A homeless veteran in Boston asked President Obama why the US should be spending so much on foreign aid when so many Americans are hurting at home. Obama responded, “We only spend about 1 percent of our budget on foreign aid. But it pays off in a lot of ways.” It goes toward helping countries improve their economies and prevent famine, avoiding “some military crisis somewhere down the road that could be even more expensive.”

He goes on to say, “So, aside from it being the right thing to do, as a very wealthy country… it’s also important to make sure that people understand this is part of our overall security strategy.”

Listen to his quote here:

ONE members were asked last week to vote on a question on the beginning of the end of AIDS from ONE member and University of Florida student Liz, but it was not chosen for Obama’s Google+ event. We will continue to keep HIV/AIDS on the president’s radar at events like this one and beyond.

Follow the White House on Google+.

Note that the event starts at 16:20:

In addition, here’s a recap of our World AIDS Day conversation on social media:

As you all saw (either in person or via YouTube), President Obama commemorated World AIDS Day this morning by stepping up America’s commitment to the fight against AIDS, both domestically and internationally. In addition to his broad rhetoric on the importance — and feasibility — of ending AIDS, he made a number of specific commitments. The US will:

These commitments are particularly exciting because they closely mirror the three asks of ONE’s “beginning of the end of AIDS” campaign: virtually eliminate mother to child transmission of HIV, scale up treatment at a pace to meet 15 million people on treatment by 2015, and implement innovative prevention techniques (such as voluntary male circumcision) to dramatically reduce new infections. And just as we called on European and African governments to step up their efforts alongside the US, President Obama reinforced that financing the fight against AIDS should be a shared global responsibility.

In spite of a challenging budget environment, the US government will achieve their new goals with minimal new funding, in large part by saving significant resources through the following reforms:

Finally, President Obama directed $50 million in increased funding for domestic HIV/AIDS treatment and care — $35 million of which will go to state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) waiting lists, and $15 million of which will go to the Ryan White Part C program for HIV medical clinics across the US.

We are grateful for President Obama’s continued leadership on HIV/AIDS, building on the legacies of his predecessors President George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton on this issue, as we mark World AIDS Day 2011. We are also appreciative of all the advocacy work done by ONE members, (RED) supporters, and our partner organizations to push for and support such an announcement today. We still have a lot of work left to do to in this fight — we have to turn an announcement made in DC into progress in the field, and donors must scale up resources for effective mechanisms such as the Global Fund now more than ever. But today, as we take time to reflect on the devastation this pandemic has caused, we celebrate being one step closer to seeing the beginning of the end of AIDS.

Just as a refresher for those who haven’t heard much about it since then, we first reported last year that the PPD was an exciting move by the administration to elevate development as a key pillar of America’s foreign policy (along with diplomacy and defense), and that laid out clear goals and objectives for US foreign assistance. These goals were meant to direct all agencies across the US government that implement foreign assistance funding to orient around a common purpose and better coordinate to achieve sustainable development impact.

So what’s changed in the past year?? The State Department and USAID followed up the President’s announcement by releasing the first Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR) in December last year, which conducted a sweeping review of diplomacy development assistance across agencies and suggested specific reforms in order to realize the goals of the PPD. USAID, in anticipation of the PPD and the QDDR, had been already begun the process of implementing a series of reforms called USAID FORWARD that strengthened USAID’s capacity for planning and budgeting. They announced new procurement policies to give more opportunities to local partners in country, and they unveiled a new independent monitoring and evaluation policy to put a stronger focus on achieving results. The new Foreign Assistance Dashboard was a great start to improving transparency and accessibility of foreign aid resources, and will become more useful as other US agencies report and the dashboard expands to include project level information and results. USAID has also made efforts to streamline US development objectives and reduce the number of countries the US is working in, although this will need a lot more progress in the next couple of years to really focus scarce resources. All of these reforms and objectives are embodied in the new USAID Policy Framework: 2011-2015.

Where does that leave us?? Last week our friends at the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network held an event assessing PPD implementation with representatives from the State Department, USAID, Treasury, USTR, and MCC. What was perhaps most obvious from the panel is that all the different agencies of the US government that are active in foreign assistance (there were five of the 20+ agencies actually involved in foreign aid represented at the MFAN event) really are communicating better, working together, and instituting a “whole of government” approach to foreign aid. The new ‘Partnership for Growth’ initiative that has yet to be formally debuted is a great example of the US trying to create a better division of labor across agencies and a true partnership with developing countries, by changing the way development objectives are decided at the country level and how projects are managed. The true test will come however when results are eventually measured in the four pilot countries.
But the work is far from done. A glaring omission from the PPD anniversary discussion last week was how this excellent policy had translated into improved practice and greater results overseas. After all, that’s what it’s all about Good progress is evident, but many of the goals of the PPD have yet to be realized, and to be honest, it’s too soon to expect full implementation. But coordination at the highest levels of government does not necessarily translate to better coordination in the field—it remains to be seen if the reforms have taken root in US engagement in developing countries and what will lead to what’s most important—lifting people out of poverty, saving lives, and strengthening the global economy that will benefit America’s security and economic prosperity. Beyond this, creating a partnership between the executive branch and Congress is sorely needed to better communicate the positive benefits of our foreign aid, forging a politically sustainable foundation for PPD global development principles, and having a real conversation about the tradeoffs that will be necessary in an environment of almost unprecedented fiscal constraint.

What can we hope to accomplish in the next year?? We’ll be watching closely.

Today, President Obama gave his first address to the UN General Assembly today, focusing on the pursuit of peace in an imperfect world. His speech touched on the highlights of the year, including South Sudan’s independence, the Ivory Coast’s landmark election, the famine in the Horn of Africa and HIV/AIDS. Perhaps the most moving part of his speech is when he said, in plain English, “Peace is hard.” Read the full speech, watch it in the player above, or read some of our favorite excerpts here:

On the famine:
“To combat the poverty that punishes our children, we must act on the belief that freedom from want is a basic human right. The United States has made it a focus of our engagement abroad to help people to feed themselves. And today, as drought and conflict have brought famine to the Horn of Africa, our conscience calls on us to act. Together, we must continue to provide assistance, and support organizations that can reach those in need. And together, we must insist on unrestricted humanitarian access so that we can save the lives of thousands of men and women and children. Our common humanity is at stake. Let us show that the life of a child in Somalia is as precious as any other. That is what our commitment to our fellow human beings demand.”

On global health:
“To stop disease that spreads across borders, we must strengthen our system of public health. We will continue the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. We will focus on the health of mothers and of children. And we must come together to prevent, and detect, and fight every kind of biological danger — whether it’s a pandemic like H1N1, or a terrorist threat, or a treatable disease.”

On corruption:
“And to make sure our societies reach their potential, we must allow our citizens to reach theirs. No country can afford the corruption that plagues the world like a cancer. Together, we must harness the power of open societies and open economies. That’s why we’ve partnered with countries from across the globe to launch a new partnership on open government that helps ensure accountability and helps to empower citizens.”

On South Sudan:
“Think about it: One year ago, when we met here in New York, the prospect of a successful referendum in South Sudan was in doubt. But the international community overcame old divisions to support the agreement that had been negotiated to give South Sudan self-determination. And last summer, as a new flag went up in Juba, former soldiers laid down their arms, men and women wept with joy, and children finally knew the promise of looking to a future that they will shape.”

I just finished listening to the first White House Twitter Townhall — and guess what I heard? President Obama talk about the importance of smart aid! But don’t take it from me. Read what he had to say for yourself:

“I think it’s important for people to know that foreign aid accounts for less than 2% of our budget and if you define it narrowly as the kind of foreign aid to help feed people, and what we think of as classically as foreign aid, its probably closer to 1% so sometimes people have an exaggerated sense that we spend 25% of the federal budget on foreign aid. It’s a tiny amount that has a big impact. And I think America to be a leader in the world, to have influence, to help stabilize countries, create opportunity for people so that they don’t breed terrorists or create huge refugee populations flows Its smart for us to make a very modest investment in aid, it’s a forced multiplier and its something even in tough fiscal times its we need to do as part of our role as a global leader.”

A big thank you to everyone who submitted a tweet today. And don’t forget — tomorrow we’ve got another great chance to ask USAID Administrator Raj Shah some questions about youth and international development. We came up with a few tweets to help get the questions started (check them out below), but feel free to add your own!

@USAID how can we make our development efforts more cost-effective, sustainable?
@USAID how can we better connect African youth with American youth?
@USAID American aid has helped protect millions from AIDS, malaria, hunger. How can we share the good news?

@townhall How does economic growth in #Africa impact growth at home? #AskObama
@townhall Why does intl development matter in tough econ environment? #AskObama
@townhall How can trade, agric, health R&D for #Africa also benefit the US? #AskObama

I love to take short afternoon walks. My favorite route? A stroll down 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. There’s always lots of photo-flashing tourists, sign-waving protesters and Blackberry-carrying workers to check out in front of the White House gates.

I realize I’m a pretty lucky gal. Not everyone gets to see the White House (almost) every day — and you can literally feel the history oozing out of building. But next week, the White House is opening its doors to all corners of the country. They’re hosting two special opportunities that I know ONE members will love.

On Wednesday, July 6, President Obama will host the very first White House Twitter Townhall. The focus is on jobs and the economy, which might seem like a bit of a stretch—but there’s actually tons of great stuff we can ask. For instance, how can we make sure that areas of great investment opportunity — like Africa — don’t get overlooked in these tricky economic times?

So get your questions ready and start submitting them on twitter today. Don’t forget to use the hashtag#AskObama, and to get the latest updates, start following @townhall. Then head back here on Wednesday at 2 PM EST to see what President Obama has to say.

And if one exciting live chat weren’t enough, get ready to talk it up on Thursday with USAID Administrator Raj Shah. The theme for this discussion? Youth and International Development—totally up our alley. And they gave us some great questions to get things going, like how are young people changing the game when it comes to global poverty? And what should the role of the Obama administration be in tackling extreme poverty and disease? So start sending in your questions for this chat, too, and then tune in on July 7 at 1:30pm EST to join in the Q&A fun.

With uprisings in the Arab world, soaring gas prices and persistent unemployment, it seems unlikely that global health would show up anywhere on President Obama’s radar this month. And yet with our child vaccines campaign in full swing (featuring a petition asking the president to support funding for new life-saving vaccines), we have two new reasons this month to feel encouraged that the president gets the importance of our work on these issues in a very personal way.

First, we noticed an announcement by Africare that they had completed a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Project in Ghana, thanks to generous funding by a little-known donor named Barack Obama. As it turns out — apparently without much fanfare — President Obama used some of his Nobel Peace Prize money to fund new waterpoints (wells and boreholes), the rehabilitation of non-functional waterpoints, school latrines and a community-led behavior change campaign.

According to Africare, “the WASH project was implemented in four communities of the Wassa Amenfi District, where over 80 percent of people were dissatisfied with the quality of their water, 90 percent of the population shared a latrine with up to 30 other people, the incidence of diarrhea among children under five was high and knowledge of basic hygiene was limited and in some cases non-existent.” Those of you following our child vaccines campaign know that diarrhea is one of the top two killers of children under 5 across the developing world, and as we blogged about, WASH programs complement vaccination programs in efforts to reduce child deaths.

Then, in conjunction with a news item receiving slightly more attention, President Obama gave an interview to 60 Minutes about the death of Osama bin Laden. While many were fixated on the gripping details of the raid in Pakistan that led to bin Laden’s death, we were struck by another one of president’s offerings: when asked about the atmosphere in the Situation Room, he said “it was the longest 40 minutes of my life, with the possible exception of when Sasha got meningitis when she was three months old and I was waiting for the doctor to tell me that she was alright.”

For President Obama to relate such a tense moment in his presidency with his daughter’s illness conveys so clearly the emotions of millions of parents around the world when their kids are sick, and strengthens our resolve to ensure that more children are able to access the tools needed to keep them healthy. We care so strongly about improving access to vaccines because we know how horrific and common vaccine-preventable diseases can be in the developing world and how gut-wrenching their impact can be on children and their families.

From these examples and many of his other efforts (including the Global Health Initiative), we know that President Obama cares about global health and understands the importance of keeping kids and communities healthy. This June, we hope this care translates into leadership in support increased funding to help save 4 million children’s lives over the next 5 years. Doing so would represent another milestone of which his administration could feel proud.

But this talk isn’t new. Throughout government, we’ve been seeing a lot of these principles put in practice by many agencies and programs, including those working on foreign assistance. The State Department, the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have all put a premium on becoming more efficient, effective and transparent in their support for poor nations and are embracing innovative ideas to save money and make a bigger impact.

On reform, we saw a slew of new proposals and strategies for improving US foreign assistance this past year, from the President’s Policy Directive and the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, to USAID’s new FORWARD reforms. All of these aim to reorganize agencies, reduce redundancies and red tape, and focus on monitoring and evaluation of programs to guide future funding decisions. The Millennium Challenge Corporation, created by the Bush administration in 2004, has been a front runner in this field for its innovative and transparent assistance to countries, which includes diligent cost-benefit analyses, clear and measurable goals and time lines, and the capability to pull funding from those countries that don’t hold up their end of the bargain. As the impact evaluation results start coming in for completed grants (compacts agreements), we hope to see even more evidence of the success of this model.

But in addition to just changing the way the US government delivers assistance, real change for the developing world will likely stem from new ideas, fresh thinking and harnessing science and technology to improve lives. USAID has already started upgrading its Office of S&T and has created the Development Innovation Ventures fund that will invest in promising innovative development breakthroughs and help bring successful ventures to scale. According to USAID’s announcement last fall, their first grant recipients include projects aiming to improve rural solar access, create an affordable fuel cell-powered bicycle, and develop a new way to measure the effectiveness of a cellular SMS election monitoring platform in reducing election fraud in Afghanistan.

Throughout other programs, technological advances are receiving a lot of attention. In the Feed the Future initiative, the US approach to agricultural assistance includes technology innovations such as drought-tolerant crops that will increase food production and food security. And the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, with support from the US and others, recently incentivized the development of two new vaccines for two of the biggest killers of children, pneumonia and diarrhea. US support has also helped pave the way for research into new tools like microbicides for women to protect themselves against HIV.

While some of these innovations do require small amounts of additional investment up front, they are poised to save significant money in the future, as efficiencies are realized, private sector funds are leveraged and partner countries take ownership of these programs. Other reforms — like the new USAID Dashboard that shows where American tax dollars are being spent on foreign assistance — have already been implemented and just make good sense. As President Obama said, “we shouldn’t just give our people a government that’s more affordable. We should give them a government that’s more competent and more efficient.”

At a time when government programs are on the chopping block and every dollar needs to be justified, it’s important that we support those programs that are making real reforms and changing lives for millions of people around the world. By standing with the administration to elevate our development work, America has the opportunity to showcase not just its military might, but its vision and leadership for a more prosperous world and the advancement of core US national interests.

ONE has been working with this administration and Congress to do just what the president discussed. We have been advocating for the enactment of agriculture programs that will allow farmers to feed their families and communities. We have worked to create programs to provide health care and basic vaccines to those without it. And just last year, we were able to pass a new law to require companies in the extractives industry — like oil and gas — to list payments they make to foreign governments in an attempt to end the corruption in these governments.

We were also pleased that the president mentioned the United States’ support for the people of Tunis and Sudan — two countries that are experiencing upheavals in their governments. The administration’s strong support for these African nations sends a signal to their citizens and the rest of the world that the US is behind them.