ONE is proud to introduce our exclusive handmade scarf made with fashionABLE, a company based in Ethiopia. ONE’s Nora Coghlan recently visited the fashionABLE factory and gave us this inside look into the production of our scarves. To buy a fashionABLE scarf, visit our ONE Store here.
Two weeks ago, I got to meet some of the women behind the fashionABLE scarves here in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
At first glance, the fashionABLE factory is pretty modest. Tucked deep into the neighborhood of Mekanisa, it sits on an unpaved road about five minutes from the highway. Inside, five women are quietly working at looms and sewing machines, while another three are washing and dying fabric outside. As I walk around snapping photos, a couple women shoot me shy smiles but most stay focused on their work.
A one-time visitor might not realize that these women –- and this factory -– have an unbelievable story to tell. Most of the women who work at fashionABLE are former prostitutes who have been able to turn their lives around thanks to jobs at the factory. Women like Bezuayhu, who was forced into prostitution as a teenager, are now able to come to work in the morning with dignity and to invest in a better future for their children.
Every day this week, we’ll be highlighting a personal story from our new AIDS report, “Progress. Proof. Promise.” In this essay, former President George W. Bush discusses the impact that PEPFAR has had on the fight against AIDS.
In 2001, an AIDS pandemic threatened to destroy a generation of Africans. In country after country, people were needlessly dying even though new life-saving antiretroviral drugs were available at a reasonable cost. The humanitarian disaster called for dramatic action.
You may have read somewhere that last week was International Literacy Day. To mark the occasion, USAID, the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative and the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution put on an impressive event with an important theme –- All Children Reading.
After we were all greeted by Bert and Ernie, USAID Administrator Raj Shah highlighted the main goal of USAID’s education strategy -– to improve the reading skills of 100 million children by 2015. Basic education, particularly teaching children to read in primary school, not only ensures children have a sturdy foundation upon which to learn, but also translates to improved health and economic growth in developing countries. No one in Congress is better at championing the importance of education for all children than Representative Nita Lowey, D-N.Y.
Last month, at the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke about continuing challenges and new solutions for success in US-Africa trade relations.
Helinda Tetteh, 23, is a quality control supervisor at Lucky1888Mills, an apparel factory that opened in Tema, Ghana, in March. The company has 250 workers -– almost all young women –- and is hoping to expand its operations to add 300 more jobs in coming months. Here is her story, as told to Joe Lamport, communications manager at the USAID West Africa Trade Hub.
I heard about the job from a friend. I had been working in another factory before, but it wasn’t paying well and I was not working. So, I sent in my application and got the job. I’m a quality control supervisor. It’s difficult! I have to make sure the work is done the way it needs to be done -– the measurements are correct, well stitched, etc. It’s tough but it’s a great experience. Telling people to do something and then seeing them do it the wrong way is not easy. I tell them what I want and that they have to give me what I want. I’m learning a lot of things at this job -– particularly how to supervise employees. I feel like the sky is the limit.
In a recent opinion editorial published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Daniel W. Yohannes, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, and leading African philanthropist and ONE board member, Dr. Mo Ibrahim, highlighted achievements and opportunities presented by increased trade with Africa. Both Yohannes and Ibrahim, who are recognized leaders in African development, offered the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Millennium Challenge Corporation as models for sustainable development and reminded investors that America has much to gain by investing in Africa. Read their WSJ column below:
Africa Is Awakening, Helped by Free Trade
Six of the 10 fastest-growing economies of the last decade were in sub-Saharan Africa.
By DANIEL W. YOHANNES AND MO IBRAHIM
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Long a symbol of stagnation, the African continent is experiencing a reawakening. Poverty and hunger are still widespread problems, but Africa’s growing middle class is creating business and investment opportunities that are among the best in the world. With the right trade policy and development assistance, we can unlock the potential of a thriving private sector and lift millions from poverty.
Business Action for Africa, an international network devoted to reducing poverty through business, says that accelerating regional integration is essential to unlocking Africa’s trading potential.
The 2011 AGOA Forum brings back into sharp focus the key role of trade in driving Africa’s development.
For Africa to secure its share of the benefits and gains from trade, the imperative for the international community to progress world trade agreements is matched by the need for an acceleration in the pace of economic integration in Africa to create larger and more competitive markets.
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.
