Two weeks ago, Eugene Cho, ONE member, lead pastor of Quest, and founder of Q Café launched a new venture, One Day’s Wages. At its core, the idea is simple; create a movement of people to take one day’s worth of our wages, about 0.4%, and donate that money to organizations working on the ground to end global poverty and promote global health.

Then again, it’s not just about making donations. It’s about learning about global poverty. Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff was just featured on their blog. And, it’s about making change. ODW is working with ONE to make sure effective advocacy is part of this movement (they already have over 800,000 Facebook fans). Back in the spring, Eugene interviewed faith relations manager Adam Phillips to introduce ONE to ODW. Of course, notice Eugene sporting a ONE band in the ODW launch video.

The Movement of One Day’s Wages from One Day's Wages on Vimeo.

ODW describes itself as “a movement of stories and actions of compassionate justice to fight extreme global poverty.” Some of the stories are already getting out. CBS featured it in “The Inspired Nation” from On the Scene with Shira:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Congratulations to ODW on their launch!

On Friday, President Obama announced that the U.S. will overturn its 22-year-old ban on travel and immigration to the U.S. by HIV-positive people.

In early July, we let you know that the HIV travel ban was set to be lifted through a change issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), noting that public comments were being requested and that a final rule would be issued later in the year. We are happy to report back that the change has been approved, and the ban will be officially lifted at the beginning of the New Year.

Of the new regulation, President Obama said, “We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic-yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bar people with HIV from entering our own country.” He continued, “If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it.” Obama also thanked former President George W. Bush, for approving the initial steps to repeal the ban last summer. Obama’s comments came during a signing ceremony to extend the Ryan White HIV/AIDS program, which provides medical care and support to about 500,000 mostly low-income and uninsured people living with HIV/AIDS.

I just returned from Sidney Harman Hall here in Washington, DC where Bill and Melinda Gates presented the Living Proof Project.

A lot of you watched the speech live here on the ONE Blog so I won’t rehash the event detail for detail, but what I saw tonight was probably one of the most compelling and crystal clear cases for US investments in global health I’ve ever witnessed. Smallpox eradicated, polio reduced 99 percent, measles reduced 93 percent, terrific progress made in the fight against HIV/AIDS and malaria– it was truly inspiring to see these facts laid out by two people who are playing such a pivotal role in encouraging the US government to do more.

But with so much to be optimistic about, Melinda Gates probably put it best when she said “the world is getting better. But it’s not getting better for everyone, and it’s not getting better fast enough.”

The presentation was interspersed with some fantastic footage chronicling US global health investments on the ground. It’s no secret that video is often the best medium to really capture some of these powerful stories, and the crowd’s reaction definitely demonstrated that.

I just have to share this one that documents the results of Rotavirus vaccine in a clinic in Nicaragua. Even though I’d seen it before, I still find it really striking.

The Gates cited several specific examples of programs that are making great strides in global health– from the Global Fund and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, to the Millennium Challenge Corporation and the promise of the Millennium Development Goals.

It was fitting that the Gates chose to make this presentation in DC given the importance they placed in the US Government’s ability to make an enormous impact. As Bill Gates put it, though foundations like the Gates Foundation can act as catalysts, governments in rich countries “have the money, the expertise, and the leadership to deliver the interventions that will save millions of lives.”

There’s a lot more I could add, but I’ll choose instead to end it the same way the Gates did tonight– by pointing you to www.livingproofproject.org so you can see for yourself what I saw tonight and spread the word in your community about all the great work that’s being done thanks to US investments in global health– and how much is still left to do.

You can watch the presentation in its entirety in the below blog post.

At the U2 concert last night, I had the chance to catch up with Andrew Silvestri, who came out to volunteer with ONE in his hometown of Norman, Oklahoma, and previously worked on our ONE Vote ’08 initiative last year. He was joined by his brother Eric and sister-in-law Tara. They took a quick break from signing up new ONE members to talk with me about how they got involved with ONE.

Eric and Tara have long been passionate about global development and Tara are getting ready to move to Costa Rica, where Eric plans to pursue a Masters Degree in International Law and Human Rights from the United Nations School of Peace in Costa Rica. And just a year and a half ago, they adopted Malak, a baby boy from Ethiopia. ONE is part of how they stay connected to Africa.

Andrew credited his time at ONE working on global poverty, with his decision to change the focus of his graduate program at the Kennedy School of Government to African development.

From left to right, Andrew, Tara and Eric Silvestri volunteering with ONE at the Norman, OK U2 show

The Slivestris are three more in the long line of incredible ONE volunteers we’ve seen at every stop on the U2 tour, from Barcelona back in July, to Norman yesterday. Their commitment is the “wind to our backs” that Archbishop Desmond Tutu talks about in his video message during the show, and a huge part of the reason for our optimism that this generation will be the one to end global poverty.

-Aaron Banks

Check out this post on World Food Day from our partner organization World Food Programme. This post—exploring how the WFP is working to invest in local agriculture—is part of our Food Security in Focus series. Stay tuned to the ONE Blog for more entries in coming days.

-Kara Arsenault

Most of the world’s half-billion smallholder farmers struggle to make food spring from the earth. Hit hardest by the rising tide of natural disasters—and often lacking access to the credit, fertilizers and improved seeds that would boost their resilience— they continually hover a half-step away from ruin.

And yet, whole continents depend on their labors. In sub-Saharan Africa, where some 80 million smallholder farmers (mostly women) supply 80 percent of the food, they are the future.

In 2008, the World Food Programme (WFP) bought $1.1 billion worth of food in 73 developing countries. That same year, we launched a 21-country pilot initiative called Purchase for Progress (P4P), which seeks to leverage our huge purchasing power to the advantage of the smalltime farmers in the poorest countries where we work.

The program, which receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates and Howard G. Buffett Foundations, aims to empower tens of thousands of small-scale farmers to move beyond subsistence— by connecting them to markets. The food WFP buys from the farmers will feed the hungry in the same country. A guaranteed buyer also gives farmers the confidence—and the cash—to invest in their own enterprises.

This formula has already proved a “win-win” for small farmers from Asia to Latin America.

In Nicaragua, we heard from 76-year-old farmer Dionisio Blandon, who can finally afford quality seeds and fertilizers for his 1.4 hectare plot of maize because his P4P-supported cooperative has extended credit—to be repaid after the harvest. He expects his income to increase by 40 percent.

Anne Rono, a mother of seven from Kenya, tells us she’s usually at the mercy of traders who take advantage of small farmers by offering them below-market price for their maize. But this year—thanks to P4P—she’s getting a reliable buyer and a fair price, putting more cash into her hands so she can purchase fertilizer for her fields—and school books and clothing for her kids. In her words: “P4P can change my life.”

Find out more about Purchase for Progress here.

-Jennifer Parmelee, World Food Programme

Apparently not, according to the new report from the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The surge in global trade over the last two decades has failed to improve working conditions and living standards in many developing countries. Although trade has contributed to growth and development worldwide, many of the jobs created in developing countries have appeared in the informal sector. Informal sector jobs tend to be the most vulnerable, characterised by less job security, lower incomes and an absence of access to social benefits. Yet, in many African and South Asian countries, as much as 60 percent of the country’s labour force is employed by this sector. In turn, these vulnerable labour market conditions have prevented developing countries from fully benefiting from globalisation. The report warns that this situation is likely to worsen as a result of the global financial crisis.

What can we do about this? The WTO’s chief Pascal Lamy encourages putting in place proper domestic policies to create good jobs in developing countries. The report recommends a number of ways to make trade policies more closely aligned with job issues in developing countries, including better coordination between trade and labour policies, and implementing policies to encourage formalisation of employment. Rich country governments also need to support poorer country governments in doing so, and enhanced trade capacity building assistance is one way to do this.

You can read the report here.

I unfortunately missed last night’s Daily Show, but William Kamkwamba, author of the new book “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” was Jon Stewart’s guest. It’s a pretty remarkable interview, and William has a pretty remarkable story.

For those unfamiliar with “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind”, it’s the autobiographical story of William’s mission to fight famine in his home country of Malawi by constructing a wind mill– based solely off a picture he found in a book from a library. Upon hearing him recount his story, Jon Stewart jokingly responds, “You sound exactly like me as a boy.”

Check out the clip below, and read more about “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” on William’s blog here.

Overall, the Pittsburgh G20 Summit appears to have made some progress towards reshaping global power structures to make them more representative, but it still has some way to go before it becomes a truly representative global decision making body.

I spent the summit with our US Government Relations Director Tom Hart, who said:

“Moving from the G8 to the G20 is a seismic shift: it brings many more of the world’s people to the table, but the new expanded world body must now start addressing the needs of the poorest countries, especially in Africa. For nearly a decade now, Africa has been squarely on the G8’s agenda, even if delivery on their commitments has been mixed. During this transition time, African development must not fall through the cracks. One way to show the world will not forget Africa would be to hold an upcoming G20 summit on the African continent.”

As I posted earlier here, we passed our petition, in which 75,000 ONE members worldwide call for a G20 Summit to be held in Africa, to the US delegation at the summit.

Below are some key points in the summit’s communique that are relevant to Africa:

• Agriculture – The G20 called on the World Bank to develop a new trust fund, as a way to implement the G8’s food security initiative announced at the L’Aquila Summit in Italy in July. This multilateral fund will support the set of principles championed by the White House to make aid for agriculture more effective, coordinated and geared towards the strategies developed by poor countries themselves.
• Climate change – The G20 failed to call for resources to help the poorest countries adapt to the harmful impacts of climate change, and tackle its causes. It was disappointing that there was no mention of the urgency of addressing these needs.
• African Development Bank – The G20 have reaffirmed the commitment to make sure the multilateral development banks have enough finance, especially the World soft loan arm, the International Development Association (IDA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). The African bank has increased its lending to respond to the financial crisis by as much as US$4bn and now needs support to replenish its coffers. ONE welcomes Canada’s announcement of an extra US$2.8bn in loan guarantees for the Bank.
• World Bank and IMF- Both International Financial Institutions took steps towards increasing representation of developing countries.

I’ve never thought about driving to a large parking lot and having a party out of the back of my car. As such, it’s hardly surprising that the phenomenon of tailgating took me a little bit by surprise. But here on the North American U2 tour, the stadium parking lots turn into a massive series of parties, each of which is a veritable gold mine for new ONE members. It’s fantastic.

Just as every city and stadium presents a different way to sign up ONE members, I also find there are people with a variety of motives for joining. Everyone has a different reason for joining, from people who have a personal experience with extreme poverty to environmentalists who are concerned that not enough is being done to help the poor adapt to climate change. Whatever the person’s reason for joining, all it takes is a few seconds of introduction to ONE for most people to be convinced that they want to be members. And hence, I love all the tailgaters who give time (and sometimes food) to my ONE volunteers. Party on in the parking lot.

-Weldon Kennedy

Bono, ONE co-founder, just joined Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan and others in a commitment to 1GOAL: Education for All at the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting. Together with FIFA, 1GOAL is committed to ensuring that the legacy of the 2010 World Cup will be universal access to education for all children. As President Clinton said, “this is a staggering opportunity” to make a big difference for girls and boys around the world.

Read more about 1GOAL Education for All here.

After the announcement, Queen Rania immediately joined a panel moderated by Nicholas Kristof and went on to further make a passionate case for universal education. According to Queen Rania, an educated child is 50% less likely to contract HIV, just one of many ways education affects every other sector. She also pointed out another statistic so incredible that Nicholas Kristof made her repeat it: the developing world needs approximately $11 billion dollars to put every child into primary school– the same amount the US spends every 3 months on their pets. However, because education isn’t particularly “dramatic” it rarely gets the attention it deserves.

Nicholas Kristof, Queen Rania, and Hilda Solis join in a panel on Creating Good Jobs and Strong Communities

US Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis addresses the CGI Meeting

-Chris Scott