This weekend, ONE members in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / St Paul, MN) region are trying something a little different in spreading the word about getting involved to help the worlds poorest people.

On Sunday November 1 from 6-7pm (Central), they will be broadcasting across community radio airwaves on KFAI’s “The Wave Project”. Active ONE members will be talking about advocacy with ONE, the issues, and sharing success stories of the governments and citizens who are successfully moving out of poverty. During the show, a ONE staff member will also join in via a call in interview to discuss a few issues in greater depth.

The show can be heard in The Twin Cities on 90.3FM. Around the world, listeners can tune into www.kfai.org and listen to a live audio stream at 6pm Central Time.

Last weekend several of us went in to the studio and recorded the commercial for the show which was a lot of fun. But more than just having a good time, we are really looking forward to engaging and informing listeners in our community who have not heard of ONE.

-The Twin Cities ONE Team

I have come to believe that great change can happen through one conversation. I have sat through endless lectures, seminars, and conferences throughout my education. But I can look back on my journey and realize that a conversation with one friend or complete stranger has left just as much of an imprint on my life. A few years back I went to a concert with my brother and best friend, and met a girl about my age with a clipboard. For the first time, I heard about the ONE campaign. She talked to us about global poverty and great despair. She left with our signature, and we were left with the responsibility that always comes with awareness. I have followed the ONE campaign through emails and have anticipated the time to work more closely with this organization.

That time came when I helped a friend put on a TOMS Shoes, Style Your Sole Event. I was first introduced to TOMS Shoes when I walked into a boutique in Orange County, CA. The simplicity and creativity of the shoe caught my eye, and the sales associate noticed. She spent the time to talk to me be about their ONE for ONE vision. She was left with a sale, and I again was left with the growing awareness and the excitement to pursue this cause further. Since then, I have organized events for TOMS with the most recent event in Whittier, California where we invited ONE to speak to others as they once spoke to me a couple years back. Invisible Children, Not for Sale, and Krochet Kids International also joined the event to advocate on behalf of others.

I have spent time talking to my friends, realizing that sometimes it takes just one conversation to alter someone’s worldview and their course of action. I believe we did that together this past weekend. I hope we continue to find ways to spread the message to others in the future.

-Dianna Grobstein, ONE Member Pasadena

This past weekend the NAACP state conference was held in Manhattan Beach. Celebrating its 100 year anniversary of ensuring social equality for African Americans and all who have faced social injustices, the NAACP pressed forward with an exciting theme: “Reflections of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.” Founded in 1909 in New York City by a group of black and white citizens committed to social justice, the National Associate for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s largest and strongest civil rights organization. Today the NAACP is a network of more than 2,200 affiliates covering all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Japan and Germany. The California State NAACP boasts 72 branches and youth units mobilized across the state to help ensure racial justice and equality.

Zephanii Smith, NAACP Youth and College Division President, invited ONE to contribute to their “CODE RED” program targeting young adults. The program featured organizations speaking to young Americans about local and global HIV/Aids. A group called “Positive Secrets” highlighted the event with a series of skits, written and directed by Melanie Curtis Andrews. The self titled play was inspired by true stories of HIV positive Americans before, during and after their HIV positive diagnosis. Through a medley of song and dance, the troop mesmerized the young audience while providing a simple message: get tested often and protect yourself always.

ONE’s message built upon this incredible performance by asking the audience to expand their knowledge of the same disease beyond their own neighborhoods. Twenty-two million Africans suffer from HIV/Aids, and while PEPFAR helped raised the number of treated patients from 50,000 to over 3 million, there are still many more people who need antiretroviral medication immediately. The young adults received ONE bands, signed up for ONE via text message, and were encouraged to visit our site to learn more about what ONE members do to advocate on behalf of others around the world.

I want to thank Zephanii Smith for recognizing the battle against HIV/Aids, while an imperative fight here at home, extends beyond our borders. With our invitation, Zephanii expressed the important role global education plays in protecting ourselves, as well as our local and global community. Make sure to check out the clip of Zephanii and other attendees.

-Roscoe Mapps, ONE Organizer, California

The Guardian: Europe offers to cut emissions 95% by 2050 if deal reached at Copenhagen
Europe attempted to reassert its international leadership in the fight against global warming today, offering to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 95% by 2050 and by 30% by 2020 if a climate change pact is sealed in Copenhagen. According to The Guardian, Britain, Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands supported this view, believing that Europe had more to gain from seizing the leadership in the run-up to Copenhagen. However, Germany and Italy were reluctant to name a figure publicly so early, believing this could weaken the European bargaining position.

New York Times: Experts Worry as Population and Hunger Grow
Scientists and development experts across the globe are racing to increase food production by 50 percent over the next two decades to feed the world’s growing population, yet many doubt their chances despite a broad consensus that enough land, water and expertise exist. Agronomists and development experts who gathered in Rome last week generally agreed that the resources and technical knowledge were available to increase food production, but are unsure whether the food can be grown in the developing world where the hungry can actually get it, at prices they can afford.

Reuters: USDA to play “modest” role in hunger plan-Shah
The U.S. Agriculture Department will play an “important but modest role” in the new U.S. plan to fight world hunger, but will take its lead from developing countries and the State Department, a senior USDA official said on Wednesday. The USDA plans to tap into its own network of scientists as well as researchers funded by grants to help developing countries on agricultural research and education. The Obama administration has said it will make food security a key plank in its foreign policy, and wants to spend $3.5 billion over three years on projects to help farmers boost food production.

Reuters: Global immunizations hit record but miss millions
Global efforts to immunize children against life-threatening diseases set a record high last year but failed to protect millions of youngsters in the world’s poorest countries, health officials said on Wednesday. A joint report by the World Health Organization, United Nations and World Bank provides a snapshot of an immunization boom that has tripled the global vaccine market to $17 billion in eight years and set off a renaissance of vaccine development aimed at AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and dengue fever.

On Saturday I joined Pennsylvania ONE Members and volunteers from RESULTS to STAND UP against poverty in Philadelphia, PA.

On top of everyone STANDING UP, our day together focused on the challenges of extreme poverty, the importance of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, and publicly urging our elected officials to support proven successful life-saving programs like the Global Fund. There was also importance placed on several advocacy related functions that everyone can participate in including writing letters to your Member of Congress.

In addition to learning more about how we can be a part of the solution, everyone was fortunate enough to listen to Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health and subject of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, speak live about what it takes to make a movement to end poverty.

People in attendance seemed inspired and ready to take an action – whether it be attending a meeting with a member of Congress or simply spreading the word to friends and colleagues about the importance of advocacy and demonstrating their commitment to fight for the poorest people in the world.

Roscoe Mapps reports from San Francisco and Berkeley; Marlaine Cover reports from San Diego; and Jim Herley Bowling reports from Ocean Park:

San Francisco Stands Up! At City Hall

[Because] “we can’t fail our conscience…”
[Because] “this is a fundamental issue along with climate change that drives the situation in the world today…”
[Because] “it’s important to note that we do have the resources to uproot poverty…”
[Because] “education is the most effective anti-poverty strategy in the world…”
[Because] “we have a President who was elected to help address the needs of the poor…”
“We are standing up today to say, ‘U.S. government, let’s address the fundamental causes, let’s address the issue of poverty…’

These were just a few powerful reasons ONE members joined the San Francisco State University International Relation Student Association, RESULTS, and the Bay Area Interfaith Millennium Development Goals Coalition to Stand Up Against Poverty on the steps of San Francisco City Hall. Standing with City Supervisors David Compos and John Avalos, those historical steps, which have often been a platform to address equality and injustices, became a background of support for those living on less than $2 a day. Check out clips from some of the passionate speakers we enjoyed during this noon event:

Berkeley Students Take Their Turn to Stand Up!

Since 2007 UC Berkeley students have had the option of pursuing a minor degree in Global Poverty and Practice. Under the Blum Center for Developing Economies, students accept the challenge of analyzing the “ethics of global citizenship” and increasing the role their generation has assumed in seeing an end to poverty in our lifetime. With their infamous passion, ONE by ONE, student leaders educated their peers on the purpose and the promise of the Millennium Development Goals. Joined by Professor Ananya Roy and CEO of Back to Earth Ari Derfel, over 130 students and community members attended. Afterward, Sara, an OCC leader, tabled for ONE next to other organizations who stood up that day. Berkeley, an institution known for its students of extraordinary leadership and conviction has once again set the bar for their community to get involved, speak out, and help make the case against poverty.

San Diego Stands Up!

On Sunday ONE San Diego hosted their fourth STAND UP San Diego event at Grape Day Park in Escondido. To underscore their theme of “Taking Humanity to Whole New Heights”, ONE organizers treated participants to kite making and music, and added 203 people to the global Stand Up total.






Church in Ocean Park Stands Up and Holds ONE Sabbath

This past Sunday in Santa Monica, the Church in Ocean Park had a wonderful ONE Sabbath and Stand Up Against Poverty event led by our congregation’s young people. We sang, danced, read the Millennium Development Goals, and announced our follow-up action to Stand Up: the Fall Fancy Dress Ball on Friday, October 30 to raise money for life-saving bednets purchased by the Against Malaria Foundation.

At the end of the service, we ended as we always do–holding hands in a circle. It was our moment to Stand Up with so many others around the globe, to be counted in the fight against global poverty.

New York ONE Members added their voice to those standing up against poverty on Friday, highlighting World Food Day and the Millennium Development Goals.

ONE was joined for the New York City Stand Up event by MercyCorps, a global relief and development organization, and Anita Sharma, North American Coordinator of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. Standing with people from around the world on this day, it was great to see those at the local level also coming together to combat the challenges of extreme poverty.

-Christopher Geer, ONE Field Organizer

St. John Neumann’s Catholic Church in Reston, VA took a stand against poverty this past Sunday – in two different languages!

Hundreds of parishioners read the Stand Up Pledge after the morning Mass in English and then en español after the Spanish Mass in the afternoon. This bilingual action reflects the diversity of people coming together as one in the fight against poverty in this country and around the world. Erin Tunney and Damian Gullo coordinated the events at St. John Neumann’s to stand with millions of people worldwide who are committed to realizing the Millennium Development Goals.

-Lauren Conn

Recently, PA ONE Members held a “Call Party” to engage our Senators. A number of important pieces of legislation are currently being considered and PA ONE Members made sure their voices and concerns were heard! The calls were in reference to cosponsoring the following:

• S. 1524, the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009 introduced by Senator Kerry and Senator Lugar. S. 1524 would strengthen the capacity, transparency, and accountability of United States foreign assistance programs to effectively adapt and respond to new challenges of the 21st century. Please urge your Members of Congress to do so here

.

• S. 624, the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009. S. 624, known simply as the Senate Water bill would provide 100,000,000 people with first-time access to safe drinking water and sanitation on a sustainable basis by 2015 by improving the capacity of the United States Government to fully implement the Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005. You can add your voice here.

PA ONE Members also asked their Senators to ensure the world’s poorest people are able to confront the new challenges of climate change. You can urge your Senator to do the same by clicking here.

“Call Parties” are a good way for ONE Members to get together and let their elected officials know that their constituents care about these issues. Way to go PA ONE Members!

-Brian Sweeney

Today is World Food Day—a day established by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1979 to raise awareness about the issue of hunger and food insecurity worldwide. Below are some relevant news clips, including an op-ed from Secretary of State Clinton.

To learn more, check out our Food Security in Focus hot topic. And remember, not just today, but every day, there are over one billion people around the world suffering from hunger and food insecurity.

The Guardian—Seeding a safer world (op-ed by Hillary Clinton)
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton writes about hunger and food security in the developing world in today’s Guardian. She writes, “The Obama administration sees chronic hunger as a key priority of our foreign policy. Chronic hunger threatens individuals, governments, societies, and borders. We know that development works best when it is seen as investment, not aid. Revitalizing global agriculture will not be easy. But it can be done. It is worth doing. And if we succeed, our future will be more prosperous and more peaceful than our past.”

Financial Times—Gates’ charity to focus on food security
In a speech yesterday, Bill Gates put the focus of his multi-billion-dollar foundation firmly on food security, saying that making poor farmers more productive will have a “massive impact” on hunger. “Helping the poorest smallholder farmers grow more crops and get them to market is the world’s single most powerful lever for reducing hunger,” Gates said as he announced $120 million in one-off grants for research and development. While the foundation has already provided $1.4 billion to food security projects, the new grants and Mr. Gates’s speech point to a bigger prominence for agriculture, the Financial Times writes.

Washington Post—Gates’s Fields of Dreams (op-ed by Michael Gerson)
Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson writes about the Gates Foundation’s focus on agricultural investment. Gerson writes, “Approximately three-quarters of Africans are employed in agriculture, but about 30 percent of people on the continent suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Over the next few decades, African farmers will need to feed a growing population without expanding into ecologically important lands, while adapting to climate disruptions that make drought, pests and floods more common. They will need Gates’s help, and more.”

L.A. Times—Hunger breeds violence (op-ed by Sandy Berger)
Former U.S. National Security Advisor Sandy Berger connects the fight against hunger to the fight against terrorism and extremism in an op-ed in today’s L.A. Times. He writes, “Every six seconds a child dies of hunger. Those who don’t die face a childhood of worry and desperation. Many of them end up foraging in the streets or garbage heaps, where they are prime targets for recruitment by extremist groups or other criminal organizations. That is simply not acceptable when most live in a world of plenty.”

Wall Street Journal—Starving for Freedom (op-ed by Julian Morris)
An opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal offers a slightly different perspective on food security, arguing that much of the blame for famine and hunger is due to trade restrictions, not climate change or a lack of Western aid. Julian Morris writes, “Instead of carping about climate change and more aid, the World Bank, Western governments and all those charities in Africa should learn the lessons from one of this year’s economics Nobel laureates. (Their) work emphasizes the need for markets and institutions to be built from the bottom up, without interference from higher levels of government.”

Other news:

Financial Times—Affluent Africa
The Financial Times looks at the growing class of powerful African businessmen and women that has emerged in the past decade thanks to increased money being invested domestically on the continent. The Times writes that mobile phone entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim personifies this trend; his company and others proved it was possible to build a business on a regional scale that could be profitable providing services and connecting the lives of the rich and poor, a new step in the emergence of African entrepreneurs on to the world stage.

Reuters—Poor states seek cotton safety net due to slump
The world’s poorest countries on Friday urged other World Trade Organization members to set up a safety net for cotton producers in poor nations, to help address losses arising from the world economic slump. Trade Ministers from some 30 members of the Least Developed Countries also asked for quick action on removing trade-distorting subsidies and duty- and quota-free market access to cotton and cotton by-products from poor countries.