“The President is right: we can get this done”

UNITED NATIONS – President Obama spoke at the United Nations on Sunday about the adoption by world leaders of 17 new Global Goals for Sustainable Development — an ambitious strategy for fighting inequality, protecting our planet, and ending extreme poverty by 2030. The historic Global Goals build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals, which helped cut malaria deaths by more than half, reduced new HIV infections by 40 percent, and contributed to a worldwide decline in extreme poverty of 50 percent.

Tom Hart, ONE’s executive director for North America, released the following statement reacting to President Obama’s remarks:

“President Obama’s speech was a reminder of just how indispensable the United States’ leadership is to global development.

“The Global Goals for Sustainable Development are a historic undertaking that cannot be allowed to fail. They are a worldwide strategy for confronting both the causes and symptoms of extreme poverty — a blueprint designed to focus resources and concentrate investments on solutions that will deliver meaningful results. I was proud to see President Obama so emphatically commit the United States to seeing the Global Goals through.

“An aggressive global development strategy — including the fulfillment of the Global Goals — is in the United States’ strategic interest. The people able to lift themselves out of poverty because of our help will become consumers of American-made products. The businesses able to flourish because of the reliable access to electricity we helped build will create jobs that allow people to provide for their families. The girls who get the education they deserve because of our help will be able to grow into strong national leaders. The local and regional health systems built because of our help will prevent the spread of viruses like Ebola. The food grown safely and locally because of our help will reduce the need for emergency U.S. food aid.

“In his remarks, President Obama talked about a letter he received from Eva Tolage, a 15-year-old girl from Mlowa Village in Tanzania, who is working with the ONE Campaign and Restless Development to draw attention to the plight of impoverished women and girls. ‘My dream is to be an educated girl because there is nothing we can enjoy without education,’ she wrote. ‘I want to see every single girl in the world being educated so we can all achieve our big dreams.’ Eva sees every day how poverty is sexist. For Eva — and for every girl around the world — world leaders should commit to addressing these challenges and ensure every girl around the world gets the opportunity to thrive.

“Eight Congresses and at least three presidents will play a role in the success or failure of these goals, and all will need to be held accountable for delivering on them. They’ll make decisions about funding for programs to fight HIV/AIDS, hunger, and illiteracy, and promote economic growth, energy access, good governance and democracy around the world — all efforts that enjoy bipartisan support.

“The President is right: we can get this done, and we cannot be complacent with how far we’ve come. The incredible progress that the world has made against disease, hunger and poverty is an accomplishment to be built upon, not a victory to be declared. We must not soften our focus and ease our investment — it’s the time to leverage the momentum and push forward and get the job done.”