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We Have a Winner!
Last month we did something we’ve never done before. We asked ONE members to design a new T-shirt. At the time, we had no idea what to expect, but your response was nothing short of staggering.
ONE members from around the globe submitted more than 500 designs, our expert judges selected 3 finalists and more than 58,000 of you voted for your favourite. And now, we have a winner in ONE’s Next Top T-shirt challenge.
The winning T-shirt design, seen below, came from Valerie Strecker of Slidell, Louisiana, USA and it’s available for pre-order in black and white, and in both men’s and women’s styles from the ONE Store.
As Chalya Shagaya said in the email kicking off this contest, “What we wear says a lot about who we are…The right design has the power to go even further, and spark a global conversation. It starts with “I love your shirt, what does it mean?” and ends with greater awareness of the role we can all play in ending poverty and disease in some of the most vulnerable places on earth.”
Hopefully this T-shirt, and all the other great stuff available in the ONE Store, can play a small role in starting that conversation. Because we know the power of your voice in the fight against global poverty, and now we also know the power of your creativity.
A big thank you to everyone who submitted a design. We’re all inspired by your talent and commitment. Also, to our judges who had the very difficult task of choosing our two runners-up: Alex Robbins and Danny Hass.
The design is being printed right now on our new, made in Uganda, 100% organic, fair-traded cotton T-shirts and they’ll be ready to ship in just over a week. The shirts come in black and white, and in both men’s and women’s styles and they make great gifts. Don’t wait, get yours today.
Last Chance to Vote for ONE’s Next Top T-shirt
At 10pm GMT/UTC tonight, ONE’s Next Top T-shirt Challenge will be over. Have you looked at the top 3 designs and voted for your favourite yet? After you vote, we’ll give you a 15% off coupon for the ONE Store. You can use that coupon to order the winning T-shirt (it’ll be available shortly after the voting wraps up) or any of our other great merchandise.
A big thanks to the more than 500 ONE members who submitted designs. Their creativity was inspiring. And to our expert judges, too. They had the near impossible task of whittling the contenders down to three. Check the finalists out now and go vote for ONE’s Next Top T-shirt.
Philanthrocapitalism
The paperback version of “Philanthrocapitalism: How Giving Can Save the World” is now on sale. The book by Economist journalist Matthew Bishop and development writer Michael Green looks at how wealthy philanthropists have become engaged in the fight against poverty. It includes sections on the work of ONE and Bill Gates. Read more at www.philanthrocapitalism.net.
Pick Your T-shirt
Wow. Since we launched ONE’s Next Top T-shirt challenge 3 weeks ago, more than 500 ONE members have sent us T-shirt design ideas. Their designs moved us, made us laugh and reminded everyone involved with this project that your creativity is a powerful force in the fight against global poverty.
The other judges and I had a tough time narrowing it down to 3, but we’ve done it and now it’s time to vote for your favourite T-shirt.
And to say thanks, after you vote we’ll send you a coupon for 15% off from the ONE Store. Here’s a sneak-peek at the finalists:
The winning T-shirt will be available in black and white, and in both men’s and women’s styles in the ONE Store online. We’ll let you know which design took the top honours soon.
But first, you have to decide which T-shirt they are going to wear. Vote now.
Chalya Shagaya is a former model and currently works as an International Fashion Stylist, Consultant & PR manager. She has held several positions in the fashion industry, producing fashion shows and music videos. From Nigeria, Chalya also works with African designers like Deola Sagoe and Korto Momolu of “Project Runway”, as well as a number of African recording artists.
Google it
This week brings an exciting new development for Google enthusiasts and all those interested in fact-based debate and data. According to the Official Google Blog, World Bank public data will now be more readily available and easy to find through the search engine.
Google explains it like this:
With today’s update, you can quickly access more data with a broad range of queries. Search should be intuitive, so we’ve done the work to think through queries where public data will be most relevant to you. To see the new data, try queries like [gdp of indonesia], [life expectancy brazil], [rwanda's population growth], [energy use of iceland], [co2 emissions of iceland] and [gdp growth rate argentina].
Overall Google has made 17 World Bank indicators available to search, and many of them will be of great interest to those interested in development issues. For example you can cross-check the per capita Gross National Income of the East African states of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania:
Or you could compare the per capita CO2 emissions of the US, Germany, China and Ethiopia:
Clearly this opening up of public statistics has the potential to be a great tool, and the hope is it will inspire people to look more deeply at some of the world’s inequalities.
Check it out, and let us know what you think.
Prioritising a promise
The UK has been a historic leader on development assistance, and now we’ve got a chance to enshrine that leadership into law.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently announced that he will make the UK’s commitment on development assistance legally binding. This would be a historic step. It would not only ensure that we deliver on our promises to developing countries, it would also allow them to plan better for the future.
But we only have 7 working days before the Queen’s Speech to ensure that the government prioritises this legislation and sets the standard for the rest of the world to follow in 2010.
Please take action by signing our petition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Thank you for taking part,
Article ONE: How did we do?
Following the German elections in September, the new government in Berlin is now formed of 3 parties – the CDU, the CSU and the FDP. In order for them to be able to work productively during their 4 year term they have agreed on a coalition treaty, which points the way for the for the future political direction of the German government.
As the goal of our ‘Article ONE’ campaign was to influence the content of the coalition treaty, we’ve picked apart the Article ONE and the treaty to see how we did.
Article ONE: “The German government has the duty to act decisively against extreme poverty….”
The coalition treaty speaks of values and interests in development politics. There is also an important reference, containing the commitment to fight extreme poverty, to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Article ONE: “…The successes of the past years show that there is a way out of poverty….”
There is no reference to development successes of recent years in the coalition treaty.
Article ONE: “…Germany keeps its promise to Africa and will allocate 0,51% in 2010 and 0,7% of its gross national income no later than 2015 for development assistance….”
The international commitments to finance development are enforced in the treaty. However, whilst the 0.7% goal is named, concrete timing is not. However by referring to “international commitments” the treaty implies that this goal – through an intermediate goal of 0.51% ODA/GNI by 2010 – shall be reached by 2015. The CDU/CSU’s “Government Program 2009 to 2013” contains similar wording. ONE asked the Secretary Generals of the CDU and CSU to clarify this wording and they confirmed that the above interpretation is accurate. ONE therefore assumes the meaning is the same in the coalition treaty. There is, however, a reservation clause on the budget of which the exact relevance and meaning remain unclear to us.
The coalition treaty ensures a “design of development assistance tailored to the need at hand in the areas of biodiversity as well as the fight against climate change and hunger”. This will make substantial Overseas Development Aid (ODA) increases necessary.
Article ONE: “…Ownership as well as transparent and coordinated aid is key to highly effective development assistance….”
Strengthening the individual responsibility of the developing countries is named as a central element and the importance of coordination on a national as well as an international level is picked up broadly in the treaty. There is a strong emphasis on streamlining and co-ordinating donors’ assistance (as called for in the Paris Declaration on the effectiveness of development aid) but there is no explicit reference to the importance of transparency. The increase in efficiency and effectiveness is mentioned several times.
Article ONE: “…The efforts need to be focused on the MDGs….”
The MDGs are seen as central goal of development politics.
Article ONE: “…Thus the German government extends its engagement in the sectors health, agriculture, education and infrastructure….”
The key sectors named in the Article ONE are also named by the next government as key in development politics.
Article ONE: “…In addition, Germany supports a trade initiative for Africa…”
A trade initiative for Africa is not explicitly supported. However, several key elements to fairer trade with Africa are named.
Article ONE: “… and a fair debt process for countries that are threatened by unsustainable debt.”
The coalition treaty contains this Article ONE demand.
So as you can see: overall we didn’t do badly. Thanks to the support of thousands of ONE members we got several of our asks into the directive for the new German government. Now the real work begins: to see those directives turned into action!
Return to Ethiopia
ONE’s Co-Founder and Executive Director, Jamie Drummond on a personal journey
Twenty five years ago, like many of my generation, I was called to action by images of drought and starvation – and by a couple of shaggy-haired, Irish rock stars with whom I’ve now been working for a decade. The Ethiopian famines and the world’s response through Band Aid and Live Aid have shaped the image of Africa for a generation and spurred concerted action to fight extreme poverty. A quarter of a century on, it is perhaps a good moment to ask how the aid that has flowed has worked and how the model of celebrity-led advocacy is faring.
A few weeks ago, I returned to Tigray in northern Ethiopia to look again at the impact of funds raised by Band Aid and the work of the World Food Programme. I travelled through this region in 1995 and visited a village called Daereda. Drought and a desperate population had denuded their valley of trees and greenery; fertile top soil had been eroded by seasonal flash floods. Back then, many of the villagers were grateful for the food aid they had received and quick to thank the western public and a far-off thing called Geldof. But they wanted more than handouts – they wanted to take matters into their own hands and heal the physical damage to their lands.
The food aid helped them do just that. It was being given through “food for work” programmes. Teams of thousands set to work planting trees, contouring steep hillsides to conserve soil and water, digging ponds and building check dams, all to raise the lands fertility. Today, the results are astonishing. The valley is lush and green; the river flows all year round; the land is more fertile and productive.
This success story is echoed in valleys across Tigray. The region receives many expert visitors to see how it was done. And in spite of the images of starvation we’re currently confronted with, it’s not the only positive story to have come out of Ethiopia in the past decade. The country has also halved malarial death rates through widespread use of insecticide= treated bed nets, and doubled school enrolment. Economic growth has been over 5% for a decade, 7% on average for the last three years.
But parts of the country, and region, are still on the verge of starvation. This could lead some quickly to assume that 25 years on nothing has changed. No serious investigation can lead to the conclusion, but it is still not acceptable that 14 million Ethiopians today rely on food aid and that for some rations are being cut.
The answer as ever is complex. Climate change is causing more frequent droughts, impairing rural communities’ coping mechanisms. Not enough has been spent on rural roads and the government hasn’t permitted mobile phones or developed local markets. But above all there has been insufficient global attention paid to agriculture. Spending on agriculture went down from 17% of global aid in 1980 to just 3.8 % in 2006. It’s stunning that after the famines of the 1980s we didn’t increase investment in long-term regional food security and agricultural productivity. The World Bank and IMF even counselled against it as part of their notorious structural adjustment programmes. Tough questions must now be asked about the international development business and how this was allowed to happen.
At last this year the G8 countries agreed to invest $20bn in agricultural productivity. The new policy focus is certainly welcome, though it’s not clear how much is new and it is clear that much more of this kind of support will be needed to help Africa’s rural poor adapt to climate change. These investments must flow quickly in support of nationally designed plans and build up the long-term response even as we quickly disburse the short-term food aid needed again this year.
Twenty five years on, where does all this leave celebrity advocacy? Bob Geldof and Bono for their part moved from charity fundraising to working on debt cancellation and the deeper structural causes of poverty. The largely successful Drop the Debt campaign they supported, along with many ardent development activists, grew into the Make Poverty History campaign and Live 8 concerts in 2005. Bono and Bob are now part of ONE, an Africa advocacy group with two million campaigners around the world.
Because of the strong movement in this country, the UK has now come to a remarkable place on development. Gordon Brown leads the world in his tireless lobbying for the poor; for this, Bono and others praised him personally at the Labour party conference. The Liberal Democrat and Conservative parties also endorse the drive to keep Britain’s promise to devote 0.7 % of national income to overseas development and maintain the push to improve aid quality.
It was in acknowledgement of this cross-party support that Bono also recorded a video message for the Conservatives’ conference. This was no party political endorsement, just a simple way to underline the importance of Britain’s continued leadership on the world stage, whichever party is in power after the next election.
Twenty five years after the Ethiopian famine, its legacy is palpable. As well as effective campaigning groups and celebrity activists, corporate leaders and former presidents are putting their second careers fully behind the fight against extreme poverty. What was once a backwater is now mainstream, “pop” even, and of course some hate that.
But 25 years on, this big messy movement – and, above all, the African individuals and groups who are increasingly taking charge – can celebrate and accelerate success. Next year’s World Cup in South Africa is indeed the greatest possible branding moment for the exciting forward momentum of the continent. “Africa Rising” is increasingly replacing “Africa Starving” as the story.
But we in the development world must learn from failures. African experts have long argued for increased investment in agriculture; their voices were ignored. Going forward therefore we must follow Archbishop Tutu’s counsel – that we always ensure that we are “listening to what Africans actually want, that Africans drive their own development”. Credible celebrity activists can help that process by encouraging public debate about both successes and failures, by backing African voices to lead that debate and then backing out of the way.
ONE’s Northern Exposure
The U2 Tour wrapped up in Vancouver last week and ONE members from the home of the 2010 Olympic Games (as all my cab drivers were proud to remind me) didn’t let a steady cold rain keep them from coming out to sign up new ONE members.
Our Vancouver volunteers were an enthusiastic and engaged group of and I was fortunate enough to get to chat with a few of them.
Lauren Chan
Lauren learned about ONE from a high school teacher. And as Graduation Committee President, she led her class in purchasing 58,000 tetanus shots for UNICEF. It was the first time a Langara High School class had donated it’s graduation committee fund-raising to charity and a sign of Lauren’s commitment to making a difference on issues of global poverty and preventable disease.
Eva, Paul, Heather and Rebeca
We got a little lost in conversation, so I’m sure they’ll forgive me if I don’t get the relationships right. But in the picture above you can see husband and wife Paul and Eva, along with Paul’s sister Rebeca and Eva’s sister Heather. And how did Paul and Heather meet? Through their work as anti-poverty advocates, of course. Paul and Heather both worked as Regional Team Leaders for our partner organization World Vision in British Colombia. They admit that some of those meetings when they first met weren’t the most productive, but it’s clear that they’re the most dedicated of activists. Paul is in his first year of law school at Saskatoon University Law School, where he hopes to eventually specialize in human rights and international law. He told me that ONE broadly encapsulates what they want to do with their lives – work against poverty and for greater justice. Eva continues at World Vision and talked with me about the power of participation that comes when the public engages and really understands the issues – and she’s a big fan of ONE.org when it comes to educating people on global poverty. Eva also talked about how ONE empowers kids to get involved in different ways. “Kids who might otherwise think of global poverty and say “I work at McDonald’s, I can’t afford to sponsor a child.” “But through ONE, they realize that their voices are powerful.”
Harneet Gosal
Harneet is a student at Simon Fraiser University and first got involved with ONE in high school. She signed up tons of new ONE members and particularly enjoyed talking about the issues with concert-goers. She even had a vigorous discussion with a U2 fan from the Czech Republic who wanted to know why she thought fighting poverty and disease in the developing world was important. She must have made a good argument, because he signed up to become a ONE member.
Robin and Dave McCombe
When Matt Higginson asked Robin and Dave if they’d rocked their volunteer work, they replied “punk rock all the way.” I’m sure the band performing that night would be pleased. Robin and Dave first got involved with ONE through their church, Coquitlam Alliance, where they watched video of an interview Bono did with a minister in Boston. They were particularly excited to see how excited the younger generation was about signing up to join ONE. “Nothing against the old folks,” as Dave said, “but it’s great to see kids, teenagers and young couples couples get involved. They also saw a lot of white bands in the crowd worn by concert-goers who are already ONE members.
This is our last stop on the 2009 U2 360 Tour and there’s not much more left to say, except for a giant thank you. I’m sure I’m forgetting far too many people, but thank you to Weldon and Matt, Marisa, Roxy, Luisa, Nealon, Leah, the more than 1,000 ONE members who came out to volunteer at 44 shows, and last, but definitely not least, U2 for sharing this amazing tour with us.
T-shirt Challenge deadline extended
The ONE Next Top T-shirt Challenge is going strong and we’ve already received more than 400 T-shirt designs! So a big thank you to everyone who has submitted a design so far!
The good news is that we’ve decided to keep the creativity going! We are therefore extending the deadline for T-shirt design submissions until 6 November at 5pm GMT/UTC, so you have a few more days to submit your idea!
Learn more, check out other ONE member’s T-shirt ideas and submit your design.
P.S. Here’s a small sample of some designs we’ve received so far:
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About the Blog
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.
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