As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the creation of safe and effective vaccines to fight the virus within a year of the first reported cases is a huge scientific achievement. It has shifted the conversation from “if” there will be an end to the pandemic to “when.” Even with vaccines being rolled out, we know that we won’t beat this disease fully until we beat it everywhere, so we need to ensure vaccines and medicines reach people at risk wherever they...
Isabel dos Santos is Africa’s richest woman, worth an estimated $3 billion. She has amassed a global empire of businesses, luxury apartments, and artwork, and built a reputation as a self-made woman who succeeded through hard work and determination. But reporting by investigative journalists has revealed she may have used secrecy and her government connections to help amass her fortune. Those connections included her father, who was president of Angola for 38 years until he stepped down in 2017. Dos...
In 2020, global health has gone from a fringe issue to the forefront of people’s mind, all thanks to COVID-19. The last time the entire world came close to being as focused on a pandemic threat was over two decades ago, when HIV/AIDS was killing almost 4,000 people every day and new infections doubled year after year. Since then, the global response to AIDS has become a success story, and AIDS-related deaths have been cut by more than half. Today,...
Marc Friend is the Assistant Director, US Government Relations at the ONE Campaign. Here’s his analysis and thoughts on recent congressional plans to strengthen global health security. COVID-19 has proven that we won’t be safe until the world works together to tackle this pandemic. Unfortunately, we also know that this won’t be the last deadly disease that the world will face. The US should be front and center leading the effort to prevent and respond to the next global health...
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...
Developing a vaccine is key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, and there are currently almost 100 COVID vaccine candidates under development. During a recent press briefing, Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, explained that “in an extraordinary time like this is the world coming to fully appreciate the need for vaccines … people understand more why it’s so important.” “If we want to end this pandemic, minimise the loss of life, and return to some semblance of normality …...
COVID-19 is impacting our lives, our communities, and our economies. While the virus is affecting everyone, it will have the most significant impact on those most vulnerable, whether they live across the street or across the ocean. Viruses don’t pay attention to borders — and neither can the world’s response plan. We need to mobilize resources for a humanitarian response not seen in decades. We need to make sure that new medicines and a vaccine, once available, are distributed equitably....
Activists from across the United States were on Capitol Hill this week to lobby their lawmakers to tackle global health and poverty challenges. After three days of advocacy training, 160 activists were at the Capitol on Tuesday February 25 for ONE’s annual Power Summit. This year, we advocated for funding for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and for senators to pass a bill to help stop global corruption and money laundering. Want to get involved? Call your representative and ask them to...
Ending poverty isn’t about charity or top-down interventions. It’s about ensuring people have the tools to build their own better future, writes Mimi Alemayehou as she joins ONE’s board. Great organizations — whether public, private or non-profit — that operate on a global scale tend to possess some of the same core attributes. They take a long-term view of their mission. They have a can-do mentality, refusing to be daunted by the complexity of the challenges they face. And they...
On May 20th the House passed the Global Fragility Act. As the Senate moves the bill through the legislative process, we’ve collected some questions about the bill, what it does, and the impact it will have on the fight to end extreme poverty. Below we provide answers to those questions. Let us know in the comments if you have other questions about the Global Fragility Act! 1. What does fragility have to do with ending extreme poverty? ONE is still fighting...