Note that the event starts at 16:20:

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

When former President Bill Clinton and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani visited the Mountain State yesterday to campaign for their candidates, West Virginia ONE was there! Senator Jay Rockefeller and President Clinton attended a rally in Beckley yesterday for Governor Joe Manchin -– and all three proudly put on their ONE bands! Gov. Manchin immediately recognized ONE and said that he just ran into ONE members this past weekend in Morgantown!

The next senator from West Virginia will go to Washington immediately after the election today, which means he’ll have the opportunity to support funding for smart investments in global health and sustainable agriculture in the 2011 budget. No matter what happens today, the candidate who fills the late Senator Robert Byrd’s seat knows that West Virginians care deeply about this small, but critical funding. To the many, many ONE members across the country who have built relationships with candidates on both sides of the aisle during our ONE Vote 2010 effort: let’s celebrate, but then accelerate our efforts!

In the coming weeks, all ONE members will be called upon to lift their voices to their members of Congress, incumbent and newly-elected, in support of continued bold American leadership in the fight against global poverty into the 112th Congress.

Yesterday, former President Bill Clinton came to Chicago for an event with U.S. senatorial candidate, Alexi Giannoulias and other local candidates. I went out with some ONE members extra early, decked out in our ONE shirts to make sure that they saw ONE and were reminded of our efforts to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease in Africa.

During his speech, President Clinton touched on many subjects and fired up the crowd with stories from his years in office, but he took time during his speech to praise former President Bush’s efforts to save lives from HIV/AIDS in Africa by creating the PEPFAR program. President Clinton went on to remind the crowd that America must continue to lead in the fight against AIDS, poverty and malaria!

Once his speech was over, President Clinton took time to take pictures and shake hands with the crowd. When he got to us ONE members, he grabbed my camera and insisted that all of us got in the photo with him! We thanked the former president for his leadership, and for always making time for the world’s poorest people in his personal work and with ONE members across America.

The election is less than a week away — but we need you and your voice to help make a difference and make sure that no matter who wins the open Illinois Senate seat — Republican or Democrat — that they go to D.C. ready to continue efforts to fight extreme poverty and save lives in the developing world.

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

-Christopher Shaffer, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, Illinois

Spending six hours in the chilly wind was more than worth the wait yesterday in Baltimore — because I ended up passing a ONE band to the 42nd president of the United States!

President Clinton certainly recognized ONE and was forthright, kind and agreed to take a photo with volunteer Nancy Delgado (who had braved the wait with me). As I was lining up the shot, President Clinton asked for my camera and gave it to an aid, insisting all four ONE members be in the picture!

We also gave ONE bands to many others, including Senator Cardin, Rep. Donna Edwards, Rep. Elijah Cummings and Senator Mikulski, who showcased her new ONE band while introducing the former president.

Passing a small white ONE band to a politician is a small way to help remember and recognize the big efforts that our nation is putting forth to help work with the world’s poorest people in the fight against extreme poverty and global disease in Africa.

Yesterday, we were extremely appreciative of President Clinton for making time for ONE, and we celebrate his work as a statesman and advocate for the world’s poor, especially in his efforts to help Haiti and Africa.

What an amazing day for all of us! Go ONE!

-Deidree Bennett, ONE congressional district leader

While on the ONE Vote campaign trail, I’ve learned that there is nothing more important than positioning yourself strategically on the rope line so you can catch a candidate as they come offstage. Unfortunately, it’s not always that simple because being one of the few individuals that actually shakes the candidate’s hand in a room full of thousands of people is statistically speaking, well, difficult. I encountered one such scenario last night at a rally for Senator Bennet featuring former President Bill Clinton.

There were 12 ONE members at the rally, so it was easy for us to split up and cover multiple parts of the rope line. Jeb Barrett and his sister were the first ONE members to grab Senator Bennet and President Clinton as they came off stage. Jeb gave both of them ONE bands before they continued down the line shaking hands. In the middle, ONE volunteer CDL Valerie Bobalek thanked President Clinton for his recovery work in Haiti following the earthquake. “It just breaks your heart, doesn’t it?” he said.

Finally, as Senator Bennet began to head backstage, ONE members Ismay and Kyrzia Parker grabbed him for one last picture. They also banded his wife Susan Daggett and his daughter. Ismay asked the Senator to continue to support ONE.org and the fight against poverty. Senator Bennet complimented ONE and our efforts as he made his way off stage.

President Clinton, who had pointed directly at Kyrzia’s ONE sign and gave two thumbs up as he went onstage, gladly posed for a picture with her on his way backstage. In his speech, President Clinton talked about the importance of cheap AIDS drugs for developing nations and his experiences in places where people live on less than $2 each day.

I was proud to watch ONE volunteers as their passion drove them through a crowd of thousands of people to the front of the rope lines in an effort to advocate for the world’s poorest people. They succeeded not once, but three times.

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

-Nick Stevens, ONE Vote 2010 State Organizer, Colorado

Each year, Physicians for Peace — an organization devoted to building peace and international friendships through medicine — grants the Charles E. Horton Award for Humanitarian Service to the individual who has demonstrated “extraordinary and selfless humanitarian service to alleviate human suffering, particularly in low-income societies.”

President Bill Clinton Accepts Physicians for Peace CEH Humanitarian Award 2010 from Physicians for Peace on Vimeo.

According to the Physicians for Peace Chairman of the Board, Buzz Heidt, “The President has demonstrated time and time again his personal commitment to helping others throughout his career, but most dramatically with his relief and recovery efforts following the tsunami in the Indian Ocean, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and now, in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti.”

I know that this is the third award that we’ve mentioned today (after the World Food Prize and the Apps4Africa award), but please watch to the video and help us congratulate President Clinton for his hard work and admirable efforts. Thank you, President Clinton for all you do!

ONE members posing with a Pres. Clinton.

Last night, 15 ONE members and I attended a rally for U.S. Senate candidate Lee Fisher, who was joined by special guest, former President Bill Clinton.

We all had our “ONE Vote 2010” shirts on and took up an entire row in the middle of the 600-seat auditorium.

Everyone was full of energy and excited to hear Pres. Clinton speak. He briefly mentioned Haiti in his speech which focused mainly on the economy.

After the event, we were able to catch up with Pres. Clinton, give him a ONE band and thank him for his efforts in helping Haiti rebuild. We were actually the only ones he agreed to take pictures with! Unfortunately, we weren’t able to meet Senate candidate Fisher, but we’re sure he saw our shirts in the crowd.

Our OHIO ONE members are definitely energized after last night and looking forward to going to more campaign events in the coming weeks.

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

- Beth Kaltenbach, ONE Vote 2010 organizer, Ohio

Last night, former President Bill Clinton was in Nashville, Tennessee in support of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mike McWherter. Unfortunately, my prime place along the fence didn’t stick and I had to move when it started to rain, and some large men in black suits shortened the greeting line.

I did manage to scoot my way up in the crowd though, as fmr. Pres. Clinton worked his way down the line of eager supporters. I was several people back, but proudly held my ONE band high, managing to catch the former president’s eye.

He reached over several heads to take the ONE band then shook my hand and said “Thank you for what you do.” I had just enough time to shout back, “No, thank you!” before he was swept away. Though a brief interaction, it was a significant one. It’s important for influential people in global policy to know just how many ONE members are out there and how crucial it is that they continue to advocate for the world’s poorest people. Go ONE!!

- Abby Sasser, ONE congressional district leader for Tennessee’s 5th District

Today, I joined ONE members at a rally for Pennsylvania Senate candidate Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.). Rep. Sestak was stuck in Washington, D.C., however, former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.) were there to fill in.

Pennsylvania ONE member Amanda Modispaw was able to speak with Clinton and thanked him for saving lives in Africa and Haiti.

She also made sure to mention that more than 40,000 ONE members signed a petition urging world leaders to make good on their pledges to rebuild Haiti. Clinton thanked Amanda and ONE for the support and said that he definitely noticed our ONE T-shirts in the crowd when he was speaking.

I was also able to speak with Sen. Casey about his hard work on global food security issues and informed him that all ONE members were making calls to their senators and urging them to sign on to the Lugar-Casey letter, which asks the Senate to pass the Global Food Security Act.

I thanked Sen. Casey, who was happy to put on a ONE band, but he told me that it was our ONE members who should be thanked for their advocacy efforts. This is only the beginning of ONE Vote 2010 and we’re off to a tremendous start lending our voices for the world’s poorest people.

Live in Pennsylvania? Follow Brian on Twitter or join ONE’s Mid-Atlantic Region Facebook Group.

Last week, experts on U.S.-African trade met at the annual African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum to discuss its progress since it was signed into law in 2000.

AGOA gives beneficiary sub-Saharan African countries preferential access to U.S. markets by allowing many products from these countries to be imported duty free. International trade is essential for development in Africa, and AGOA offers tangible incentives for African countries to continue their efforts to grow economically by exporting more to the U.S.

In the past ten years, AGOA has made progress in fostering U.S. trade with Africa. Currently, 38 countries are eligible to participate in AGOA. As Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) noted in the AGOA Civil Society Forum two weeks ago, “AGOA’s been a great success … it’s time to celebrate.” The Act has promoted new trade and investment, and it has created some 300,000 jobs in Africa. AGOA is also helping to create new markets in the U.S.

However, as Sen. Cardin also noted, several challenges still remain. For example, most of the increase in trade has been with oil and gas products, and AGOA has had a very limited impact on agricultural products. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the AGOA Forum last week, “Despite the best of intentions, AGOA has achieved only modest results and has not lived up to the highest hopes of a decade ago.”

There are many obstacles, but AGOA offers many opportunities as well. If necessary reforms such as broadening product coverage and simplifying eligibility rules are implemented, AGOA could help millions of Africans lift themselves out of poverty. AGOA can continue to foster reforms in African economies, provide technical support, and build platforms for dialogue. Hopefully, the AGOA Forum will continue to provide new insights and opportunities for advancing trade relations with Africa.

For more information on AGOA, please see ONE’s issue brief.

- Nathan Cole, global policy intern, ONE