Chris is the Senior Online Campaigns Coordinator at ONE. Chris covers key moments and breaking news in the fight against global poverty for the ONE Blog. Before joining ONE in August of ’08, Chris worked on staff at the Children’s Defense Fund for two years. Chris was born and raised in central Illinois and attended Truman State University in Missouri where he received a degree in English and North American Literature. Chris now lives in Washington, DC.
A friend just passed along this fascinating report on a new initiative being undertaken by our partner MercyCorps in Jakarta. Living in Washington, DC I’m pretty familiar with the concept of “food deserts” — that is, urban areas where it’s difficult to find grocery stores or fresh food in general. (You can read up a bit more about DC’s food desert challenge here).
This is of course a worldwide epidemic, and a big issue in Jakarta, Indonesia — a city in which “17 percent of children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition, while 12 percent are overweight” according to op-ed columnist Tina Rosenberg. A severe lack of kitchens and adequate sources of fresh, healthy food makes street vendors often the only viable source of daily meals.
Within the hour, President Obama will be delivering an important speech on the events in the Middle East and North Africa and the United States’ policy in the region. The speech will begin at approximately 11:40 AM EST, and you can watch it live here.
Immediately following the speech, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes will be fielding questions submitted online and moderated by folks from NPR and Foreign Policy magazine. They’re going through submitted questions as we speak, and all you have to do to get involved is tweet at them at @whitehouse, @acarvin, and @abuaardvark (using hashtag #MEspeech).
We just submitted 3 questions of our own via Twitter and we would love it if you tweeted these questions too.
In the comments section, let us know what you think of the speech and the conversation that follows. We look forward to hearing what you think!
The Senate passed the 2011 US budget compromise by a margin of 81-19. This vote came just hours after the House passed it 260-167. We were very pleased to learn that this budget preserves nearly all key funding for programs fighting poverty in the developing world. Here’s a breakdown of how these programs fared in the FY11 budget:
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria– no cut, funded at $1.05 billion
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — no cut, funded at $4.6 billion
Feed the Future Initiative (agriculture) (bilateral) — no cut, funded at about $813 million
Feed the Future Initiative (agriculture) (multilateral) — received $100 million appropriation for the first time
Development Assistance — no cut, at FY10 level of $2.5 billion (contains ag, ed, microfinance, water, etc)
GAVI – hard to determine, but most likely to be flat at $78 million, perhaps better
World Bank IDA — no cut, at $1.235 billion
As you know, ONE has been advocating for months now to maintain the aforementioned key programs at current funding, delivering a petition of over 150,000 signatures, making over 16,000 calls to members of Congress, and arranging hundreds of in-district meetings.
We anticipate that the 2012 budget fight could be even more intense that this year’s, and there’s no doubt we’ll once again need ONE members to step up to the plate and advocate for these important programs that are saving millions of live in the developing world. Stay tuned to the ONE Blog for further analysis and breaking news.
Cheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Office sat down with ONE co-founder Bono this weekend to discuss a whole host of issues including the work that ONE does, progress being made in the fight against extreme poverty, and how he got involved in the work of eradicating inequality. In the interview, he also notes the importance in fighting corruption, describing it as a “disease” — with transparency being the best vaccine against it.
Today, the citizens of Souther Sudan began voting on a referendum to determine if they wish to become an independent state. It’s an historical moment, and President Obama has weighed in on the pages of the New York Times:
The historic vote is an exercise in self-determination long in the making, and it is a key part of the 2005 peace agreement that ended the civil war in Sudan. Yet just months ago, with preparations behind schedule, it was uncertain whether this referendum would take place at all. It is for this reason that I gathered with leaders from Sudan and around the world in September to make it clear that the international community was united in its belief that this referendum had to take place and that the will of the people of southern Sudan had to be respected, regardless of the outcome.
In an important step forward, leaders from both northern and southern Sudan — backed by more than 40 nations and international organizations — agreed to work together to ensure that the voting would be timely, peaceful, free and credible and would reflect the will of the Sudanese people. The fact that the voting appears to be starting on time is a tribute to those in Sudan who fulfilled their commitments. Most recently, the government of Sudan said that it would be the first to recognize the south if it voted for independence.
Now, the world is watching, united in its determination to make sure that all parties in Sudan live up to their obligations. As the referendum proceeds, voters must be allowed access to polling stations; they must be able to cast their ballots free from intimidation and coercion. All sides should refrain from inflammatory rhetoric or provocative actions that could raise tensions or prevent voters from expressing their will.
If you haven’t yet, check out this cool video that CNN put together looking at Daniel Yohannes’ role at the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the path that led him there:
According to CNN, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai– Zimbabwe’s President and Prime Minister, respectively– held a rare joint press conference Monday. As ONE Blog readers are probably aware, the two have a complicated political relationship, so this is an interesting development:
“We are different parties; we go at each other at party level. Yes. But let it not be said that we are dysfunctional, (that) we are at war. No,” said Mugabe, 86, defending an attack he made on Tsvangirai at a party conference over the weekend.
“This inclusive government will not collapse. We will make sure that it does not collapse,” said Tsvangirai, adding that there was a “camaraderie” with his former political enemy.
Over the weekend, Mugabe told his supporters that he was tired of working with Tsvangirai and wanted elections next year.
But after meeting with Tsvangirai and Mutambara, Mugabe said that the coalition had given Zimbabweans “a sense of togetherness.”
Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai said Zimbabweans would go to elections once a referendum for a new constitution has been held.
Right now, some of the world's biggest oil companies are fighting to keep some of their deals with foreign governments secret. Let's tell big oil we won't be bullied.
Cuts to poverty-fighting programs won't balance the budget, but they will set back progress on Canada's development priorities and risk jeopardizing existing investments.
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.
A friend just passed along this fascinating report on a new initiative being undertaken by our partner 
