At the start of this week, ONE UK celebrated Africa Day in style with an Africa Day celebration in the new UK office.
In their finest African attire, ONE UK Youth Ambassadors, staff, alumni, partners, and Ubuntu Circle members came together for music, food, culture, and collaboration. They shared ideas, flavors, and stories that challenged the single story and spotlighted Africa’s true potential.
ONE Director of UK, Middle East & Asia Pacific, Adrian Lovett, kick-started the celebration, with an uplifting introduction about hope before handing it over to Stella Opoku-Owusu, Executive Director of AFFORD.
Stella, one of the UK Ubuntu Circle members gave a talk about, “Why Investing in Africa and its Global Diaspora is the way forward!” She spoke on the phenomenal but untapped power of the diaspora.
Stella’s talk was then followed by a spread of amazing dishes from North, East, South, West, and Central Africa.
UK aid lobby day
ONE UK ambassadors, in collaboration with over 20 other organizations, including WaterAid, Plan International, Results UK, Oxfam GB, Aid Alliance, and many others held a mass lobby against UK aid cuts.
In February, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a reduction in the UK aid budget from 0.5% to 0.3% of GNI. ONE predicts that if the 40% reduction in UK aid is evenly distributed across global health and food programs, the impact would include:
- Nearly 38 million fewer children immunized against diseases such as measles and polio
- Over 600,000 lives lost due to reduced support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria
- Almost 300,000 children missing out on school meals and essential food assistance from the World Food Programme
ONE activists also went into their meetings with an agenda to change the narrative about Africa and tell decision-makers that investing in Africa is a return, not a risk. Aid is a big part of this, and so is investment in African economies and health systems, whether by governments, philanthropists, or private investors.
Based in the Abbey Center in Westminster, activists spent the day hearing from Ministers and MPs such as Alice McDonald and Andrew Mitchell. ONE UK’s policy and advocacy team, Paul Cook and Eden Kulig, led the activists in an Aid 101 session.
Over 130 activists were present at the lobby day, and 34 MPs and advisors were spoken with. MPs such as Uma Kumaran, Ayoub Khan, and Rachel Blake were extremely supportive, they discussed making sure what’s left of UK aid is distributed well amongst Gavi and the Global Fund. They also introduced new conversations about investing in Africa, economic opportunities, and debt relief.
When you invest in Africa, you invest in our future
To wrap up the series of Africa Day events, our ONE UK Youth Ambassadors took to Victoria Tower Gardens on the afternoon of May 20th to create a stunning visual, displaying the many investment opportunities emerging from Africa.
By 2050 1 in 4 people will live on the continent of Africa, and Africa already has the youngest population globally.
Investing in Africa really is investing in the future!
