Bono:

“Here’s a thought to leave you with: By 2015, we could live in a world where no kids are born with HIV. The first born AIDS-free generation of our lifetime, by 2015. That’s a thought, right? Every day, 1,000 mothers give birth to a child with HIV. And it doesn’t have to be, so sign up to the ONE Campaign, choose RED, support your First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy and the Global Fund. They’re here tonight. This is for them. Thank you, you’re our heroes.”

From today’s Guardian:

“The death of Zenani Mandela, who was on her way home from a pre-World Cup concert in Soweto, stunned South Africa on the day it was celebrating hosting the tournament. Mandela, who turns 92 next month, pulled out of an eagerly anticipated appearance at the opening ceremony to stay at home with family. Jacob Zuma, the South African president, passed on a message from him that said: “The game must start. You must enjoy the game.”

As an anti-apartheid activist who spent decades in prison fighting for what he knew to be right, and as the first South African president chosen in an election open to all the people of South Africa — he remains one of the greatest leaders in the world today.

We’ve been so grateful for his support for ONE’s work over the years — and our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Mandela and his family.

Today the beautiful game is in all its glory. All eyes are on Africa — the continent is hosting the World Cup for the very first time. And to mark the launch of the world’s biggest sporting event, Yahoo!’s Penalty Shootout game is turning (RED) and helping generate monies to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.

Play. Score. And for every goal Yahoo! will contribute $1, up to $100,000 USD, to the Global Fund, the recipient of (RED) monies. Your goal counts as many times as you can score!

It’s for one day only – TODAY – and you can play the game here.

The beautiful game just got better.

Thanks for playing!

Chrysi Philalithes

You can tune into the livestream below to watch today’s DC panel discuss the report’s results.

Live streaming video by Ustream

The panel includes ONE President and CEO David Lane, ONE Board Member and former White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, and Senior Professional Staff Member on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Pearl-Alice Marsh — and is co-hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the University of Miami Center for International Media.

ONE’s Lauren Clanin is at the event and will be sending back recap posts soon. You can read a ton more about the DATA Report here.

As a gynecologist in Bangladesh, Dr. Ferdousi Begum saw firsthand the effects of that country’s staggering infant mortality rate.

And while she worked hard to save as many patients as possible, she knew that the poorest, most rural communities in her country needed more than she – or the limited number of other doctors like her – could provide. So she began training volunteers to provide basic care to pregnant women in their own communities. Since 2005, Dr. Begum’s dedication has had remarkable results:  she has trained 3,200 volunteers, who have provided care to 300,000 women, treated 83,000 kids for pneumonia and diarrhea, and done much more.

Her efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.  In 2008, Save the Children hired Dr. Begum to serve as the program manager for its Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health division. Save the Children is one of the foundation’s key partners, and we’re excited about the life-saving work they are doing, with Dr. Begum’s leadership, to deliver proven interventions and save lives in Bangladesh and other countries. Thanks to efforts like theirs, there are encouraging signs of new momentum on maternal and child health.  For the first time in decades, the number of women dying from pregnancy and childbirth has dropped significantly, and child deaths continue to decline.
Here at the Gates Foundation, improving the health of mothers and young children is one of our top priorities. As Melinda Gates shared yesterday in her speech at Women Deliver,  we are committed to developing and delivering solutions to ensure that mothers and their children around the world have the chance to thrive.

Learn more about Dr. Begum and Save the Children’s work in Bangladesh, in this profile by GOOD magazine.

Specifically, these grants will include training frontline health care workers, introducing low-cost, effective interventions to stem newborn infections and treat birth complications, and educating mothers about simple lifesaving practices like keeping newborns warm with their body heat.

Below is an excerpt from her remarkable speech:

Today, we are committing to make new grants totaling $1.5 billion over the next five years to support family planning, maternal and child health, and nutrition programs in developing countries.
This new pledge will complement our spending in other areas that affect women’s and children’s health, such as developing and delivering children’s vaccines, and preventing pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

I’m also making women’s and children’s health my personal priority as co-chair of the Gates Foundation.

My commitment to you is that I will continue to talk to leaders in rich countries about making funding pledges and following through on them. I will continue to talk to leaders in poor countries about making women and children a policy priority.

We will continue having this conversation about the work we’re doing together. We hold the future in our hands.

ONE’s Erin Hohlfelder is at the actual conference with Melinda now and will report back more soon.

Below is an except on one of his latest post, which discusses the importance of country-led plans in the administration’s “Feed the Future” initiative, and particularly the increased focus on the role of women.

As Rajiv Shah spoke at last week’s Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, I thought about an image in his old office at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation before he became Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.  Hanging on the wall behind his desk was a photo of a child crouching in a blue wash bucket somewhere in Africa.  Only her head was visible above the bucket’s rim.

Tell me about the girl, I asked.

“She’s the boss,” he replied.  She, and not the wealthy and influential Bill Gates, was essentially the one they all worked for at the foundation’s global agriculture development department.

“We’re working to benefit her,” Shah said.

In presenting the guidelines to the Obama administration’s Feed the Future initiative, Shah effectively indicated that that little girl — and millions of children like her, and their mothers and fathers — was still the boss.  Not the mighty president, nor the secretary of state, nor members of Congress.  They all need to listen to what the Africans – particularly those Africans struggling to feed themselves – have to say about the priorities of agriculture development.

You can read the full post here.

Last weekend, I attended a conference where I had the opportunity to help bring more Hawaiians to the fight to end extreme poverty. There I also had the extra privilege to be able to meet with Senator Inouye personally and express my concern with budget committee leaders decision to cut $4 billion from the International Affairs Budget for 2011. Talking to Senator Inouye, I was humbled to realize the gravity our senator’s decision holds for our own country as well as for the developing world.

I was at the conference with fellow Hawaiian ONE members Alicia, Joe, Sue, Kekoa and Falisha and we all talked to and encouraged the attendees to join ONE and add their name to our petition to Senator Inouye. A large number of them listened to what we had to say, signed the petition and thanked us for advocating for the world’s poorest people.

Since Senator Inouye hold so much sway in the U.S. budget process, every signature on this petition from a Hawaiian resident has extra power. I am honored to be able to work with so many great ONE members and help sign up more names.

Mahalo nui loa (Thank you very much)

Kekoa Cambra, Hawaii ONE Member

Two young advocates took to the streets of Rockville and signed up over 200 new ONE members this weekend!

How did they do it? The Hometown Holidays event in Rockville, MD, is a massive festival which drew thousands of visitors, the majority of them families with children. Maya and Dalai Ward joyfully persevered through the heat and the crowds on Saturday and Sunday, spreading awareness of what ONE is all about. These brilliant volunteers took it upon themselves to make a banner with the phrase “Help ONE, Help Millions” which drew a lot of attention to the table. When we ran out of promo materials and white bands, they created their own fact sheet to hand out, which people loved!

Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio stopped by to engage in a lively conversation with the girls, and then signed up to ONE!

Addressing complete strangers with “Hi! How are you?…Fine thank you. Have you heard about ONE?” takes a brave spirit. Many new members expressed how impressed they were by the passion and hopefulness displayed by the youths. Some of the more persuasive arguments these volunteers used to connect with people were launched with the phrase:

“Did you know…”

Did you know 40 cents a day will keep a person with HIV/AIDS alive?
Some children have to walk up to five miles a day just to get a bucket of dirty water?

Deaths from Malaria have been cut in half in over 20 countries?!?

34 million more African children were able to go to school, yet 35 million more still are not. There is more work to be done.

They also signed up seven new ONE volunteers, who were inspired by the intelligence and will of these remarkable young ladies.

Way to go Dalai and Maya!!!

-ONE Congressional District Leader, Rockville, MD

Video below, in 5 parts: