As the world continues to battle coronavirus, the pandemic is wreaking havoc on the economies of the poorest countries and could push millions of people into hunger and poverty.
Governments desperately need money to fund emergency plans but are faced with the impossible choice of saving lives or making debt repayments. We can do something about it.
But what of the people that will be profoundly affected by the decisions world leaders make? We asked our Global Activists how the pandemic...
Debt
At the end of July, in private closed-door discussions, donor countries reached an agreement on debt relief that will have massive implications for development aid. Spoiler alert: it’s bad news.
This deal could allow donors to artificially inflate their aid statistics, counting relief for loans that are not for development, and double counting aid money if they provide relief. This is an unfair change, particularly in the middle of a global pandemic when more aid — not double counted aid...
ONE’s team in Brussels is working at the heart of the European institutions, campaigning and influencing decision-makers to keep on advancing the fight against extreme poverty and preventable diseases. Here’s what’s keeping the team and our global activists across Europe busy.
1. The EU’s seven-year budget
The EU’s seven-year budget, also known as the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), has kept the Brussels team occupied, with more than two years of relentless campaigning. On 21 July at a European Council summit that...
Fifteen years ago at the historic Gleneagles summit hosted by the UK, The ONE Campaign joined millions of campaigners to push G8 leaders to cancel 100% of the multilateral debt owed by the world’s poorest countries and double aid to Africa. Adding this to previous debt cancellation from Jubilee 2000, close to $100 billion of debt was written off for 36 heavily indebted countries.
After years of burdensome debt payments, incurred by undemocratic leaders, African governments had a clean slate...
New OECD projects paint a grim picture for economic growth and recovery in the world’s biggest economies. The projections focus on two scenarios, one in which there is a second outbreak of COVID-19 infections before the end of 2020, with global lockdowns reinstated, and the other where a new wave is avoided.
But our Executive Director of Policy David McNair asked a different question: how will the aftershocks of COVID-19 affect the world’s poorest countries?
https://twitter.com/David_McNair/status/1271393245365522434
Government measures around the world have...
Dame Minouche Shafik is the director of the London School of Economics. We interviewed Dame Minouche as part of our #PassTheMic series.
Here’s some of what she had to say in the interview.
The biggest challenge we currently face with coronavirus is — and it seems obvious to say this — that it’s a global pandemic. So unless we solve it everywhere, we will never solve it.
On the health side, a global response is essential for solving this pandemic. Otherwise,...
The costs of the COVID-19 pandemic are going to be monumental. Africa alone is estimated to need US$100-$200 billion to address the impact. In higher income countries, governments have stepped forward with trillions in economic stimulus packages. But the majority of developing countries do not have the money to cover the costs of this pandemic.
Debt relief is one of the fastest, most effective means of freeing up cash in developing country budgets. The recent G20 agreement to suspend debt...
The word “scary” likely brings to mind creepy creatures, spooky specters, masked murderers, or any number of iconic horror images. But “global development” likely isn’t the first scary thing that enters your mind.
While it won’t be the topic of the next big horror movie, some of the challenges facing development can be truly horrifying. From extreme poverty, to gender equality, to corruption, these issues affect millions of people worldwide. Even the most vicious, havoc-wreaking creature of the night wouldn’t...
Written by Jamie Drummond, ONE’s Co-Founder.
Firstly – apologies!
Open letters like this can be self-important and irritating, but they can also be a helpful way of driving a set of specific questions upon disparate gatherings – like Davos or UNGA – with the hope of focussing debate and driving towards answers. And given the development sector’s been hit by “UNGA fever” again – here goes.
A few years ago, many of us, across the public, private and non-profit sectors, worked together...
As the new Global Goals start to sink in, it is exciting to appreciate how they are linked to some wisdom that has been passed on for many generations through African proverbs. Here is a sneak peak in to some of our favourites!