Below is an excerpt. You can read the full column here.

Happy New Year!

-Kathy McKiernan

Taking the Fight to Rotavirus

The thing is, they exist, these vaccines. They’re not a mere hope, like an AIDS vaccine. And one of the brightest bits of news in 2009 is that rotavirus vaccines have been shown to work not only in nations with low child mortality, but in the poorest countries, where diarrhea (not a killer in our house) caused by rotavirus infections takes the lives of 500,000 children a year. The World Health Organization just this summer issued a strong recommendation that rotavirus vaccinations be part of every nation’s immunization program. From this vantage point, I like the look of the next decade.

The World Cup Kicks Off the African Decade

It’s getting easier to describe to Americans the impact of the World Cup — especially the impact it will have in Africa, where the tournament is to be held this summer. A few years ago, Ivory Coast was splitting apart and in the midst of civil war when its national team qualified for the 2006 jamboree. The response was so ecstatic that the war was largely put on hold as something more important than deathly combat took place, i.e. a soccer match. The team became a symbol of how the different tribes could — and did — get on after the tournament was over.

This time round, for the 2010 World Cup, naysayers thought South Africa could not build the stadiums in time. Those critics should be red-faced now. South Africa’s impressive preparations underline the changes on the continent, where over the last few years, 5 percent economic growth was the average. Signs point to a further decade of growth to come. Canny investors will put more capital there. This in turn has the potential to shore up fragile young democracies across the continent.

It would be fitting if Nelson Mandela, who has done more than anyone for Africa’s rising, would kick off the opening ceremonies. If he shows up, the world will weep with joy.

Remember to keep checking the ONE Blog where we’ll be posting frequent updates from the climate summit in Copenhagen.

Written as a screenplay that spans 20 years, the piece focuses on both the artistic process and some important work in Germany during the 2007 G8 summit. Below is an excerpt from a scene at the 2007 G8 in which Bono, Bob Geldof, Youssou N’Dour and ONE’s policy team speak with Chancellor Angela Merkel about Germany fulfilling its aid commitments. You can read the full piece here.

Excerpt:

The atmosphere is tense. The activists are not getting what they want. The leaders are not getting what they want, either, which is to be left alone by the activists, including the Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour, Bono and another grizzled Irish rocker, BOB GELDOF, and their policy team from ONE. The organization took its name from the song — over the protests of the songwriter, who felt that if history eventually repeats itself as farce, then irony, the next time around, sounds annoyingly earnest.

BOB (whose humor and intellect more than excuse the percussive expletives that pepper even the most formal meetings) Chancellor, what Germany has done is awe-inspiring. You’ve spent most of the last 20 years spending something like 4 percent of your G.D.P. on reunification … and yet you’re still willing to commit 0.7 percent of G.D.P. to global economic development. The lives of people you will never know or meet will be owed to this decision…. The 2008 budget backs that up, but the rest of the world will need to see ’09 to know you’re serious.

BONO (interrupting) Trajectory is everything. If the ‘09 is like ‘08, Germany will show the rest of the G-8 that they have to put money on the table as well as words.

MERKEL (who has met these men before and appeared to enjoy the encounters, but today is running out of patience with anyone who threatens to rain on her G-8 parade) I’m not prepared to commit beyond 2008. We will of course do our best.

BONO (at his least appealing) Let me just say, Madam Chancellor, that, like Bob, I’m intoxicated by the new Germany. Fifty thousand turned up today to stand in solidarity with the world’s poor. You yourself are so committed…the government…the coalition. And we absolutely take you at your word, but if the others don’t come through … well, you know nothing creates cynics faster than when leaders accept applause for commitments they then fail to meet. It’s one thing to break a promise to yourself or to your own electorate, but to break a promise to the most vulnerable people on the planet is profane.

MERKEL (in a quiet, calm voice) My father taught me a very important lesson when I was a girl growing up in East Germany. He said, “Always be more than you appear and never appear to be more than you are.”

Definitely worth checking out:

They’re joining millions of people around the world – a Guinness Book of World Records 116 million stood up last year! – to show solidarity with the world’s poorest people and demand action on meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving poverty and disease worldwide by 2015.

Check out ONE members Standing Up at the show, after a long day of taking action against global poverty and signing up more than 2,000 new ONE members:

-Aaron Banks

We will support the Millennium Development Goals, and approach next year’s summit with a global plan to make them a reality. And we will set our sights on the eradication of extreme poverty in our time.

Excerpts from the piece below. You can read the full column here.

They’re not my words, they’re your president’s. If they’re not familiar, it’s because they didn’t make many headlines. But for me, these 36 words are why I believe Mr. Obama could well be a force for peace and prosperity — if the words signal action.

The millennium goals, for those of you who don’t know, are a persistent nag of a noble, global compact. They’re a set of commitments we all made nine years ago whose goal is to halve extreme poverty by 2015. Barack Obama wasn’t there in 2000, but he’s there now. Indeed he’s gone further — all the way, in fact. Halve it, he says, then end it.

Many have spoken about the need for a rebranding of America. Rebrand, restart, reboot. In my view these 36 words, alongside the administration’s approach to fighting nuclear proliferation and climate change, improving relations in the Middle East and, by the way, creating jobs and providing health care at home, are rebranding in action.

These new steps — and those 36 words — remind the world that America is not just a country but an idea, a great idea about opportunity for all and responsibility to your fellow man.

In part a birthday celebration for Gavin Friday, a notable Irish musician in his own right, the night welcomed an array of performers and was also part of the (RED)NIGHTS concert series, generating support and awareness of (RED)’s goal to eliminate AIDS in Africa. Learn more about (RED)NIGHTS here.

As the evening unfolded, the members of U2, Scarlett Johansson, Shane MacGowan of the Pogues, Lady Gaga and Rufus Wainwright and others all took their turns on stage. Lou Reed also stopped in for an impromptu performance along with his wife Laurie Anderson and numerous other special guests.

What a show.

You can read more about it here.

-Chris Geer, NY Field Organizer

You’re not going to want to miss “An Evening with Gavin Friday,” a star-studded concert our friends at (RED) are hosting this Sunday, October 4 at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

The concert features Laurie Anderson, Antony, Elizabeth Ashley, Bono, Adam Clayton, Andrea Corr, The Edge, Flo & Eddie, Joel Grey, Bill Frisell, Guggi, Scarlett Johansson, Shane MacGowan, Eric Mingus, Larry Mullen Jr., JG Thirlwell, Martha Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright, Chloe Webb, plus other special guests.

You can buy tickets to the show here.

Hal Willner presents an “Evening with Gavin Friday and Friends” which is part of the (RED)NIGHTS concert series. Each show contributes a portion of the proceeds directly to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. You can learn more about the (RED)NIGHTS series here.

Hope to see you at the show Sunday.

-Chris Geer

In front of a sold out crowd, Bono dedicated the song “One” to the United States congress and the leadership of President Bush “for the 4 million souls that are now very much alive because of ARV drugs paid for by the United States…God Bless America.” He mentioned people in the audience who had lost friends or relatives to AIDS in America and singled out Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband Paul, who were early campaigners against the pandemic in San Francisco. Bono also praised President Obama’s commitment to the fight against poverty in Africa and paid special respects to Senator Ted Kennedy for his leadership on peace in Northern Ireland and Eunice Kennedy for being a mentor to him.

Behind the scenes, ONE members and volunteers were busy spreading ONE’s message and recruiting new members in the fight against extreme poverty. Our efforts were no doubt greatly supported by Bono’s several shout-outs to ONE and the hard work of millions of people around the world to end global poverty.

We’ll have more tomorrow including pictures and one-on-one interviews with some of the fantastic ONE volunteers we met.

-Chris Scott

You can check out the clip here: