ONE Blog
Bono in TIME on Africa’s ‘resource miracle’
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ONE is in full-gear on all fronts heading into the G8 meeting this weekend, including our co-founder Bono. In addition to participating in our ONE Street Tweet action (you can see his message in the photo above) and speaking at tomorrow’s Chicago Council Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security, he has written a piece in TIME magazine that calls on G8 and African leaders to work together to ensure that Africa’s immense natural resources — oil, gas, minerals and more — are used for the benefit of all in Africa, and not just the few. |
What We’re Reading: G8 Summit to focus on Africa food security
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The best story in development – According to a new World Bank study, “16 of the 20 African countries which have had detailed surveys of living conditions since 2005 reported falls in their child-mortality rates,” and the decline in African child mortality is still speeding up. Gabriel Demombynes, of the World Bank’s Nairobi office, explained that a “combination of broad economic growth and specific public-health policies, notably the increase in the use of insecticide-treated bed nets” to prevent malaria have been critical in reducing child-mortality. (The Economist) Opinion: Promise Keepers – At the L’Aquila summit, Obama “rallied his fellow leaders of the world’s poorest nations to make a promise: If poor countries came up with good plans to help poor farmers grow more and earn more, rich countries would make it happen.” This approach ensured the delivery of aid in the more effective way possible and promoted country ownership and accountability. At Camp David, the G8 needs to “forge ahead . . . with specific, measurable funding and policy commitments.” (Foreign Policy, Raymond C. Offenheiser) |
Photos: ONE delivers US Thrive petition signatures to USAID
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We just came back from delivering 117,000 petition signatures and 7,500 postcards — from Americans who want to see global agriculture at the top of President Obama’s agenda at this weekend’s G8 Summit — to USAID Administrator Raj Shah a couple of hours ago. USAID is one of the biggest planners around the White House’s strategy on food security and global agriculture at this year’s G8 Summit, and they’re also the main implementers for these programs on the ground — so we’re glad to have our petition and postcards in their hands. Here are some photos of our big delivery today, from start to finish:
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‘It’s for the kids!’ and other postcard messages to President Obama
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In just a few minutes, a few ONE staffers will be delivering your petition signatures and postcards to President Obama to USAID Administrator Raj Shah. Nearly 7,500 US ONE members wrote a heartfelt message to the President (urging him to make agriculture a priority at the G8) on our special postcards embedded with carrot seeds — which is pretty incredible, if you ask me! But before we leave the office, I just wanted to highlight a few of our favorite postcards from our huge pile here at the ONE office. Some of them will make you laugh!
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Photos: Our ONE Street Tweeter in action
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The ONE Street Tweet printing has begun! Yesterday, we went out to Maryland to print the first batch of your messages on the streets around an agriculture research facility. So far, more than 34 countries — including all 50 states and every G8 country — contributed to our ONE Street Tweet efforts. We’ll continue printing in Thurmont, Maryland today and Pennsylvania Ave. (right in front of the White House) in Washington, D.C., tonight. Remember — the whole goal of this action is to take your messages to the G8 on global agriculture to the streets — literally. So, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Take a look at some of the photos from our efforts over the past two days:
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Oxfam America files lawsuit against the SEC
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It’s been about two and a half months since ONE delivered 143,863 petition signatures to the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), urging them to stand up to Big Oil by releasing a corruption-fighting rule… and we’ve heard crickets. However today, Oxfam America, our Publish What You Pay Coalition partner is turning up the heat in a big way. They’ve filed a lawsuit against the SEC for unlawfully delaying the issuance of a strong final rule that would require disclosure of payments to from oil, gas and mining companies to the US and foreign governments. The final rule was due on April 17, 2011. This was a follow up to Oxfam’s letter of April 16, 2012, asking the SEC to issue a final rule within 30 days or face litigation. And that deadline just expired as of today. |
Talking G8, hunger and food security with USAID’s Don Steinberg
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As you know, the G8 Summit is just a few days away. ONE has been working over the past few weeks to rally our ONE members to sign our petition to world leaders, asking them to prioritize global hunger and malnutrition at the Summit. To help put our petition into context, we interviewed with our friend Ambassador Don Steinberg, current Deputy Administrator at USAID with three decades of US diplomatic service. The questions we outlined below answer some of the most important points that our ONE members should look out for during and after the Summit.
ONE: Hunger is a global issue — how is a focus on growth in the agricultural sector so central to poverty reduction, and why is an emphasis on Africa particularly important? |
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From Our Members
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Sowing the ‘seeds of change’ at Des Moines’ Downtown Farmers Market
May 10th, 2012 | Posted by Libby Crimmings -
Thrivin’ in Pennsylvania with Rep. Charlie Dent
Apr 26th, 2012 | Posted by Brian Sweeney -
Working together as ONE at Loyola Academy
Apr 25th, 2012 | Posted by Field
From Our Partners
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Coffee? Or lunch? You choose.
May 18th, 2012 | Posted by Guest Blogger -
A human yardstick
May 15th, 2012 | Posted by Guest Blogger -
UN report calls for a realignment of agricultural reform
May 8th, 2012 | Posted by Guest Blogger
