Calling all students! You may want to listen closely here, because we’re about to announce something pretty big. Major, in fact. Cue Jesse Eisenberg, actor, activist and all-around cool kid:
You heard it here first, folks. ONE is joining forces with Chegg, a leading social education platform for students, in a nationwide search to send eight all-star student advocates on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa. This unique internship program and trip will be an opportunity to become fully immersed in the issues faced by millions living on less than $1.25 a day in sub-Saharan Africa. You will get to experience the fight against extreme poverty and disease from the frontlines -– and come back fully energized to lead your peers as the next generation of advocates on campuses across the country.
This week, First Lady Michelle Obama will make her first official state visit to Africa with her two young daughters, Sasha and Malia, and other members of her family (unfortunately, Bo the dog won’t be going). Over the next five days, they’ll be traveling to Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa and Gaborone, Botswana, to see the sights, engage with African leaders and of course, help strengthen our relationship with Africa.
This week, ONE, with partners ActionAid, Alliance to End Hunger, Women Thrive and others, hosted a reception on Capitol Hill to celebrate the recent successes of US investments in agriculture to strengthen global food security.
Following the Chicago Council’s Annual Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, the reception was a huge success. It brought together Congress, the Administration, civil society and agriculture researchers to raise the profile of the multilateral Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), and bring recognition to the great work that the US government and our partners have been doing to help improve the lot of small-scale farmers in Africa.
We were honored to have leading anti-hunger advocate Ambassador Tony Hall emcee the event. There were also keynote addresses made by Samuel Gatembeyi, a small-scale farmer from Rwanda, assistant secretary of international markets and development at the US Department of the Treasury Marisa Lago, and Julie Howard, deputy coordinator of Feed the Future.
In January, I wrote a blog post on the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos. In the post, I argued that the world has started to notice Africa’s huge economic growth potential.
The International Monetary Fund has now delivered a further upbeat assessment of Africa’s growth potential in its 2011 World Economic Outlook Report published earlier this month. The report states that after having grown by only 2.8 percent in 2009 and 5 percent in 2010, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) economies are expected to grow by 5.5 percent in 2011 and 5.9 percent in 2012.
The report goes on to say that in a regional ranking, SSA comes second only to Asia. SSA’s economic growth is projected to be higher than Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Central and Eastern Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States.
We’re kind of in love with this: researchers at the University of Illinois have come up with a way to teach sustainable development education to those in Africa, despite literacy or language barriers. Using two minute animated clips that can be sent and downloaded via cell phone, these videos depict animated characters demonstrating how to do various agricultural tasks. The videos cover a range of topics, from teaching viewers in Haiti (in light of recent cholera spikes) how to make water safe for drinking and cooking to how a farmer in Nigeria can protect his crops from insects.
As University of Illinois professor and development member Barry Pittendrigh says, “This is a very different paradigm from some other current development projects, where US-based educators are flown to another part of the world, interact with people in the field for a few weeks to several months, and leave. From a financial perspective, this is a much cheaper way to do international development.” Cheaper, no language barriers involved, and widely accessible? Sounds good to us!
Big thanks to ONE friend Jaclyn Schiff for sharing this with us!
For the first time in history, Africa held its first All Africa Energy Week in Maputo, Mozambique last week. The African Union, the African Development Bank and the United Economic Commission for Africa joined forces to launch the conference, which focused on clean energy for sustainable development.
The fact that this event even happened shows tremendous progress. Electricity poverty is a huge problem in Africa, despite the fact that the continent has huge reserves of cheap fuels like coal and natural gas. Almost two-thirds of Africans do not have access to electricity, an unfortunate circumstance that impedes economic growth, slows down businesses and productivity and keeps the cycle of extreme poverty going ’round and ’round.
The solution? Amp up efforts to create a low-carbon infrastructure and encourage public-private partnerships to tap into Africa’s energy potential. Think strategically, using energy policy and regulations to help bridge the gap in the energy infrastructure. Consider biofuels, solar energy and hydropower.
Having a regular and affordable source of electricity can increase wealth and boost productivity. And investing a strong energy infrastructure can create jobs and attract investments. Either way, Africa’s energy sector is a priority and can help eradicate poverty for millions of Africans. In fact, it’s such a priority that it has made its way onto the agenda of this year’s G20 Summit in Seoul for the first time.
Concentrating on Africa’s energy sector is the right step in the right direction, and it’s great to see that African organizations are working to coordinate their efforts while staying environmentally conscious. Learn more about All Africa Energy Week on their website.
Next week, delegates from more than 130 countries will converge in Bangkok, Thailand to participate in the world’s largest anti-corruption meeting, the 14th annual International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC).
According to Andrew Marshall’s Time Magazine article “How Corruption Is Holding Asia Back,” corruption is a problem that affects dozens of countries across the world — not just developing nations — and has been met with increasing apathy and acceptance from both world leaders and citizens.
What is most alarming, says Mr. Marshall, is that corruption creates an environment in which dishonesty can thrive even further. Last year’s Transparency International report said that the most common source of bribe demands is the police. And in sub-Saharan Africa, corruption is one of the region’s major barriers to ending extreme poverty. In fact, Africa loses around $148 billion each year as a result of corruption alone.
As you can see, “corruption is everyone’s problem — and apathy is no longer an option,” says Mr. Marshall.
We couldn’t agree more. It’s our duty as advocates to make sure that people know that corruption hurts — not helps — the fight against poverty. We’re curious to see what comes out of this year’s IACC meeting and hope that the delegation makes some headway in this growing issue.
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
