Bill and Melinda touched upon several issues during their presentation, including agriculture, immunization, GAVI and corruption. No matter the subject, there was one thing in common — they had hard facts to prove that these issues were getting better for millions of people in the poorest places in the world. TB deaths, for example, are declining globally, down from 1.8 million deaths in 2007 to 1.3 million in 2008. Nearly 4 million Africans have been placed on treatment for AIDS since 2002. And 98 million less people are going hungry in 2010 compared to in 2009. These things could not have been done without the assistance of foreign aid. “When money is spent wisely…it builds prosperous societies,” said Melinda.

Dr. Zewdie’s talk focused on breaking the three most common misconceptions of aid. “As an African, I can tell you that the people who receive aid are the first ones to strive for sustainability,” she said.

The bottom line of the event? Investments in global health and development are saving lives, improving livelihoods and building prosperous societies — but in order to understand that, people need to talk about all the progress that we’ve made in the developing world. If Bill and Melinda can do it, you can too.

Check out videos and photos on our new Living Proof page and watch a rerun of our webcast on our Livestream page or in the video above. And of course, let us know what you thought of the event in the comments below!

It’s easy to think that nothing is changing in the poorest parts of the world — that no progress is being made.

But the truth is, there has been real and dramatic change, especially over the past decade. Millions of lives have been saved, and millions of people have been given the tools — both physically and mentally — to build a better future. Unfortunately, this message doesn’t always get out.

That’s why Bill and Melinda Gates are determined to tell the world that yes, things are changing for the better — and by focusing on successes in the fight against global poverty, we can galvanize support, energize activists and most importantly, inspire action. In fact, they’re so passionate about it that they started Living Proof, a campaign to prove that aid is working.

On Monday, Bill and Melinda Gates will be celebrating the official launch of this campaign at ONE’s Living Proof event in London.

The best part? Everyone all over the world – not just people from the UK – can join and participate in the discussion. We’ll be hosting a live webcast of their presentation, on our Facebook page, and viewers will be able to chat with each other on the issue, too.

The event takes place on October 18, 2:30 EST, and be sure to RSVP for the event on Facebook. It’s about an hour or so long — so feel free to watch the whole thing, drop by or leave a comment or two.

I’ll be live-blogging from the event, so don’t forget to check the blog for real-time analysis and commentary.

As part of the launch, Bill and Melinda Gates will answer questions submitted exclusively by ONE members – from what motivated them to join the fight against extreme poverty to why they are impatiently optimistic about the future. This is your chance to join the debate.

Please take a moment to submit your question and vote on those added so far.

We know that there are major challenges now and in the road ahead but this does not mean that the good news shouldn’t be shared. Millions of lives have been saved and millions more people given the tools to build a better future.

Please join us in getting this important message out there.

Real lives. Real progress. Living Proof.

I’ve been looking through responses to TEDxChange and want to explain why we tell success stories.

It’s easy to think that nothing is changing in the poorest parts of the world, that no progress is being made. But the facts show there has been real and dramatic progress – whether it’s the declining number of child deaths globally, the advances made against AIDS, or the halving of malaria deaths in several countries – especially over the past decade.

I believe that sharing stories of success is one of the most important things we can do to motivate and inspire governments, partners and individuals to support investing in effective development aid.

When Bill and I travel, we have been deeply touched by personal stories of lives changed for the better. We see great things happening on the ground – lives being saved, diseases prevented, and people lifting themselves and their communities out of poverty.

That’s why I’m sharing stories through events like TEDxChange, and also through the upcoming Living Proof event on October 18th. Together with our partners, we want to get these stories out and inform the conversation around global health and development investments.

Living Proof is about telling the real story of the incredible progress being achieved by people in developing countries, backed by the support of governments like ours.

With Living Proof, we’re asking people to celebrate – and share – the stories of those who are achieving success. Bill and I will be sharing more about Living Proof in the next couple of weeks.

Real lives. Real progress. Living Proof.

This week, Melinda French Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is blogging about the MDGs in advance of their TEDxChange event, which looks into the future of global health and development.

So far, she has posted three fantastic pieces on breastfeeding, malaria and immunization. As always, her blog posts are filled with personal stories, interesting facts and figures and a refreshing sense of optimism.

Take a look at her posts on the Foundation Blog and be sure to leave a comment. Keeping the conversation going on important global health issues like these will help ensure that extreme poverty is at the forefront of our minds.

You might recall last October, Melinda Gates talked a bit about rotavirus in the Gates’ “Impatient Optimists” presentation:

Today she took to the Foundation Blog to write a bit more about the disease:

Knowing that we have simple, cost-effective ways to prevent something that rarely kills children in the developed world breaks my heart.

Let’s face it – no one likes talking about diarrhea. But we should be doing just that because we have the opportunity to save 4,000 children’s lives every day by preventing diarrhea-related illnesses. We have the tools to combat diarrheal disease and the fatal dehydration it can cause – and it’s my goal to see them used in much higher numbers than they are today.

While deaths from diarrhea have decreased globally due to vaccines, antibiotics, oral rehydration therapy, and improved water and sanitation, diarrheal diseases remain the second-leading cause of childhood death. Each year, diarrhea causes more than 1.5 million deaths in children under 5—nearly all of whom live in low-income countries.

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrheal disease in children worldwide and is responsible for the deaths of more than 500,000 children each year. The rotavirus vaccine, common in the US and other developed countries, has been introduced in a few developing countries, and we hope that it will soon be available in many more.

Today, I’ve had the privilege of attending the Women Deliver Conference in DC alongside over 3,500 delegates from 140 countries. In just the few first hours of the conference, I’ve heard messages from a number of inspiring global leaders and health experts—from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Secretary Clinton to friends of ONE, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Yvonne Chaka Chaka—all of whom spoke with intelligence and conviction about the power of women and the need to catalyze new momentum towards the achievement of MDGs 4 and 5.

But nothing spurs excitement in the midst of 3 days of speeches and panels quite like cold, hard cash-and Melinda Gates announced today that the Gates Foundation is committing $1.5 billion over the next five years to support family planning, maternal and child health, and nutrition programs in developing countries. That’s in addition to the $10 billion the Foundation just recently pledged to catalyze what they call the “Decade of Vaccines.” Talk about putting your money where your mouth is!

In the lead-up to her big announcement, Melinda spoke about her recent visit to India, where she witnessed the joyous birth of a healthy baby girl, Durga. She talked about the overwhelming sense of hope she felt, and even recalled the birth of her own three children (something she rarely discusses), but then reminded us that for too many women around the world, childbirth is a time of pain, fear, and sorrow. Then, she transitioned and reminded us that progress is also possible. On another stop in her enviable travel schedule, Melinda traveled to Malawi in January – a country that for decades languished behind others and had some of the world’s worst maternal and child mortality rates. Thanks to a combination of renewed political will and investments in immunizations and health workers, Malawi has seen a precipitous drop in the number of children that die each year, and is now on track to achieve MDG 4. Indeed, we have living proof that investments in maternal and child health are working and are saving lives.

As much as we might like to think that $1.5 billion will solve the problem, it won’t — in fact, many estimate we will need at least $12 billion annually to really “solve” needless maternal and child deaths. But the Gates Foundation’s latest commitment should lay the groundwork for the world’s biggest economies this summer as they meet in Canada to discuss—and, we hope, robustly fund—a maternal and child health initiative so that at the next Women Deliver Conference three years from now, we have more stories like Durga’s to propel us forward with hope.

Specifically, these grants will include training frontline health care workers, introducing low-cost, effective interventions to stem newborn infections and treat birth complications, and educating mothers about simple lifesaving practices like keeping newborns warm with their body heat.

Below is an excerpt from her remarkable speech:

Today, we are committing to make new grants totaling $1.5 billion over the next five years to support family planning, maternal and child health, and nutrition programs in developing countries.
This new pledge will complement our spending in other areas that affect women’s and children’s health, such as developing and delivering children’s vaccines, and preventing pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, and HIV/AIDS.

I’m also making women’s and children’s health my personal priority as co-chair of the Gates Foundation.

My commitment to you is that I will continue to talk to leaders in rich countries about making funding pledges and following through on them. I will continue to talk to leaders in poor countries about making women and children a policy priority.

We will continue having this conversation about the work we’re doing together. We hold the future in our hands.

ONE’s Erin Hohlfelder is at the actual conference with Melinda now and will report back more soon.

It was really an honor to get to hear firsthand from Melinda and Melanne about why they’ve personally become engaged on these issues and to hear about steps they’re taking through the Gates Foundation and the U.S. government to address them. During the call, more than 4,000 ONE members from all over the country had the chance to ask questions directly and to participate in real time via a live Facebook feed. We got some great comments and questions. In case you missed the call, you can listen to it in full below.

Full call:

Melinda Gates:

Ambassador Melanne Verveer:

Erin Thornton:

PS- During the call, I mentioned a petition ONE members can sign right now, encouraging our senators to sign on to a letter calling for the Senate Budget Committee to uphold President Obama’s $58.5 billion International Affairs Budget. You can add your voice here.

If you didn’t get a chance to RSVP, no worries. I’ve posted the call-in info below. We’re set to begin at 7:30 PM EST. Talk to you then!

Participant dial in: 877-269-7289
Pin: 15195
Code: 11