Imagine you had to make one decision that could change your community and livelihood dramatically. Wouldn’t you want to be 100 percent sure your decision created the best opportunities possible for you and your family?

On the flip side, what if that decision involved an investment of millions of dollars? You would want all the information you could find about the possible outcomes and risks of your decision, wouldn’t you?

Today, across the globe, citizens of resource-rich yet poor countries and investors in oil, gas and mining companies have a problem just like this. These odd couples both need to make very important decisions about natural resource projects and the companies that undertake them, but they don’t have enough information to make sure their choices are right.

SEE ALSO: US regulators feel pressure to weaken transparency law… and why you should care

Without the disclosures required by the Cardin-Lugar Amendment (Section 1504 of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act), investors cannot put an accurate dollar amount on the risk to their investments caused by things like social or political conflict. In turn, citizens of countries where those investments are taking place don’t have the necessary information to hold their governments accountable for the cash windfalls from those resources, or to make informed decisions about whether natural resource development is the right choice for their communities.

The disclosures mandated by Cardin-Lugar also create broader benefits that local communities, investors, companies and consumers around the world can all share. The stability that happens when a country’s citizens feel they are getting a fair return on their natural resources lowers the risk of investing in companies that operate there. In addition, it also lowers a company’s cost of doing business and, in turn, may lower the costs of some of the commodities on which the entire world depends.

The support of ONE and its members is critical in making the case that these disclosures matter. You’re helping ensure that the world’s choices about natural resource development and investments are fully informed ones.

You can find out more about sustainable and responsible investing at www.calvert.com and follow Paul on Twitter at @paulbugala.

Key points from the report are:

• Collectively the G7 delivered 61% of the increased aid they promised in 2005 to sub-Saharan Africa by 2010.
• The increases were largely a result of the UK making commendable progress towards its very ambitious target, and the US, Japan and Canada surpassing their relatively modest targets.
• Yet again Italy’s performance is condemnable, falling far short of its promises to the world’s poorest people.
• France and Germany have also failed to meet their ambitious targets.
• The failure of the G8 to keep their promises deprived the world’s poorest people of $7bn in financing for effective and life-changing programmes in 2010 alone.
• Despite the overall shortfall, there have been historic increases in aid to sub-Saharan Africa since 2000, and especially since 2005 and the promises of the Gleneagles G8 Summit which was a response to the global Make Poverty History campaign.
• Much of this smart aid went towards programmes that are delivering real results in sub-Saharan Africa. Together with African efforts, aid has helped to avert the deaths of 750,000 children from malaria; allowed 46.5 million children to enrol in school for the first time; provided 4 million Africans with anti-AIDS drugs; and helped boost agricultural productivity by 50% in 17 African countries.
• Emerging economies such as Brazil, India, China and Russia have been steadily increasing their aid to sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, along with increased trade and investment with African countries. However, because most of these new donors do not report their development assistance data to the DAC, the DATA Report does not compare them with traditional donors.

Launching the report Jamie Drummond, Executive Director of ONE, said:

“Unfortunately it comes as no surprise that Prime Minister Berlusconi has yet again abjectly failed to deliver on his promises – and we continue to call for Italy to be at least temporarily removed from the G8 for this reason. But it’s worrying that President Sarkozy and France are so far behind in a year when so much is expected of them as hosts of the G8 and G20, and at a time when African development, peace and democracy is at the top of the global agenda. It is also hugely disappointing that Germany – which has weathered the economic storm so well – has performed so badly on its development promises. These three nations must urgently get back on track by setting out clear timetables to meet the promises they made to give 0.7% of their national incomes as overseas aid by 2015. At the same time, non-European G8 countries like the US, Canada and Japan should set new, ambitious commitments for aid to sub-Saharan Africa.”

However, it is clear that even if G8 donors meet all their existing and future promises on aid, much more money needs to be invested in developing countries if we are to reach the Millennium Development Goals and pull millions of people out of poverty.

That is why the DATA Report outlines 6 options for the G8 and G20 to generate innovative financing for development. These range from financial sector levies to African diaspora bonds, and could each help to raise billions of dollars to help fund smart aid programmes.

In this time of global austerity, the DATA Report also looks at how donors have performed against targets to improve the effectiveness of aid to ensure that their investments have the biggest possible impact, although a thorough analysis of progress was not possible due to a lack of available data. However the report did note that some donors, notably the UK, US and Canada, are increasingly emphasizing results by setting clear targets for the outcomes they intend to achieve with their aid. When countries meet for the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in South Korea later this year they should set clear standards for monitoring these results. They should also renew their efforts to improve aid and budget transparency and meet their commitments from previous aid effectiveness forums in Paris and Accra.

Check out the report, including interactive datasets, at one.org/data

ONE members across the country are always looking for opportunities to speak directly to their members of Congress about the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. Some great volunteers took advantage of Senator Scott Brown’s book tour last week and were able to catch up with the senator four times at his stops through Texas and California!

In Houston on Thursday, Senator Brown told the volunteers that (he had worn his ONE T-shirt earlier that very day on his morning run! Then, the following day in Simi Valley, California, Senator Brown signed his book, “To the ONE Campaign. Keep the faith.” Thanks to all our volunteers who supported ONE out in the community and thanks to Senator Scott Brown for giving ONE such a warm welcome as he traveled around the country!

Our new radio ad explains how America is a blessed nation, considering there are areas of the world where people have far less than we do. Congress can continue to put our values to work by making good choices about our nation’s spending that don’t hurt the world’s most vulnerable.

Congress is now considering ways to reduce the national deficit. But we know it doesn’t take much money to save millions of children’s lives in the world’s poorest places — less than 1 percent of our entire budget. That money helps give children anti-malarial bed nets, vaccines against deadly diseases, ARVs for people living with HIV and much more.

You may have heard our message, but that doesn’t mean Congress has.

We need your help in telling Congress not to cut the foreign aid budget. Call your member of Congress at the general hotline, (877) 778-2578, or find a direct line to your member using our form. Your call will make a huge difference for millions of the world’s poorest people.

Did you hear our ad on your radio station yet? If so, let us know what you think!

Hi, I am Sipho Moyo, Director of ONE Africa. This is a very important week for ONE’s work on the continent

We have just opened our office in Johannesburg, we are hosting the ONE Africa Symposium on Economic Transformation through Technology and Transparency, and are launching the ONE Africa Blog.

Infused throughout all this work, is the idea that by going together with others, we will go far.

We are aware that we will need to prove our credibility and inspire trust as we actively build partnerships with other civil society organisations in the region who are already on the ground and working on precisely the same issues that we care about.

We also hope to continue to engage more people in the political process of fighting extreme poverty. There are tens of thousands of ONE members in Africa already, with hundreds more joining each week.

So no matter who you are, we aim to have something interesting for you here on the ONE Africa Blog. You’ll find posts from the business leaders, opinion formers and activists who are shaping the continent, and I hope that you’ll not just read them, but join in the conversation by sharing your thoughts.

Thank you, and I look forward to working with you to end the blight of extreme poverty.

Fortunata, who is HIV-positive, and her HIV-negative daughter, Florida

Every year on December 1, the world marks another anniversary of the global HIV epidemic. This year, as we take time on the ONE Blog to mark the week of World AIDS Day, we see opportunities that make us very optimistic about bringing this epidemic to an end, and an equally long list of challenges to overcome.

Let’s start with the good news: AIDS deaths are declining, new infections are decreasing in some countries and more than 5 million people are alive thanks to life-saving antiretroviral treatment (Check out UNAIDS’ new report for details).

Donors have also responded with historic levels of support, reaching about $8 billion in 2009, and another $8 billion from domestic sources, including governments, businesses and individuals. And there’s more help on the way, with recent good news on a number of new HIV prevention technologies (which we’ll be blogging about tomorrow).

Still, we are really worried about donors stepping away from their commitment to universal access to HIV treatment and prevention. The slow pace of economic recovery in most donor countries, coupled with shifting political energies, signal rough times ahead in keeping the pace up.

In September, we saw the mediocre replenishment of the Global Fund. In Washington, where the biggest checks for AIDS assistance get signed, many advocates are trying to understand the impact of the recent elections on foreign assistance, and while there’s no clear answer, there aren’t many people seeing this as an opportunity to seek bold increases.

So, we have our work cut out for us. On a personal note, even after 20 years of working on AIDS, I’m optimistic about our ability to change the trajectory of the epidemic in fundamental ways, even while being practical about the funding doldrums ahead. Indeed, I don’t think we have the luxury to despair. Many, many lives depend on us sticking to our work and making and re-making the case for increased AIDS funding while pushing to make better use of what’s already being provided.

Let’s commemorate this week of World AIDS Day by remembering those that we’ve lost, taking stock of where we are and finding new ways to be a part of bringing this epidemic to an end!

Dana Perino – a Fox News contributor and former White House press secretary – has a special favor to ask in her great opinion piece on FoxNews.com. Let’s take a break from the mid-term election talk (something hard to do in DC these days) and turn our attention to helping the world’s poorest people – especially women. Here’s a quick look at what she had to say:

“I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to many places around the world and see first-hand how America’s generosity is not taken for granted, how every dollar is stretched in many of these programs to get the most out of our taxpayer dollars to help others. I believe that a focus on helping women will pay more dividends for these countries – and our world – for years to come.”

Earlier this year, Dana Perino actually traveled to Ghana and Sierra Leone with ONE, and wrote about the amazing things she learned. And to take a look at the full article from today (with some great shout-outs to ONE), click here.

Want to watch along with her? You can catch the live webcast here.

At the top of the page, don’t miss ONE’s brand new video. I was completely wowed when I first watched it (and heard Alicia Keys voice narrating the message!)- and I’m sure you will be, too. My sister is expecting her second baby boy in just a few months, and I just sent the video to her. I’m expecting a phone call soon to let me know that she added her name to our petition and that she loves the thought of a world where no child is born with HIV by 2015.

And just below the video, find all the latest and greatest on our UN MDG Summit coverage. Check out our blog posts and tweets, brush up on MDG policy news, read our new report “Africa’s Future is Female” from cover to cover. It’s one stop-shopping – all just for you!

Gotta run to the subway, but can’t wait to share this week with all of you. And let us know what you think of the new look in the comments below.