In her piece, President Johnson-Sirleaf commends the US’ support to Liberia and urges Congress to continue this aid in next year’s budget. She recognizes that the US is suffering from the global economic crisis, but reassures that US foreign aid is helping to save lives and increase productivity and political stability. And as the goodwill ambassador of WaterAid, she discusses the importance of clean water and sanitation in her efforts to lift Liberia out of poverty.

Here’s an excerpt of her piece:

“With support from the United States, we have been able to make progress. Thanks to our partnership with the American people, we are rebuilding roads, clinics, and schools, and expanding access to electricity, water, and sanitation. It is critical that this aid continues in next year’s budget. By investing in basic services, Liberia is improving the health of our people, especially mothers and small children.”

Thank you President Johnson-Sirleaf for writing this op-ed. Not only do our congressional leaders need to hear this message, but American citizens do, too.

Read her full piece here. And if you haven’t yet, read ONE Africa Director Sipho Moyo’s piece on her meeting with the Liberian president here.

President Barack Obama lauded the “heroism” of Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf on Thursday, saying her commitment to democracy stood as an example for other troubled African nations.

Obama met Sirleaf in the Oval Office, and pledged the United States would stand with Liberia at every step of the way of its democratic development.

“I have been an extraordinary admirer of her work for many years now…. The United States and Liberia are close friends, longstanding partners, and Liberia is now emerging from a very difficult period,” Obama said.

“Part of the reason it has been able to emerge is because of the heroism and courage of President Sirleaf.”

“She is committed to the rule of law, made strides in reforming the judiciary and in all these endeavors I want to make sure the people of Liberia understand… that the United States is a constant friend and partner.”

Obama said Sirleaf’s example should be taken as inspiration to other African nations including, Guinea, Ivory Coast and Niger.

Sirleaf said her country had made important progress, and she thanked Obama for his and America’s support.

Africa’s first elected female head of state, Sirleaf said that she would not hide the fact that Liberia had challenges, but added that all basic freedoms were alive in her country today.

“We said that we were going to make Liberia rise again. I come today on behalf of the Liberian people to say that we have made a lot of progress,” she said.

“It is very important for us to not only celebrate this day but to promote unification in everything that we do because of what our nation has experienced through the many years of conflict that divided us. We found in recent years ethnic strife, religious strife – some of it stemming from historical problems, some of it stemming from more recent problems relating to land ownership, but we must now make sure that we begin to rekindle what national unification stands for; that spirit, that commitment to bring our people together as one nation, one people, with one destiny.” – President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

You can listen to all of President Sirleaf’s statement, sign the Unification Day pledge and learn more about One Liberia on their website.

Below is a short excerpt– you can read the full column here:

We have hope for a brighter, more prosperous future, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting the Liberian economy to grow strongly in the years to come.

Liberia’s recent transition to better government is very apparent, but not unique in Africa. Across the continent, there are more democratically elected administrations, increased human rights, greater press freedoms, increasing standards of accountability. Regional examples of best practices include Ghana and Botswana.

Of course, the situation is not perfect, and there is much more to do. Elections are necessary, but not sufficient for fully accountable government. We still must do more to support our institutions, to increase capacity and to strengthen the pillars of good government, such as our judicial systems.

However, with the support of the international community, advances in good governance have helped create the conditions for real and meaningful improvements in the lives of millions of people across the continent – with the World Bank reporting that poverty rates are falling, from 58 to 51 per cent across the continent in just six years.

As the systems of democracy, transparency and accountability are strengthened, as their capacity improves, African nations will increasingly acquire the technical skills to take ownership of their development policies, just as my government worked with the National Legislature and our citizens to draw up a poverty reduction strategy as a blueprint for a better nation.

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

“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

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

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. After 14 years of devastating war, we faced enormous challenges. Our democratically elected government has worked with international partners and a growing number of private investors to turn things around. In the past three years, we have doubled primary school enrollment nationwide, refurbished hundreds of health facilities, begun rebuilding roads and restoring electricity. We have taken steps to root out corruption and remove unscrupulous officials. Growth has exceeded several percent per year. And, most critical, we are at peace. We are restoring our once-vibrant nation, and the crucial component — hope — has already been revived.

Without international support, we would not have made this progress and would be at much greater risk of returning to war. The global economic crisis threatens the progress in my country and elsewhere on our continent. Declining remittances from overseas workers, shrinking trade flows and investment could undermine new businesses, throw thousands out of work, and increase tensions and instability.

The crisis — which Africa did nothing to cause — demands a strong response. African nations must do their part by continuing to address corruption, eliminate red tape and reduce obstacles to private-sector growth. But just as industrialized countries need a stimulus, African economies need a boost to keep their progress on track.

The G8 nations meeting in Italy this week have a useful role to play. Among other measures, they must keep their promises to increase aid and make it more effective by reducing bureaucratic delays, speeding disbursements and better aligning programs with African priorities. Effective aid is certainly not the only answer, but it is has an increasingly vital role to play as other sources of finance dry up. It is needed to lay the foundations to help stimulate private sector growth.

For a European nation like Italy, it is a smart investment in prosperity and stability in its back yard. It would be a cruel irony if, just as Africa began to succeed, its prospects were cut short by a crisis beyond its control. Strong action by African governments and robust support from the international community can keep Africa’s recovery on track. Both should continue to do their part.

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

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