Have a minute? Right now, thousands of people are tweeting directly at President Obama, asking him to commit $6 billion over the next 3 years to the Global Fund. It’s not every day we get a chance to tweet about something that really matters– but this is one of those days. In just over an hour, the White House has gotten 400 tweets in support of the Global Fund. Every tweet counts right now– we need you to join us.
If you’re not on Twitter, don’t fear! You probably know someone who does, so just forward this blog post on to them. One tweet might not make a huge difference, but if we organize around this moment we can be sure our voices are heard.
U.S. Will Give Mozambique $1 Billion to Fight HIV – The U.S. says it will provide $1 billion over the next five years to help fight AIDS in Mozambique, including strengthening the country’s health system and improving access to treatment. The goal is for the government, aid groups, and private sector to harmonize their efforts to combat HIV and AIDS. (VOA) Pay attention to West African food crisis, says ambassador – U.S. ambassador Robin Renee Sanders argues that the international donor community needs to keep the food security situation in West Africa front and center so as to ensure that all vulnerable people have access to affordable, nutritional commodities to avoid any later crises. (Huffington Post)
Flying to the aid of Africans fighting illness – Journalist Caitlin Gibson interviews Johnathan Miller, founder of the Airborne Lifeline Foundation, a fleet of eight planes dedicated to transporting medical specialists and supplies to remote corners of Botswana to help villages combat HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. (The Washington Post)
South Africa wants to join BRIC nations – South Africa wants to be considered among the leaders of the developing world along with Brazil, Russia, India and China, its president said, pushing for his country to be the first African member of the informal group that has growing global influence. (AP)
New corn varieties could combat famine during drought – A recent study has found new breeds of “drought-tolerant” corn that could help farmers fight the effects of drought and provide food in periods of low rainfall, with the potential to save consumers more than $500 million in drought related price increases by 2016. (Michael Onyiego, VOA)
Merck provides new funding to fight HIV/AIDS in Botswana – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has partnered with pharmaceutical giant Merck to provide $60 million over the next five years to fight HIV/AIDS in Botswana, which has the second-highest rate of HIV/AIDS infection in the world. (Byron Butler, The Daily Tell)
U.S. charges 14 with giving support to Somali insurgent group – Federal authorities charged 14 people accused of providing funding and recruits to a militant group in Somalia with ties to al-Qaeda. Last month, the group claimed responsibility for bombings in Uganda that killed at least 76 people. (Greg Miller, Washington Post)
White House Party for Africa Leaves Out Leaders – President Obama celebrated the 50th anniversaries of 17 African nations, but he did not invite a single African leader to the forum. The State Department denies accusations that the President refuses to celebrate with corrupt leaders, noting that American officials have met with African leaders in other settings. (Adam Nossiter, NY Times)
President Paul Kagame under scrutiny – Despite Rwanda’s election marred by murder, censorship and meaningful opposition, Paul Kagame, the incumbent, is set to win 90% of the vote. Kagame is trying to focus on his past achievements – food security, record harvests, women empowerment, and the strengthening of government institutions. (The Economist)
Young Africans Seek U.S. Partnership to Boost Democracy and Development – AllAfrica.com reports on this week’s White House forum celebrating leading young Africans. “I don’t see Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world,” Obama said at the forum. (Saratu Abiola and Carine Umuhumuza, AllAfrica.com)
This week, President Obama hosted the Young African Leaders forum here in Washington, D.C. The forum brought together 120 dynamic individuals from more than 40 countries in an effort to forge strong, forward-looking partnerships across the continent and with the United States.
President Obama’s town hall speech at the White House
The goal was to allow the participants along with their American counterparts to share their insights on everything from good governance, empowering young people and economic opportunity. The forum kicked off with a town hall meeting with the president at the White House.
I was fortunate enough to attend two of the forum’s events and meet with many of the young African leaders to discuss the importance of fighting extreme poverty and preventable diseases, and how our countries can work together as partners in that fight.
For most of us, August is the slowest month of the year. It’s a time to go on vacation, leave work a little early just for the heck of it, and because of the congressional recess, stop watching the news.
But here at ONE, we’re forging ahead and actually ramping up our work. This month, we’re focusing a lot of our efforts on ensuring that President Obama commits $6 billion to the Global Fund over the next three years.
For the Global Fund, the world’s largest health financier, 2010 is a replenishment year. Come October (we told you there was no time to lose!), the fate of the Global Fund’s financing for the next three years will be set in stone – and that’s why we’re urging the president to show real American leadership for the Global Fund right now.
The Global Fund has hit some serious home runs for malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis – all preventable diseases – since it started in 2002. By providing funding for vital prevention and treatment efforts, the Global Fund has helped save a whopping 5.7 million lives – roughly 4,000 a day. In fact, the Fund provides two-thirds of all international financing to fight malaria and tuberculosis and one-quarter to HIV/AIDS.
We don’t expect the president to fund the Global Fund by himself. International donors, including African countries, and groups from the public and private sector, will help contribute to this fight against preventable diseases. An estimated $17 to $20 billion could help existing programs continue their good work and scale up at a speedy rate to meet growing demand. The more money donors invest, the better chance the Fund has to eliminate malaria deaths and ensure that no babies are born with HIV by 2015.
This August, we’ll do everything in our power to help educate you on the Global Fund. We’ve got a blog series with a chock-full of personal stories and unique voices; a question-answer session (that you’ll be able to participate in) with our resident global health expert, Todd Summers; a quiz to test your Global Fund smarts; and to end our campaign with a bang, a secret Twitter mission (more on that later).
But in turn we need you, our members, to take action alongside us. In many ways, the fate of global health progress is linked with the success of the Global Fund’s replenishment in October. This is a critical moment for the world’s poorest people, and we need your voices now more than ever.
Clinton rues Africa corruption, trade barriers–Trade barriers, poor infrastructure and corruption are holding back efforts to boost and diversify Africa’s trade, said Secretary Clinton. She stressed the administration’s efforts to “boost trade and aid effectiveness” through their trade and development strategy. (Reuters)
Obama convenes forum of young African leaders – Declaring that “Africa’s future belongs to its young people,” President Obama met with more than 100 young African entrepreneurs from across the continent Tuesday. On the topic of HIV/AIDS, he stressed the need for successful prevention programs to bolster traditional donor funding. (Stephen Kendrick, ABC)
Kenya Stakes Reinvention on Constitution Vote– Kenyans are voting today on a new constitution that hems in Kenya’s imperial-style presidency, devolves more power to local government and creates a bill of rights. Donor nations, including the U.S., are eager to see it pass, having invested in voter drives and civic education campaigns. (Jeffrey Gettleman, The New York Times)
Education key to empowering women – The State Department’s Robert Hormats highlights last week’s African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, which brought together 34 African women business leaders to connect with peers and U.S. policymakers. He stresses investing in education as critical to empowering more female leaders in the future. (Huffington Post)
Experts roll out malaria map, urge mosquito study – Nearly 3 billion people – two-fifths of the world’s population – were at risk of contracting malaria in 2009 and closer study of the mosquito’s life cycle, including what occurs beyond the blood feeding processes, is needed to combat the disease, maintained researchers in two reports release Tuesday. (Tan Ee Lyn, Reuters)
New literary series views Africa through African eyes – Fourteen African writers have set out to document Africa’s diversity in a series of books and blogs partly inspired by the World Cup, with hopes of highlighting a continent often framed as a monolithic block blighted by conflict, hunger and corruption. (Yinka Ibukun, Washington Post)
President Obama’s three-day Young African Leaders forum officially kicks off today. The effort aims to facilitate good partnerships with Africa and reinforce Obama’s notion that ‘the future of Africa is up to Africans themselves.’
The forum comes at an important time. This year, 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa will celebrate 50 years of independence.
In order to honor this significant achievement, nearly 115 young leaders from more than 40 African countries have converged in Washington to share and discuss ways to empower the youth demographic, practice good governance and create economic opportunities.
According to AFP, these young leaders will have a chance to participate in a town hall meeting led by the president, meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and talk to other government officials and civil society leaders.
It’s events like these that can help Africans take responsibility for their governments and help promote and support accountability, transparency and stability. Read more about the forum and listen to keynote speeches at the U.S. Department of State website — and make sure to watch Obama’s live town hall discussion at 2 PM on the White House website.
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