Elaine Kelley of the US Embassy Ouagadougou shares her experience visiting “self help” project sites in Burkina Faso. These projects are making a huge impact on the quality of life for many Burkinabé.
The US Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso will hold an Agreements Signing Ceremony in September for the 23 new micro-development projects it will support for small associations and communities in Burkina Faso. They plan to kick-off more than a dozen additional projects this month. These “self help” projects are a great example of how different US government agencies can work together to meet a common goal.
Finalists were recently announced for “Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development”– a giant science fair of sorts for innovators from around the world. This isn’t the kind of science fair with erupting fizzy volcanoes and a Styrofoam solar system — the winning projects from this fair could save millions of mothers and children globally.
In March, I attended the launch of the Grand Challenge, where Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stressed the need for innovators to get creative and develop proposals for new technologies and create more reliable and efficient ways to deliver health services. More than 600 applications were received for the Grand Challenge from around the world, and 77 finalists were selected to compete in the final stage for the ultimate prize — part of $50 million to make their invention a reality and save lives.
Check out this short documentary of the challenge to see some of the inventions.
Agriculture ‘next big thing’ in Africa, says World Bank expert – According to the World Bank, reforms to encourage the growth of new agri-businesses “could help tackle food insecurity in the future and help African nations become major food exporters.” Agriculture is the “next big thing on the continent,” said one official, who believes it presents an opportunity for the public and private sector to “really make things happen.” (Robyn Curnow, CNN)
Global study finds newborns struggle to survive – A new global study by the World Health Organization found that fewer newborn babies are dying worldwide, but progress is too slow and Africa is being left behind, particularly in the survival of babies in their first four weeks. According to one WHO export, “Newborn survival is being left behind despite well-documented, cost-effective solutions to prevent these deaths.” (Kate Kelland, Reuters)
Recently, ONE members in Omaha, Neb. got to sit down and talk in person with Senator Mike Johanns, R-Neb., and Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., to discuss the budget and how it will affect foreign aid.
Our first meeting was with Sen. Johanns himself. Sen. Johanns was already very familiar with ONE. The senator told us frankly that we have our work cut out for us, as the mood in DC is to cut all areas of the budget drastically. He assured us that since ONE “has a great presence” in Washington and is well-organized and well-led, we may have an opportunity to change some minds. Sen. Johanns also shared with us some experiences he had in his many visits to Africa when he was secretary of agriculture, where he saw firsthand the life saving benefits of foreign aid and sustainable agricultural programs.
Next, we met with Rep. Terry. Rep. Terry was also familiar with ONE and expressed his pleasure in meeting with us. The congressman says he supports bipartisan efforts, which is one of the reasons he appreciates ONE’s work. He currently serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee and agreed that we are living in an increasingly interconnected world, and that what happens on the other side of the globe can affect us in our own communities. The congressman is fiscally conservative but does understand the importance of foreign aid and the role that the US plays.
Rep. Terry also said he was very interested in our local ONE chapter and wanted us to keep him updated on our work in the community, then, within a couple weeks of our meeting ONE members talked to him twice more at local events!
We appreciate Sen. Johanns and Rep. Terry for taking time out of their busy schedules to talk to Nebraskans about smart programs that are saving lives and giving people opportunities to lift themselves out of extreme poverty, while keeping us safer at home — all for less than 1 percent of the federal budget.
-Steve White and Sarah Lewis, Congressional District leaders, Nebraska
Today is an important day for Muslims all over the world — it is Eid al-Fitr, a holiday that marks the end of Ramadan. While most Muslims will celebrate this special day by exchanging gifts and eating traditional foods with their loved ones, thousands of Muslim Somalis living in famine will not get the option to break their fast today, tomorrow, or the week after that.
Kenyans using mobile phone money transfers to raise funds for drought relief – Kenyans are raising funds for drought relief using a new mobile phone service called M-pesa, which “allows people without a bank account to instantly transfer money between phones anywhere in Kenya.” Users can load money onto their phones and send it to other M-pesa users, who can then exchange the credit for cash. (AP)
IKEA giving UN $62 million to expand overcrowded refugee complex in Kenya – The IKEA Foundation is donating $62 million over three years to expand the world’s largest refugee complex in Dadaab, Kenya. The camp, which was designed to hold 90,000 people, “is struggling with some 440,000 refugees, including 150,000 who arrived just in the last few months.” (AP)
Elizabeth Wright of Concern Worldwide asks people to remember those living in urban parts of the Horn of Africa who are suffering from the drought.
Today, the worst drought in 60 years ― combined with dramatic spikes in food prices ― has triggered a catastrophic food crisis, leaving 3.5 million Kenyans in need of immediate food assistance. Rural, pastoralist communities in the north have been devastated, with massive deaths of livestock and alarming rates of malnutrition making headlines around the world.
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.
