We here at ONE New York were proud to have the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) join us in our visit to Washington, D.C., for lobby day and for a special leadership briefing at the White House.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has been a strong advocate for children’s health domestically and globally. Their new alliance with ONE has strengthened the cause to ensure that voices of children in need worldwide are heard loud and clear.

Our joint DC visit started on Thursday, Dec 8th with our diverse ONE member delegation of Dr. Louis Cooper, former president of AAP and professor emeritus at Columbia University; Dr. Tom McInerny, president-elect of AAP; and Alexandra Tung, Alexia Mascall and Steve Gallucci of the Truman National Security Project.

We spoke with staff from the offices of Rep. Nita Lowey, who has been a long-time supporter of ONE, Rep. Louis Slaughter, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Rep. Yvette Clark, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, and Sen. Charles Schumer.

We thanked each Congress member for being an active supporter of ONE issues, but urged them to continue their support for protecting the less than 1 percent allocated from the GDP for foreign aid in the coming years. We asked them to specifically support:

1. GAVI’s vaccination program for pneumonia and diarrhea which has killed more children than HIV/AIDS/Malaria combined,
2. Long term investment of agricultural development programs via Feed the Future, and
3. Global Fund and PEPFAR to ensure no child is born with HIV/AIDS by 2015.

On Friday, Dec 9th, we had the chance to see the White House in its holiday form. Each room and hallway was beautifully decorated for the season. We were fortunate this year the White House allowed us the rare opportunity to bring cameras to capture our memories.

After the tour at the White House, we went to the Eisenhower Executive Building to hear informative briefings from our government leaders such as Jon Carson, deputy assistant to the president and director at the Office of Public Engagement; Aaron Williams, director of the Peace Corps; Gayle Smith, senior director for Development and Democracy, National Security Staff; Paul Weisenfeld, assistant to the administrator, Bureau for Food Security; Tom Gavin, White House Communications cabinet member, Media Relations and former ONE staffer.

Each speaker went over valuable educational points related to their respective agencies and thanked our efforts in working persistently and consistently on protecting foreign aid.

Thank you to the White House and ONE staff for making this memorable opportunity possible!

New York area ONE members gathered recently with Rep. Nita Lowey, meeting with her at her White Plains office. The meeting gave us a great opportunity to encourage Rep. Lowey to support global health and poverty funding in the face of increasingly intense pressure to scale back foreign aid. It was exciting to see Rep. Lowey again in person and hear as she spoke about her appreciation for the work that ONE is doing, and the role of advocacy in ensuring that development assistance continues to be effective.

Sharing with her the need for the protection of funding for programs like GAVI, Feed the Future, the Global Fund, PEPFAR and the Global Partnership for Education in the FY12 budget, Rep. Lowey was overwhelmingly positive and expressed her support for the full funding of these priorities. Rep. Lowey also encouraged us to continue working and fighting, reminding us of the huge difference grassroots efforts can make in influencing key decisions in Congress.

We look forward to continuing to work with Rep. Lowey and fight alongside her for the world’s poorest people!

-Ruby Thomas, ONE member

ONE members, if you live in the greater New York City area, this event may be of interest to you. Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organization that works to end extreme poverty, is hosting a spring run this Saturday, April 9th at 9:30 AM in Central Park. The four-mile run/walk will support Concern’s programs in 25 of the poorest countries around the globe.

Miss New York 2011, Nency Escamilla, will be at the event to help call attention to the plight of the global poor as well as introduce her personal charity, “Uplifting Heroes,” which supports US troops on active duty around the world through community mobilization.

Register for the event on Concern’s website and join hundreds of other poverty-fighters just like you. And don’t forget to join the after party at the East End Bar post-run!

This summer, our group of teens from three Brooklyn neighborhoods served in the poverty-stricken South African shantytowns of Diepsloot and Soweto, helping orphaned and vulnerable children and granny-led households. While some may feel like the fight against AIDS is too big to overcome, tomorrow I plan on standing on the steps of the Brooklyn Borough Hall to turn it (RED) and help raise awareness of a very real, exciting and attainable goal in the fight against this disease: virtually eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV within five years.

This lighting marks the launch of (RED)’s campaign “An AIDS Free Generation is Due in 2015,” which includes more than 80 landmarks in more than 13 countries turning (RED). What makes this lighting ceremony particularly special and unique is that it is being led by the Journey for Change Ambassadors themselves, who range in age from 12 to 17.

And as residents of Brooklyn and citizens of the world, they will not only advocate on behalf of (RED) but will also launch the “Brooklyn Knows Project” to encourage every Brooklynite to get tested and know their status.

It is incredible to think that the first AIDS-free generation in nearly 30 years is within our reach. There is treatment that exists to reduce a mother’s chance of transmitting this disease to her child from around 40 percent to less than 1 percent. Still, global citizens, governments and businesses all have more work to do. Just half of the women who need this treatment have access today, and every day, more than 1,000 children are born with HIV.

Almost 90 percent of those children are born in Africa — the region hardest hit by this disease — and new infections have negative impacts on children’s health, their families, their communities and their opportunities. And even here at home, we still have work to do. Brooklyn is home to more than 7 percent of this country’s children who are living with HIV.

If we can ensure that all pregnant women are tested for HIV and — if found to be positive — have access to treatment to control their disease and prevent transmission to their babies, we can create an entire generation of healthy children and stronger families. I am proud to join the Journey for Change Global Ambassadors tomorrow to advocate for “An Aids Free Generation is Due in 2015.”

To learn more, watch ONE’s new PSA and help turn the world (RED) at WWW.JOINRED.COM. For more information on Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, visit www.angelrockproject.org.

Malaak Compton-Rock is founder and director of Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service and author of the book “If It Takes A Village, Build One: How I Found Meaning Through A Life of Service and 100+ Ways That You Can Too.

Last week on election night, one of our congressional champions, Representative Nita Lowey, won her seat for the 18th District of New York. At her celebration night party, ONE was there to thank her for her leadership on behalf of the world’s poorest people and remind her of our hopes that Congress will provide at least $1.3 billion to support smart agricultural programs.

For years, Rep. Lowey fought hard for the world’s poorest people on a variety of important issues like global HIV/AIDS, extreme poverty and basic primary education. Her supportive voice, matched only by her bold actions as the chairwoman of the State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee, have provided much needed funds to alleviate dire poverty and human suffering all over the world.

At her election party on Tuesday night, even though it was jam-packed, I spoke briefly with her and asked her to continue her strong leadership after the elections were over during the possible CR process to fight for the $1.3 billion for global agricultural efforts in Africa.

She was as supportive as ever, but she also reminded us that more political support is needed in the Congress to make sure that we hit our target. Our ONE members are doing their best to let our elected officials know about this issue. In fact, a group of members spoke with Senator Pat Leahy, her Senate counterpart, in Vermont last week about our agriculture efforts.

I cannot thank Congresswoman Lowey enough for all her efforts throughout the years. But now, more than ever, we need her and all of our elected leaders, to continue America’s leading role in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease to build a better, safer world for us all.

Congratulations, Rep. Lowey on your win, and we look forward to working with you on achieving our goals of eliminating global poverty.

You can help farmers around the world earn their way out of poverty for the long term by committing $1.3 billion to smart agriculture programs. Sign your name to our petition today.

-Ruby Thomas, ONE member, New York

New York City ONE members were in fine form today as they showed up bright and early to be in the audience at NBC’s “Today” show.

Wearing ONE shirts and holding signs highlighting the issues of global poverty, more than two dozen ONE members joined together for a chance to get on camera during the show. These ONE members got up at the crack of dawn to come to New York City as part of ONE’s efforts around the U.N. Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), set to take place next week.

We’ll continue working on the ground in New York City through Wednesday, Sept. 22. and will be at the “Today” show every day from 6:30 AM to 9 AM. This is a great opportunity to draw attention to the MDGs and build our outreach in the New York region. Come out and join us:

- Christopher Geer, ONE regional field director

Already, New Hampshire ONE members are taking action to ensure that our elected leaders know that with continued leadership, our nation can help save millions of lives in the developing world.

The other day, ONE member Trey Schaft was at work when New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch came to visit. Trey, fresh off his engagement with New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg was able to speak briefly with Gov. Lynch and thanked him for his past support of ONE.

Gov. Lynch has already made New Hampshire a ONE State, and even spoke at our ONE event with the African Children’s Choir at the New Hampshire State House. Gov. Lynch was complimentary and supportive of our bipartisan efforts and took time to take a photo with Trey – who of course, was wearing his ONE band – and with New Hampshire state Sen. Bob Odell as well as Kate Managan who also is a ONE member!

And this past Tuesday, ONE member Jason Bloxham attended an Americans for Prosperity event in Exeter and wore his ONE shirt. He was able to speak with many of the Senate candidates, and took time to snap a quick photo with Jim Bender, who put the photo on his Senate campaign Facebook page!

All over New Hampshire and across America, ONE members are letting our elected leaders know that US efforts in Africa are helping to end deaths from malaria, turn the tide against HIV/AIDS and help fight corruption in the poorest places on earth. Good people from all backgrounds, faiths and political parties are uniting to ensure that America stands tall with those in Africa who struggle to overcome extreme poverty.

Be sure to connect with other ONE Vote 2010 New Hampshire members on Facebook and Twitter.

On Thursday, February 11 in NYC, don’t miss the chance to see an exclusive sneak peek of CARE’s 2010 International Women’s Day star-studded event, Half the Sky LIVE.

Inspired by moving stories from the critically-acclaimed book “Half the Sky” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky LIVE will feature an uplifting night of music, celebrity discussion and the world premiere of “Woinshet,” a powerful short film directed by Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. The film chronicles the struggles of an Ethiopian woman who triumphs over violence and discrimination. Half the Sky LIVE will also feature appearances by India.Arie, Maria Bello, Michael Franti, Dr. Helene Gayle of CARE, Angelique Kidjo, Nicholas Kristof, Andrea Mitchell, Marisa Tomei, Sarah, Duchess of York, Melanne Verveer, Sheryl WuDunn and other notables.

Half the Sky LIVE will take place at 7:30 pm at NYU’s Skirball Center (566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South). Ticket price is $25—and tickets are limited, so click here to purchase your ticket today.

We look forward to seeing you! And if you can’t make it on February 11, Half the Sky LIVE will screen on March 4 at 7:30pm in theatres nationwide (including NYC). For more information, visit www.halftheskylive.com and check out the trailer below:

-Stephanie Libby, CARE

I can’t wait to keep this conversation going and to expand and develop ONE’s outreach and voice in New York and the surrounding area.

Thanks again to everyone that attended – especially our great group of volunteers who helped throughout the day. Be sure to join the New York or New Jersey Facebook pages as we continue to build our presence here. Below are a couple videos of New York ONE Members talking about why they got involved with ONE. Thanks again ONE New York!

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