This week’s issue of the New York Times Magazine is devoted almost entirely to the topic of women’s issues around the globe. Featuring a cover story by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn called “The Women’s Crusade” the magazine also includes an interview with Secretary Clinton—who just wrapped up a trip to Africa—as well as a Q&A with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

You can check out all of the articles here.

-Chris Scott

While at a press conference with Secretary Clinton on Wednesday, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf—the first democratically elected female President in Africa—noted the importance of U.S. aid to her country. In response to a reporter’s question (directed towards Secretary Clinton) about the effectiveness of U.S. aid, Sirleaf remarked:

“Secretary Clinton, let me not let that impression go unaddressed. It is not correct to say that U.S. aid has not had an impact. If you look at where we were two and a half years ago and you look at the development today under each of our four pillars in the poverty reduction strategy, you see roads being constructed…you see farms starting to operate again.”

Liberia’s four poverty reduction strategies are: consolidating peace and security, revitalizing the economy, strengthening governance and the rule of law, and rebuilding infrastructure and delivering basic services.

To read the full remarks from the press conference, click here.

To read more African SMART Aid success stories, click here.

-Kara Arsenault

Forbes Magazine this week features an article by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Paul Kagame, Seretse Khama Ian Khama, and Abdoulaye Wade (the presidents of Liberia, Rwanda, Botswana, and Senegal respectively.) In the piece entitled “Partnership, Not Patronage” the presidents discuss the challenges and opportunities confronting Africa as Secretary of State Clinton embarks on her 7-country, 11-day trip through the continent.

The presidents also discuss the need to curb corruption, reduce poverty, and address the global recession. You can read excerpts below, full piece here. Be sure to follow our coverage of Secretary Clinton’s trip here.

Just three weeks after President Barack Obama’s triumphant return from Africa, the real challenge to achieving strategic change lies in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s own upcoming visit. Left unsaid as the president boarded Air Force One is the fact that Africa seeks not patrons but collaborators who will work “with” rather than “for” the continent. If the Obama administration wishes to truly make a difference, it must do so as an equal partner, addressing several low-cost, high-impact priorities.

Ultimately, Africa’s quality of life will depend on the health of its citizens. The centerpiece of U.S. support for HIV/AIDS in Africa–the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief–has helped expand life-saving treatment. President Obama has an opportunity to make PEPFAR more effective by moving from emergency to long-term support–as in the Millennium Challenge Corporation’s five-year partnership model, with each country taking ownership of the design of its programs.

Finally, we need more effective and predictable development lending. The U.S. remains the main exception to the common donor practice of channeling development assistance through financial systems of recipient countries. Done with sufficient safeguards, this strengthens country ownership, responsibility and accountability. The U.S.’s reluctance to embrace shared multilateral approaches limits the impact of its foreign assistance.

President Obama’s charisma, oratory and heritage have excited Africa as never before. Now substantive action that realizes the promise of his visit needs to be on Secretary Clinton’s agenda during her visit to seven African countries.

-Chris Scott

Bob Geldof guest-edited Sunday’s edition of the Italian publication La Stampa. In the coming days we’ll be posting English language versions of the featured articles, including this one from Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf:

For more than a decade, much of Africa has been moving forward. Economic growth is rising, poverty is falling and democratic governance is spreading. But the global financial crisis threatens to undo this progress by reducing investment, exports and aid just as they should be expanding to build on these successes.

While international attention has been understandably focused on events in Darfur, Somalia and Zimbabwe, countries across the continent including Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique and Liberia have been quietly turning around. Economic growth rates regularly exceed five percent in many nations.

The key to this progress is stronger African leadership and more accountable governance. Today, more than 20 African countries are democracies, up from just three in the 1980s. They have competitive elections and improved human rights, and a much freer media. These efforts have been supported by increasingly effective development assistance.

Consider what has happened in my country, Liberia. (more…)

Liberia bought back $1.2 billion in debt today at a 97% discount, “the steepest ever negotiated on developing country commercial debt.”

From the World Bank:

“The deal was concluded with the payment of $38 million to retire 25 outstanding commercial claims. The World Bank contributed half of this money through the International Development Association (IDA) Debt Reduction Facility, and Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States contributed the other half.

“The successful resolution of this inherited debt, which had ballooned through interest and penalty charges during a period when my country was wracked by civil war, is an important step on our road to recovery,” said Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. “This puts us on a firmer footing to attract investment and accelerate economic growth.”

Expect more from ONE soon on this amazing update.

-Virginia Simmons

I thought I should share some inside skinny on the week we spent in New York September 22-26 at the UN’s special summit on the Millennium Development Goals. We went there to try to attract some attention to – indeed celebrate – the efforts against extreme poverty in recent years, and to call for an acceleration of that progress.

Bono was frantically blogging for the Financial Times in every spare second throughout the week on his way to and from meetings with various leaders. The meetings were many: with Spanish President Zapatero to plan for their E.U. presidency in 2010; with President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia to discuss their remaining private commercial debt (think that’s sorted now); with UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to push on the overall Millennium Goals project; and with President Sarkozy of France and President Barroso of the EU to push Europe on delivering an extra billion euros from the EU budget to fight hunger and invest in agricultural productivity in Africa. Bob Geldof arrived a few days into the melee and participated on the opening panel of the Clinton Global Initiative, popped up on CNN, and met with Mayor Bloomberg, Bill Gates and others along the way.

One highlight was unveiling our “Celebrate Accelerate” video to a crowd of activists and leaders (including Bill Gates, Bob Geldof, Jeff Sachs) honoring the “quietest storm in town”: the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Another, was dropping in on the “In My Name” launch where we regrouped with will.i.am and other activist allies.

An important part of the week was passing over ONE members’ hunger petition, with 50,000 signers, to Bob Orr, the Assistant Secretary General. The petition targets Ban Ki-moon, and all the G8 leaders, asking them to finance the current $1 billion gap in worldwide agricultural financing.

In addition to all of this, Kim Smith and a team of staff and volunteers brought the ONE Bus to town and, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, parked it in some highly visible locations in the city.

By September 26th, it was clear it had been a decent week. In total there were $16 billion worth of commitments, some old, and some new, focused largely on building upon success to get more kids in school; eliminating malaria deaths by 2015 (yes, that’s got chutzpah – but by acting together it can be done); and renewing efforts against maternal mortality and hunger.

By investing in the fight against extreme poverty we can create new and stable markets where currently there are none; build strong global growth engines that can keep the global economy going when some of us falter; ensure strong health systems; and ensure that other’s instability doesn’t become ours. Above all – because it’s morally the right thing to do.

So now this piece of the campaign goes on to upcoming votes in Brussels on agriculture funding, and a key meeting about financing for development that is happening in Doha, Qatar, in the Middle East, at the end of November. We’ll keep you updated on both.

-Jamie Drummond