ONE Bus Tour
I thought I should share some inside skinny on the week we spent in New York September 22-26 at the UN’s special summit on the Millennium Development Goals. We went there to try to attract some attention to – indeed celebrate – the efforts against extreme poverty in recent years, and to call for an acceleration of that progress.
Bono was frantically blogging for the Financial Times in every spare second throughout the week on his way to and from meetings with various leaders. The meetings were many: with Spanish President Zapatero to plan for their E.U. presidency in 2010; with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia to discuss their remaining private commercial debt (think that’s sorted now); with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to push on the overall Millennium Goals project; and with President Sarkozy of France and President Barroso of the EU to push Europe on delivering an extra billion euros from the EU budget to fight hunger and invest in agricultural productivity in Africa. Bob Geldof arrived a few days into the melee and participated on the opening panel of the Clinton Global Initiative, popped up on CNN, and met with Mayor Bloomberg, Bill Gates and others along the way.
One highlight was unveiling our “Celebrate Accelerate” video to a crowd of activists and leaders (including Bill Gates, Bob Geldof, Jeff Sachs) honoring the “quietest storm in town”: the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Another, was dropping in on the “In My Name” launch where we regrouped with will.i.am and other activist allies.
An important part of the week was passing over ONE members’ hunger petition, with 50,000 signers, to Bob Orr, the Assistant Secretary General. The petition targets Ban Ki-moon, and all the G8 leaders, asking them to finance the current $1 billion gap in worldwide agricultural financing.
In addition to all of this, Kim Smith and a team of staff and volunteers brought the ONE Bus to town and, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, parked it in some highly visible locations in the city.
By September 26th, it was clear it had been a decent week. In total there were $16 billion worth of commitments, some old, and some new, focused largely on building upon success to get more kids in school; eliminating malaria deaths by 2015 (yes, that’s got chutzpah – but by acting together it can be done); and renewing efforts against maternal mortality and hunger.
By investing in the fight against extreme poverty we can create new and stable markets where currently there are none; build strong global growth engines that can keep the global economy going when some of us falter; ensure strong health systems; and ensure that other’s instability doesn’t become ours. Above all – because it’s morally the right thing to do.
So now this piece of the campaign goes on to upcoming votes in Brussels on agriculture funding, and a key meeting about financing for development that is happening in Doha, Qatar, in the Middle East, at the end of November. We’ll keep you updated on both.
-Jamie Drummond
Oct 17th, 2008 11:54 AM UTC
By Field
The ONE Bus recently wrapped up a great tour through Ohio. The bus’ first Ohio stop was this past Saturday when it joined a OSU Buckeye football tailgate. Our tailgating neighbors were very enthusiastic about ONE and it wasn’t long before scores of students were standing in front of the ONE Bus cheering, “Buckeyes for ONE!” The event was incredibly successful in signing up hundreds of new ONE members and aising our profile.
The last Ohio stop was Monday and also at OSU, except this time parked right on campus. ONE Vote ’08 State Co-Chairmen and former Congressman John Kasich joined the bus, talked about global poverty and signed up new members. The bus was even greeted by McCain and Obama Ohio campaign staff, who came out to show their support for ONE.
-Megan Schweizer
Check out this great article about Megan’s adventures aboard the ONE Bus that ran in yesterday’s Bowling Green Daily News. As you know, Megan’s been travelling with the ONE Bus for some time now, and will be rolling through Ohio this weekend after spending some time in Kentucky.
Be sure to check out our ONE Bus page for the details and send Megan good vibes while she’s out there on the road spreading the word about our fight against extreme poverty and disease.
Excerpts below, full piece here
After learning about the One Campaign organization three years ago at the University of Louisville, Schweizer became an active member in spreading the word to politicians on issues such as extreme poverty and global health.
This year, Schweizer “jumped on the bus,” and joined several others across the country in touring the United States in an 18-wheeler to remind future leaders of the country about issues that could impact the world.
Schweizer said the bus has definitely made an impact on the presidential candidates, as One’s causes are something “they can both agree on.”
-Chris Scott
Oct 6th, 2008 10:24 AM UTC
By Field
Move over Washington University! You may have had vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden in St. Louis for the debate, but ONE Webster had the ONE Campaign Tour Bus! Sporting a giant ONE logo and blasting great music, the ONE Campaign tour bus attracted students as we tabled throughout the day to promote our vice presidential debate watch party that evening.
Not only did we have the bus, but former Missouri Governor Bob Holden put on a pre-debate analysis with a panel of experts from universities across St. Louis. We packed Webster’s Sunnen Lounge with 170 people. After the chairs ran out, people piled in around the sides and back.
I figured the current economic crisis would dominate the debate, but I wanted [ONE to be there to] make sure everyone remembered those who have been living in an economic crisis their entire lives.
Thank you to all of the ONE Webster volunteers and our co-sponsors: Holden Public Policy Forum, Webster Rock the Vote, College Republicans and College Democrats.
-Nick Stevens, ONE Webster President and OCC COA
Sep 24th, 2008 3:19 PM UTC
By Field
The ONE bus rolled onto the campus of George Washington University on a crisp morning last Thursday, September 18th. With the bus parked on a highly trafficked street between GW dormitories and the Lerner Auditorium, a day of recruiting for the ONE Campaign began!
The GW ONE campus chapter was out in full force, supplying energetic volunteers and free pizza to entice passersby to step up to the table. Students handed out wristbands, water bottles, and leaflets encouraging people to join ONE in fighting to make global poverty a top priority in the upcoming election. From GW students and faculty, to campus police and local coffee vendors, the response was huge. Nearly 600 people signed the ONE Declaration and put on a white wristband for the first time!
-Paige Engebretson, ONE Intern
For the weekend of September 20th and 21st the ONE Bus took the Big Apple by storm! New York City was hosting a week of meetings surrounding the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and ONE decided to get a head start on the meetings and hit the streets to get the word out about the fight for the world’s poorest people.
On Saturday we were on Fifth Avenue and 58th street and on Sunday we were right on Broadway and 52nd Street- both proved to be great locations with lots of people to talk with about ONE and the MDG’s.
-Kim Smith
On September 19th the ONE bus rolled onto the historic College of William & Mary to get their students more involved in the fight against extreme poverty around the world! Lauren Conn our PA Field Organizer is an alumnus and hooked us up with the campus Rotaract club who sponsored our visit.
It was a beautiful day and the bus set up shop right in the middle of campus to recruit new members to ONE as students made their way to class. We had tons of volunteers come out to help us man the bus while we blasted music, gave out ONE stuff and let students know what they could do to help in the fight for the world’s poorest people. All in all it was a great stop for the bus where we recruited 220 new members to ONE in two hours- not bad for a lunch break!
-Megan Schweizer, ONE Bus Staff
