I attended the official “signing ceremony” today canceling Haiti’s debt to the InterAmerican Development Bank– Haiti’s largest creditor. With a few pen strokes, around $450 million was wiped off the books, allowing Haiti to focus its money on rebuilding, not repaying old loans.
One of the US Treasury’s top officials gave ONE a nice shout out from stage for all we did to make this day possible.
It was only 9 months ago when the 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti. Rebuilding continues slowly. But debt cancellation is nearly complete. Nine months is like a nanosecond in debt relief terms. We should all be proud of helping make this happen.
It’s a wet and dreary day here in New Hampshire, but that did not stop Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty from making his way up to the Granite State to campaign for a few New Hampshire local candidates.
Congress passed a stopgap funding measure to keep the federal government running as Congress returned home before the midterm elections. This temporary measure, known as a continuing resolution (CR), was needed to keep the government operating. Without this legislation, funding for the government would expire today, the end of the government’s fiscal year.
The CR for us means that global health, education, and agriculture programs will continue to be funded at the same level as the current fiscal year. We had been working with the Appropriations Committees in the House and Senate to increase funding for them for next year.
Congress will extend funding at current levels until December 3. They are scheduled to come back into session November 15 to debate and consider unfinished business such as these spending bills. When they return, ONE will continue to push our key priorities with Congress to make sure that our priorities receive the funding they deserve.
Other infections cause high HIV rates in women, study finds – Malaria, and other common African infections, may make women more susceptible to HIV/AIDS than they are in the developed world, according to a new study that may help solve the mystery of the vastly different infection rates around the globe. (David Njagi, AllAfrica.com)
More help needed as South African AIDS orphans age – As more South African orphans infected with HIV/AIDS live past childhood thanks to medication and targeted care, aid groups are advocating for the government to provide more specialized attention to help this population navigate young adult life with AIDS. (Jenny Gross, AP)
Malaria vaccine trial disappoints – Only five of the 80 volunteers vaccinated against malaria were protected from the harmful disease in U.S. medical company, Sanaria’s first malaria vaccine trial, prompting the organization to seek more funding for further research. (Maggie Fox, Reuters) Zoellick seeks development reform – World Bank President Robert Zoellick maintains that economists from wealthy nations should modify their approach to international development in order to reflect the rise of emerging economies and lessons from the financial crisis. (James Politi, Financial Times)
NIH joins patent pool for AIDS drugs – The U.S. National Institutes of Health will be the first research institution to join an HIV medicines patent pool launched by UNITAID, a health financing system funded by a tax on airline tickets designed to make treatments more widely available to the poor. (Kate Kelland, Reuters)
This morning, I was surprised to discover that Mozambique’s government had told private mobile phone companies to shut off text messaging services after discovering that rioters were using texts to mobilize. While it certainly stopped the rioters from communicating, it froze crucial communication for the people who may have found themselves in danger at the riot.
This just goes to show the power of organizing through mobile phone communication in Africa. Although it was used for violence in the case of Mozambique, it has the capacity to do a lot of social good. Many local African activists use SMS to organize peaceful protests, and organizations use it to disseminate emergency alerts during times of crisis and conflict.
Mobile phones are a big deal in Africa. Because computers are so expensive, many Africans rely on affordable mobile technology for communication. According to Mashable, between 2003 and 2008, Africa had the fastest growing mobile phone market in the world. More than one-third of Africa has a mobile plan, with some areas reaching two-thirds market penetration. And Nokia says they plan on growing their African market by 300 million new subscribers — that’s more than what they’ll get from India and China together.
Aid and development organizations in Africa have taken advantage of these figures by using mobile phone technology as a tool for life-saving aid efforts and health and agricultural education. The Grameen Foundation’s Community Knowledge Worker program in Uganda, for example, sends out critical farming information to poor African smallholders. Cell-Life Aftercare, a joint project between two South African universities, remotely monitors 15 to 20 patients per heath care worker, provide supplemental medical updates. And Ushahidi.com allows users to map areas of conflict by submitting a tip via their mobile phones.
It’s clear that mobile phone technology plays a huge role in connecting Africans — not just on a personal level, but on an organizing and educational level, too. Allowing the government to shut down this technology at random would render these innovative programs and positive networks unreliable for millions of Africans.
Professor Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Foundation, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and micro-financing mastermind, is making a guest appearance on “The Simpsons” on Sunday, October 3 at 8 PM EDT.
“The Simpsons” has had many guest stars in its two-decade run — Brooke Shields, Bette Midler, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and James Taylor, just to name a few — so, it’s exciting to see that they’re adding a bit of highbrow flair into the mix.
According to the Grameen Foundation, Professor Yunus will be teaching Springfield “an important lesson about financial success and social good.” Sounds good to me — but I hope Homer doesn’t do anything to ruin it!
President Barack Obama was talking with Iowans in my neighborhood this morning. Although I was able to get inside the event, three ONE members were lucky enough to be invited to the backyard town hall. They all wore their ONE bands and pins, but unfortunately, they didn’t get a chance to talk with the president individually.
But outside of the event, I stood on the corner across the street with other ONE members in ONE shirts, holding signs that asked the president to support the Global Fund. I was proud to be out there to show support for ONE and the world’s poorest people!
While we were standing there, waiting for the president to leave, a lot of people asked me what ONE was about. We had a chance to tell them about our campaign for the Global Fund, and how we can help ensure that no baby is born with HIV by 2015. One of the women standing next to us was a nurse who had worked with newborn babies, and she too agreed that all babies, no matter where they are born, deserve a fresh start on a healthy life.
Finally, when the President was on his way out, we held our signs up high — and when he saw us, he waved and gave a big thumbs up!
Even though I didn’t get to talk to him, I am glad he saw ONE members today in Iowa and hope he remembers ONE and our signs.
But you can do more than hope that President Obama supports the Global Fund — you can call him right now and urge him to pledge $6 billion to the Global Fund to ensure that no child is born with HIV by 2015!
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
