International
Clinton Global Initiative
Bono Joins 1GOAL at Clinton Global Initiative
Bono, ONE co-founder, 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.
-Chris Scott
The Next Big Idea
The CGI meeting this year can roughly be broken into two parts: discussion and celebration of past achievements, and attempting to anticipate where we’ll go from here in solving the world’s biggest problems.
Two sessions I just attended focused on technology and innovation and in both cases the discussion inevitably led to a question on everybody’s mind here: What’s the next big idea?
Opinions vary, obviously, but there were some common themes I picked up on. The importance of public-private partnerships was one. The UK’s Secretary of State for International Development stressed a need for greater communication between the public and private sectors in tackling a host of issues. He also contended that the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals will be nearly impossible to meet without continued innovation, while identifying three areas where the private sector can play an important role: product development, program delivery, and financing development.
On another panel, Former Vice President Al Gore spoke of sustainable capitalism as they key to addressing the threats of global warming and climate change. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Managing Director of the World Bank Group spoke about the need for developing countries to be able to manage crises on their own without waiting for the assistance of other countries.
In two separate panels, the revolutionising power of cell phones was discussed. Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director of Grameen Bank said that giving people the power to use cell phones to deal with everything from healthcare to financial concerns will be a potential game-changer. In another discussion, Angela F. Braly, President and CEO of WellPoint, Inc. specifically named “telemedicine”’s potential to bring increased healthcare information to rural communities. Even though we’ve written about the opportunities provided by cell phones before, it still never ceases to amaze me that something we take for granted here still has the potential to facilitate so much good for so many people.
President Obama Addresses 2009 CGI
What a difference a year makes. Almost exactly this date a year ago, then Senator Barack Obama– along with Senator McCain– addressed the 2008 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting.
Last night President Barack Obama had a chance to address the 5th Annual CGI Meeting. He spoke powerfully about the need for greater public service both in the US and abroad, commending President Clinton’s work to establish such programs as Americorps during his presidency. He also commended President Clinton’s work post-presidency in establishing CGI.
President Obama spoke extensively about being shaped by examples of public service early in his life, most significantly his mother’s work with microloans. He went on to talk about a “transformational moment in world history” when the world is more interconnected than ever. Tools that can help and aid people can also allow people to do harm.
Today’s world, Obama explained, requires “creative collaborations and a renewed spirit of partnership.” He described Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s travels abroad– some of which we covered on the ONE Blog– as an example of his administration’s focus on reaching out to citizens and promoting greater partnership. The military and the government can work to disrupt extremist networks around the globe, Obama said, but we also need to make clear the kind of world we want to build across regions and religions.
He noted the need for historic investments in clean energy and cutting emissions, and the need for businesses and non-profits to end the threat of climate change. This line particularly stuck out to me: “Foreign assistance is not an end in itself. The purpose of aid is to create conditions where it’s no longer needed.” Development is a key part of a foreign policy strengthened not by lecturing the world but seeking great understanding– what Obama called “standing together, working together, and building together” to leave the world better than we found it.
Check out the transcript for President Obama’s remarks here and keep your eye on the ONE Blog for more updates.
-Chris Scott
Busy September
It’s hard to keep track of our calendars here at ONE these days, as the next two weeks are jam-packed with important development events over in the US. Over the coming days, folks at ONE will be attending the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh (September 24-25), the UN General Assembly (the 64th session opened yesterday), a UN Summit on Climate Change (September 22), the Clinton Global Initiative (September 22-25) and a special seminar organised by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in New York.
It’s an important two weeks for the development community, as critical issues—innovative financing for global health, climate change funding, women’s empowerment, global economic recovery—will all be put on the table. Make sure to stay tuned to ONE’s blog, as we’ll provide updates on our travels throughout the coming weeks.
-Kara Arsenault
Breaking News: $3 Billion in New Malaria Funding!!
Reporting to you live from outside the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit…
At the 2008 MDG Malaria Summit in New York today, global leaders in health, government and business announced over $3 billion in new malaria money to help spur the world toward ending malaria deaths by 2015 – making it the single biggest day for malaria announcements in the history of the fight against the disease.
Speakers including Bono, Gordon Brown, Bill Gates, President Kagame of Rwanda and President Kikwete of Tanzania discussed how far the world has come in recent years to combat malaria and how far we still have to go. Peter Chernin, President and COO of News Corporation and Malaria No More Chairman, helped moderate the event, adding that malaria is not an isolated disease but both a consequence and cause of extreme poverty.
Two of the biggest announcements were from the World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank, announced $1.1 billion as funding for Phase II of the World Bank Booster Program and Rajat Gupta, Chair of the Global Fund, announced Round 8 funding recommendations for malaria control efforts totaling $1.62 billion.
In celebrating the new commitments, grassroots support and political will that is driving the worldwide effort to end malaria deaths, event host UN Special Envoy for Malaria Ray Chambers urged the community not to become complacent. While today represents a big step forward, the race to end deaths – 3,000 children every day – is far from over.
For more information on the event and commitments, visit www.MalariaNoMore.org.
-Emily Bergantino, Communications Officer, Malaria No More
Bill Clinton Announces Africa Trip
Yesterday, former President Bill Clinton announced an upcoming trip to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Liberia and Senegal to promote the Clinton Foundation’s new programs to fight AIDS and malaria. Earlier this month, the Clinton Foundation “reached an agreement with several pharmaceutical companies to slash the price of the top anti-malaria treatment by 30 percent.”(AFP)
President Clinton travels to Africa once a year and his first trip was while he was president in 1998. Due to ONE members’ “Visit Africa” campaign in February, both Senators McCain and Obama have pledged, that if they’re elected, they’ll visit the continent during their presidency. Check out their pledges here.
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The International ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, with guest contributions from ONE volunteers, members and allies.
The content of each post and each comment represents the views of that author and does not necessarily reflect the views of ONE. ONE does not support or oppose any candidate for elected office, and any post expressing support or opposition for a candidate is not endorsed by ONE.
TAGS: 2010 World Cup, Bono, Clinton Global Initiative