhoid, cholera, and diarrhea. And what do they have in common? They are the result of unsafe drinking water and no safe place to defecate, no toilet. This is why these preventable diseases kill millions of people, mostly children, in the developing world today.

This is why today, November 19, is World Toilet Day. To raise awareness of the fact that one in four people on this planet don’t have access to a toilet. To raise awareness to the face that lack of sanitation is the world’s biggest cause of infection. And In India alone, the number of people who practice open defecation is double the population of the U.S.

Just as you were in that wagon with your companions on the Oregon Trail, risking your life for the promise of a better one, so we invite you to hop on our wagon today. Our vision: global access to safe water and sanitation. We have been working steadily towards this vision for 20 years. Join us and many other organizations on World Toilet Day to acknowledge the life-saving power of the toilet and appreciate the toilets in our lives. Join us as we raise a stink about the global lack of sanitation that causes not only embarrassment, concerns for safety, and lack of dignity, but preventable disease, illness, and all too often, death.

Seeing these diseases eradicated is possible, today. Will you “ford the river” with us?

Sign this online petition demanding action from global leaders to urgently address the sanitation crisis.

Learn more about World Toilet Day and sign up for monthly updates from Water.org here.

Earlier this week, I had the chance to talk with Thomas Awiapo, a Ghanaian from the country’s Upper East Region and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) staff member. As a child in Ghana, Thomas was a beneficiary of CRS school feeding programs. Now, as an adult, he works for CRS Ghana and travels to the U.S. annually to tell his inspiring story to American Catholics at schools, parishes and communities. A powerful story to help wrap up our Food Security in Focus series this week!

Food security is a personal issue for you, isn’t it?

I lived hunger. I suffered it. I lost two siblings to malnutrition. I saw them die—skinny and bony. Every single day I fought for a bowl of food. There was nothing called breakfast or lunch. We were just lucky to get one bowl of food a day.

The only reason I survived was because I went to school. Catholic Relief Services built a school in my village, but I hated it. No one in my family had ever been to school. I didn’t know the benefits. So I went there merely to search for food. I thought the food was free—but it wasn’t. If you wanted snack, you were sentenced to one class and if you wanted lunch, you were taken hostage in another class. As CRS kept fixing lunch, I kept going to school, and today I hold a master’s degree in public administration. That’s the power of a little snack.

Today, I put three meals on the table for my children—and they stay in school because I understand that education is liberation from hunger. Education is the way to break the chains of poverty and hunger. I lived it. I survived to tell the story.

So is food security an issue you still deal with on a daily basis?

Every day: Now we’re working with local farmers—training them, giving them better seeds, helping to teach them how to produce more in their villages. Before, people were mostly just producing food for subsistence. But now we’re trying to encourage farmers: if you grow peanuts, how can we help you? What seeds, training and equipment do you need? How do you find the best markets? Farmers often sell their items at the wrong time, when the price is cheaper. But we help them find a market where they can sell their goods at a good price and make as much profit as possible.

How has climate change impacted farmers in Ghana?

Most people didn’t understand what climate change was. But now you can see so clearly. There was always a rainy season and a dry season. Each lasted six months. Every year it was the same. But now if we get three months of rain, we’re lucky. And the rain that comes is either too late or too early or too much.

Farmers can work as hard as they want, but without rain they are lost. When I visited Wisconsin, I saw them using sprinklers. It seemed so easy. But our government in collaboration with local and international NGOs is trying to support and educate farmers, creating awareness about issues of global warming.

Are they educating just about climate change?

They’re providing education on many issues—like deforestation. Trees here are a source of fuel. You cut down trees to build homes. You need them to survive. But with education, we are trying to teach that if you cut this tree, then plant another in its place. The education is slow, but we’re making progress.

How have the farmers reacted to this help?

They are very excited. Ghana is said to be comparable to Oregon in size. Oregon has 4 million people. Ghana has 21 to 22 million people. The need is great but resources are limited. But I believe there are enough resources in Ghana to feed Ghanaians, just like the United States has enough resources to feed all Americans. We just need to continue to advocate for more just and accountable systems and structures that are beneficial to all without exception.

We’re all working together—government, NGOs, universities and other stakeholders—to try and provide support. But we must remember what President Obama said when he visited Ghana—aid is not an end in itself. The purpose of foreign assistance must be creating the conditions where it is no longer needed. We have to make sure we have the right systems, the right people with the right intentions and many good things can happen. The trick is how to find all three.

This week The University of Miami’s Department of International Studies teamed up with ONE’s partner organization, CARE to present a panel discussion on climate change as a human security concern. Many ONE members came out for the event to learn more about the challenges that drastic changes in climate present for people living in extreme poverty.

Dr. Sherri Porcelain, senior lecturer with the Global Public Health Department at UM kicked of the event and moderated the panel discussion which covered topics such as resource scarcity, increased spread of diseases like malaria from more active mosquito populations, to the mass migration of people from coastlands and other areas affected by climate change.

As policy makers prepare to meet next month at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, we will continue to work on the ground here in Florida and around the country to educate our members of Congress and raise awareness about the deadly costs of climate change to those living in extreme poverty.

Check out this post from Desmond Serrette from the US Chapter of the Global Campaign for Education, of which ONE is a major partner:

I’m happy to announce the December 10th National Day of Action when we are calling on those who understand the important role that education plays in the health, safety and economic security of the world’s children to take action and let President Obama know we support his call for a fully endowed Global Fund for Education.

There are nearly 75 million children across the globe unable to attend primary school this year. Children are blocked out of classroom doors by high schooling fees, long distances to travel to the nearest school, and an insufficient number of teachers, to name a few.

Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This statement is especially powerful when one explores the impact that education plays in helping solve so many of the world’s problems. Simply put: Education Saves Lives, Reduces Poverty and Makes a Safer World.

You don’t have to wait until December 10th:

You can sign a petition right now urging President Obama to support a Global Fund for Education to ensure a quality education for all the world’s children.

Did you know:

• In Africa, 5 million children each year die before their 5th birthday, yet children of mothers with just a few years of primary education are 40% more likely to survive into adulthood
• Providing mothers with basic education is more effective than food aid in ending childhood malnutrition
• An estimated 700,000 cases of HIV/AIDS could be prevented each year in Africa alone, if all children received a primary education
• Education is by far the best predictor of democratic attitudes in a country; more education corresponds directly to more democratic attitudes

There is an answer: In September 2008, then candidate Barack Obama pledged to lead the world in creating and endowing a Global Fund for Education. A Global Fund could ensure that the global education deficit is tackled with sufficient resources and political resolve to put in every child in school. Just as the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria has worked together to raise billions of dollars and saved over 3.5 million lives, a Global Fund for Education would provide enough resources so the lives of the poor can be better lived – in health, security, hope and prosperity.

Let President Obama know right now that you support a fully endowed Global Fund for Education. Together, we can lead the way in providing a healthier global society, a safer planet, and a world in which living on less than a dollar a day is no longer a reality for anyone. Thank you!

I recently had a chance to catch-up with Gabrielle Fitzgerald of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports the United Against Malaria (UAM) campaign. She graciously gave me the inside scoop on UAM and all that it’s been up to. Check it out!

How did you come up with the idea to pair soccer with fighting malaria?

We started thinking about it a couple of years ago. We realized that the 2010 World Cup was going to be in South Africa—and that malaria is a critical issue on the African continent. Then we noticed that lots of our partners already had strong relationships with soccer players and organizations. It seemed like a perfect fit.

And why is the 2010 World Cup so important?

It’s important for a couple of reasons. 2010 is the first time that the World Cup will be on African soil. It’s also a critical year for the development community. In 2010, we’ll be taking a close look at the Millennium Development Goals and how much progress has been made. There’s been lots of progress on malaria. There are more bed nets and better drugs available—both critical to the fight against malaria.

So we should expect to start seeing a lot of special UAM soccer balls around?

Absolutely. You can sign the virtual soccer ball on our website, or play the “World Cup Challenge: Kick Malaria” soccer game on Facebook. We’ve even engaged a young soccer star from Uganda, 12-year-old Charles Ssali, to carry a soccer ball as he travels the globe from Addis Ababa to New York City to Brussels. Next month he’ll travel to Cape Town for the World Cup draw and present a soccer ball to political and sports leaders.

An impressive roster of celebrities, politicians, soccer stars, organizations have lined up to help UAM.

We have such a wide range of champions—and they’re all really excited to be involved. Everyone from Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber, to the South African mobile phone company MTN, toShoprite, an African supermarket chain. US Men’s National Team captain Landon Donovan even did a PSA for us that just launched at our official kick-off in New York City. We’ve attracted lots of people.

What do you think people would be most surprised to learn about malaria?

The number of people who are impacted every year. Malaria kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds. It kills nearly one million people each year. But it’s very cheap to prevent it. You can buy a bed net for just $10. This is a disease that we can do something about. In Zambia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, we’re making real progress. A lot of progress has been made in the fight against malaria since I started working on this issue five years ago.

How did you first get interested in malaria?

I originally worked on HIV/AIDS. But when I came to the Gates Foundation, malaria was a big priority—and I learned that malaria was both preventable and treatable. It’s great to work on something that gives you such hope.

Is there something you’ve learned that’s really stuck with you?

I think what’s really sticking with me is how much energy so many of the African leaders have around the issue. There’s a real concerted effort to fight malaria, across a remarkable range of countries, organizations and individuals.

What are a few simple ways that people can get involved with UAM?

There are lots of options. Go to our website, make a contribution, encourage leaders to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Soccer really is a great metaphor for our campaign. This is a team sport. We’re all in this together. It’s time to pass the ball. It’s time to reach our goals.

Check out this post—in the lead-up to next week’s World Summit on Food Security—from American Jewish World Service, another entry in our Food Security in Focus series.

Why are so many people hungry? It’s a simple question with complex answers. Hunger is not driven by a lack of food in the world. Global hunger is rooted in a web of political and economic policies that prevent access to food, particularly in developing countries. Hunger is complex because food is political.

As Policy Associate at American Jewish World Service (AJWS)—an international development organization motivated by Judaism’s imperative to pursue justice—I am exploring ways in which our own U.S. aid, trade, and agriculture policies affect global hunger.

Through grantmaking, service, advocacy and education, AJWS supports grassroots organizations that are achieving food sovereignty in their own communities by developing sustainable solutions to food insecurity. My advocacy from our Washington, DC office responds to the global challenges and the local solutions of AJWS’s grassroots partners.

For example, Kenya—a country of nearly 35 million people—produces less than 50 percent of the food that its population needs to survive. Small-scale growers were long ago forced out of business by cheap subsidized imports from Western nations. Kilili Self-Help Project (KSHP), an AJWS grassroots partner, is working to reduce Kenyans’ dependency on foreign imports by promoting local, sustainable farming that helps communities feed themselves.

To support this work from here in the U.S., AJWS is pushing to fix the aid, trade and agriculture policies that perpetuate challenges faced in Kenya and elsewhere.

Food is a human right, not a privilege. It cannot be traded and treated like any other commodity. Join us in calling on our U.S. leadership to promote this principle during the upcoming World Summit on Food Security on November 16 to 18 in Rome.

Stay tuned to AJWS’s From the Ground Up campaign to learn more, and be sure to take our hunger quiz!

-Amanda Cary, Policy Associate, American Jewish World Service

Then you might have caught this full page ad ran by our friends at Water Advocates.

Check out the ad, and find out what you can do to help here.

This morning, I joined a 12-year-old Ugandan soccer star, a giant mosquito and the commissioner of Major League Soccer, among many others, for breakfast at the ESPN Zone in Times Square for the U.S. launch of the United Against Malaria campaign.

As covered before on the ONE Blog, United Against Malaria is an effort that aims to kick the world into high gear to beat malaria by leveraging soccer and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Like any good squad, United Against Malaria is fielding a versatile group of players, including soccer stars, government officials, celebrities, corporations and NGOs, including ONE.

Many people representing this diverse partnership were at today’s launch, but perhaps the biggest star was the smallest person in the room. Charles Ssali, a 12-year-old soccer player from Uganda, is the “global emissary” for United Against Malaria. Charles wears number five for his local youth team in Uganda and has played in tournaments as far away as Sweden and Denmark. Charles is also a malaria survivor and has seen the disease impact his community and friends firsthand. Ever since recovering from malaria at age four, Charles has slept under a bed net and told his friends to do the same. Now he’s taking the message that he tells his friends on the soccer fields of his native Uganda—that you can stop malaria with simple, effective solutions—all over the world with the United Against Malaria team.

In addition to today’s launch in New York City, Charles will be launching the effort in Brussels, Addis Ababa and Cape Town. When I talked to him after the event and told him that’s a lot of travel for a little guy, he flashed his big smile at me and said he’s really enjoying his first trip to New York City, he’s excited to travel to Brussels next, but he is most looking forward to Johannesburg, where he’ll see the World Cup.

Beyond Charles, other big names from the soccer world spoke this morning, including Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber and Fox Soccer Channel’s lead announcer Max Bretos. Both discussed how the sport, probably the most popular in the world, and its biggest moment, the World Cup, have the potential to tap into a huge audience. It’s an audience—sports fans, youth soccer players, soccer moms and dads—who may not yet fully know the malaria story, but who have the potential to be passionate, engaged advocates once they see malaria can be beat.

From the NGO world, ONE’s own U.S. Executive Director Sheila Nix and Malaria No More’s Chairman Peter Chernin discussed how United Against Malaria can mobilize this new audience into effective political advocacy. The ultimate aim is to catalyze the world to reach the international target of reducing malaria deaths to near zero by 2015. It’s a goal that is within reach. Sheila and Peter pointed out the tremendous gains that have been achieved in just the last few years thanks to African leadership supported by effective U.S. and international efforts like the President’s Malaria Initiative and the Global Fund. Malaria rates have been slashed in countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia. But if we want to finish the deal and finally end deaths from malaria, these programs will need continued support. Sheila and Peter said United Against Malaria can play a pivotal role by making the connection clear for the public about how contacting your member of Congress to support effective programs will result in lives saved.

Finally, two more critical leaders, Ray Chambers, the United Nations’ Special Envoy for Malaria, and Bishop Thomas Bickerton of the United Methodist Church talked about how all this progress is being forged on the ground level in Africa with proven tools like bed nets, malaria treatment and better public awareness. Both spoke eloquently on the power of individuals such as Charles to make a difference in this fight, including both advocates like ONE members in the United States and community leaders in Africa raising awareness of effective prevention measures.

And now with United Against Malaria officially kicked off in the United States, there is only one thing missing from the team: you. The good news is that there are no tryouts (especially for me and my rusty soccer skills). All you need is a belief that in the next five years, deaths from malaria must end, and a voice to recruit your friends and press your elected officials. Be sure to follow the rest of Charles’s journey and join the United Against Malaria team at www.unitedagainstmalaria.com.

Our friends at 1GOAL report on several meetings Jessica Alba held with Speaker Pelosi, the Obama administration, and Secretary Hillary Clinton. As we’ve written about before, 1GOAL is a campaign focused around the 2010 World Cup to provide education for all children.

You can read more about 1GOAL here, and their report of the meetings here.