The arrival of the prolonged seasonal rains, coupled with a scaling up of humanitarian and early recovery operations in recent months, has improved the situation on the ground in southern Somalia, with three regions -– Bay, Bakool and Lower Shabelle — being downgraded from famine status to that of humanitarian emergency.

This progress brings some hope. But the hard-won gains are still extremely fragile. Without ongoing assistance, they could be reversed.

Four million people remain in crisis in Somalia. Of these, 250,000 are at risk of dying. A further one million Somalis are living in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

Fortunately, the humanitarian and development communities continue to show their commitment to responding to the crisis and improving the lives of Somali men, women and children.

Yet we still face significant challenges, as demonstrated by the recent ban by the Al Shabaab group, of six UN agencies and 10 non-governmental organizations working in southern Somalia.

The progress we have made must be sustained, and we must be prepared for the long haul.

International support must continue at the same –- or even an increased -– level throughout 2012. This week, we launched the Consolidated Appeal Process which outlines the planned humanitarian assistance program in Somalia for 2012.

The program aims to reduce malnutrition rates, prevent further internal and international displacement, and assist people who are already on the move or stranded. It includes 349 projects from 148 organizations, including NGOs and the UN, and is seeking $1.5 billion to respond to the most urgent life-saving needs of Somalis in crisis.

Resilience is a key theme within the 2012 CAP, under which the UN Development Programme will be strongly engaged with specific initiatives to reduce dependency on humanitarian assistance and ensure households can withstand future shocks.

UNDP will also continue its work in the areas of emergency income generation and infrastructure rebuilding through cash for work initiatives.

Through our support to the establishment of rule of law, UNDP will support activities focused on the protection of vulnerable groups, particularly in the capital, Mogadishu, where cases of sexual and gender-based violence have been increasing.

There will always be challenges to the provision of assistance to Somalia, and 2012 will be no exception. But Somalia cannot be allowed to fall off the international humanitarian and development agenda at this crucial time.

-Mark Bowden, UN Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Somalia

Follow the UN in Somalia on Facebook.

In talking about ONE, Foreign Policy Editor in Chief Moisés Naím noted that “unless one pushes for obvious ideas, they aren’t obvious for many. Now [these issues] are obvious to millions thanks to ONE.”

Mr. Daschle and Mrs. McCain spoke at length about the necessity of bipartisanship in the fight against extreme poverty—a bipartisanship of which they were obvious examples.

But by far the highlight and emphasis of the ceremony were the immeasurable achievements of ONE members and volunteers all across the country—today represented by Danielle DePas, Michael Castaldo, and Matthew McAllister who came to DC to accept the award. All three were invited to sit on a panel discussion with Steve Radelet and ONE’s Liesl Hickey to discuss topics such as grassroots activism, organizing, and how the US can lead in the fight against global poverty and preventable disease.

We’ll have further posts with photos and video from the event for you shortly. You can read more about the award here.

-Chris Scott

Click below for a clip of Bob Dole’s remarks, and check out some background information on Senator Tom Daschle here.

Bob Dole:

He also worked on another bipartisan effort with another former Senate majority leader, Senator Bill Frist on the ONE Vote ’08 Campaign addressing health and poverty in developing countries. As most of you know, Senator Daschle has spent a good part of his career focused on healthcare.

-Chris Scott

Today, the 111th Congress was sworn in, and in it are many new representatives and senators that will need to hear from ONE members about the importance saving lives in the developing world. I am in DC today, so I decided to swing by the office of my new senator from New Hampshire, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.

When I got to there I noticed that former Press Secretary to President Clinton, Mike McCurry was in the room and I immediately noticed the ONE band he was sporting. We spoke briefly about the ONE Vote ’08 launch in New Hampshire that he attended back in 2007. I also ran into New Hampshire Representative Paul Hodes and spoke with him about the campaign trail back in the Granite State.

Then I briefly spoke with Sen. Shaheen about ONE and our efforts to fight global disease and extreme poverty, and I am sure that she will be hearing from ONE members as she has been named to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Today I met my new senator, and urged her to take action to help save millions of lives. But ONE members everywhere should call, write, and meet with your new members of Congress to make sure they know that saving lives in the world’s poorest places is not only possible, it is a priority!

-Matthew Bartlett

We are honored to receive this award which of course would never have been possible without the hard work and dedication of ONE members and activists around the world.

Some excerpts from CGD’s announcement below, and you can listen to the telephone press conference here.

Through its ONE Vote ’08 initiative , ONE mobilized 2 million supporters to sign petitions, raise awareness in their communities, and encourage the presidential candidates to explain how they would improve U.S. policies that affect poor people in developing countries. After the election, ONE pushed for President-elect Barack Obama and other newly elected officials to keep their commitments to the world’s poor in the face of the global financial crisis.

ONE Campaign advocates-often sporting ONE Campaign t-shirts-were visible at town hall meetings and election events around the country in 2008, catching the attention of candidates and voters.

ONE also hosted high-level panel discussions on global poverty at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. Hundreds of students, activists, and convention delegates attended the convention events.

-Chris Scott

I came into work yesterday and hardly knew what to do with myself. The unbelievable feeling that the elections are over finally sank in. It seems like the elections have been 90% of what I have thought and talked about for the past year and a half. Now what?! After the initial shock I realized this is only the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.

For almost two years thousands of ONE members have been attending almost every political rally, town hall, meet and greet, and other events such as straw polls or steak fries, raising awareness and asking the presidential candidates tough questions about their commitment to the world’s poor. I remember quite a few early events where members drove hours to a town hall event in a small town in Iowa, where it would be a presidential candidate, a pot of coffee and about 5 people. Those were early days where ONE members got a lot of face time with the candidates. Toward the end the events were huge rallies with thousands of people, less face time but more people to talk to about ONE! Somewhere along the line the candidates started wearing bands, recognizing ONE members, pointing them out in crowds, and sometimes letting them speak!

One of the most amazing accomplishments, among others, was the “On the Record Challenge” where 11 of the candidates during the primaries sat down with ONE and made commitments to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world. This was, in no small way, achieved because of the millions of ONE members who signed petitions, wrote letters and showed up to those town hall events all across the country.

As I sit here and take a walk down ONE Vote 08’s memory lane I want to thank everyone across the country for being a member, for your support, for volunteering, and for your relentless commitment to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease. You are an inspiration to me and millions of others and because of your hard work the president elect has made solid commitments for his presidency, which ONE will be there to make sure he follows through on his word.

Even though this chapter is closing, keep in mind the next one now begins. The question is, what will it say? It’s up to you.

It is up to all of us to make sure President-Elect Obama keeps his commitments to make fighting global poverty a priority. We have come a long way in this uphill battle, and we should celebrate our accomplishments but never take our eyes off of the horizon for a brighter future.

Thank you ONE members,

Libby Crimmings

Below is a video of ONE organizer Matthew Bartlett speaking with John McCain a few days ago at what could be his last town hall meeting in New Hampshire as a presidential candidate. It aired on CNN and Matthew’s impassioned and articulate message is spot on. Congrats Matthew and all of our ONE Vote ’08 activists.

-Chris Scott

Take a minute to check out their statements and happy voting!

-Chris Scott

I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all of our Pennsylvania ONE Volunteers for all of their hard work in helping to raise awareness for ONE’s initiatives! The ONE volunteers seen here with Congressman Tim Holden are Dan Donmoyer, Marie Smith, and Renee Allen. All three volunteers have been extremely active and have been very successful in energizing people around them to get involved with advocacy.

I also want to mention volunteers Abbey Fisher and Matt Schaeffer. Abbey does a lot of work with Jubilee USA and helps support ONE by attending as many events as she can. Matt Schaeffer is a senior at Lebanon Valley College where he has started a ONE Chapter and participates in our OCC program.

Thank you to all of our amazing Pennsylvania ONE volunteers who also participate by making phone calls and signing petitions to help the world’s most vulnerable! Many people are contributing in various ways and I simply cannot say enough or give enough praise to everyone who has given their time! THANK YOU ALL!

-Brian Sweeney/ONE Vote 08 Field Organizer

Candidates and campaigns are jockeying in the final days until Election Day to earn votes and get their message across. ONE is also working hard to get our message across to not only voters, but also to the candidates.

Over the past six months, Ohio has become ground zero for the presidential candidates. As the candidates have crisscrossed Ohio, ONE has been there, discussing the issues surrounding global poverty. In the week leading up to the election ONE has been to several McCain and Obama events, each time drawing the attention of the crowd, the media, campaign staff or even the candidate.

While ONE in Ohio will spend the next 48 hours making its presence known, ONE’s work does not end on Election Day. Just last week ONE delivered petitions to the state campaign offices pushing for whoever is elected to keep their promises of ending global poverty.

-Blake Waggoner