The Journey of a Vaccine

Living Proof | A Rotavirus Vaccine's Journey from ONE Campaign on Vimeo.

Follow the journey of a vaccine to Nicaragua to prevent rotavirus. This particular virus kills 2 million children a year but will soon be introduced to many of the world's poorest countries.

-Chelsey Dambro

Source: ONE Campaign

Appeal from the Executive Director of ONE

The UN recently released data that the famine has not yet reached its peak and will continue to get worse before the situation may begin to make a turnaround in early 2012.

Many international agencies believe that the famine, a disaster created not by nature but by humans, could have been prevented. After the last famine that attacked the Horn of Africa, safety measure were put in place to prevent another widespread humanitarian disaster. However, history is repeating itself once again, which is the argument that is put forth by Jamie Drummond, the executive director of ONE. Click here to see his appeal.

"We can’t just blame politics for their fate while sitting by and doing nothing. We must deal with the politics embedded into the way we deal with the crisis – the local issues that turn drought into famine, the regional complexities that make response slow and difficult, and the global neglect that means promises are rarely kept. We must learn these lessons and in the name of those who have died, declare this time for real: never again."

Let's do our part as global citizens. Please take the time to get in contact with your congressional leaders. See yesterday's blog post for an email template that can be sent so that life-saving food assistance programs will not be slashed in Congress.

-Chelsey Dambro

Source: africanarguments.org

An Army of Good

Real difference can be achieved with a dedicated group of people. By training 30,000+ high school-educated females about healthcare, Ethiopia was able to eliminate malaria by 50% and increase immunizations by 35% in five years. This is a great example of developmental growth that is occurring in Africa as we speak!



-Chelsey Dambro



Source: One.org

ONE App: Use It And Change The World

Changing the world has never become easier for iPhone users as a new app has been launched that will allow the users to instigate change. Most of us do not get enough time to get political even though some of us are passionate about it. But the new app is here to solve this problem.

the iPhone app, ONE attempts to make it easier for you to get informed on various issues, and take political action on the issues you care about. The app works like this: it uses your zip code to find out which local policy makers could influence decisions on an issue such as, extreme poverty and preventable diseases and then lets you call the senator. It also attempts to modernize political call to action by inviting you to sign a petition or join up with a real life rally for various causes in order to raise awareness.

ONE is a national campaign backed by singer Bono that mobilizes over 2 million people to raise public awareness on issues like education, development assistance and maternal and child health through advocacy. Their slogan is “We’re not asking for your money, just your voice.” The app was created in a partnership with @radical.media, and it offers a way to track how ONE is affecting change.

If you have an iPhone, use the new app. If you want to see change in the world, you better start working on it and be a part of the campaign.

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: TECH CRUNCH

Creating Accountable Leadership in Africa!

If a government is not accountable to its citizens, development cannot be sustainable. Resources and services shift away from the population and business and civil society cannot thrive. In developing countries this can often times be the case. But, people are starting to stand up and create civil/social forces to work against corrupt and unaccountable leadership.

African-led civil society organization called SEND (the winner of the ONE's 2010 Africa Award) has played an influential role in empowering local people to hold-decision and policy makers accountable so that services can be improved. They are using technology such as mobile phones, the internet and social media, combined with newspaper, radio and television to enhance information sharing and demand accountability. With greater transparency and information sharing people are more willing to speak up, raise their voice and transform the framework of power.

From Nigeria to Kenya, from the rural to urban areas, local African lead the way. A great example is Ushahidid (testimony in Swahili), which was created after the election violence in Kenya. It brings together African businessmen, technology and social activist. The platform uses cell phones as modes of feedback on health and education services within the area.
The organization ONE has been very involved and is attempting to promote transparency and accountability in three ways!

1). At the global level-- working with International Budget Partners and others to promote transparency around oil and revenues, while urging donors to be more transparent about the aid they are giving.

2). Supporting African organizations-- such as Ushahidi and SEND

3). Help create the connection between local and global--so that countries like Ghana and Uganda can attain the benefits of rules set in Washington.

As Rakesh states in the ONE video above, "The way change happens is if people make it happen." People have to stand up and move from being observers to participants. If people can more effectively access information, they can become aware, they can speak out, and the leaders can no longer ignore the people.

-Gabrielle Gurian

SOURCE: ONE

Sign The Petition, Now!

Those of you who are looking for a way to help impoverished children, here's your chance! All you have to do is to sign a petition for ONE and save 4 million kids' lives in the next 5 years.

Every year in the developing world, nearly 1 out of 3 child deaths is caused by diarrhea or pneumonia. These two preventable diseases kill more kids than malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis combined. Crazy, isn't it? But for the very first time, we’ve got two new vaccines—one for pneumonia, one for diarrhea—that will protect kids for the rest of their lives.

We've only got a few weeks to make it happen because in just a few short weeks, the White House will decide how much to pledge to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (called GAVI). It is our responsibility to tell them that every kid deserves a healthy life, and we must take measures to ensure that.

ONE's petition reads like this:

"Childhood vaccines are one of the most cost-effective ways to save lives and prevent disease for a lifetime. Please fund two proven, new vaccines that will help stop pneumonia and diarrhea—two of the biggest killers of children in poor countries."

You can sign the petition at http://www.one.org/us/actnow/vaccines2011/

Mother Teresa once said, "It is poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” It is high time we change the saying. It is high time we make sure that no child dies to make us live. I have already signed the petition, and I am hoping you will do your part as well!

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: ONE

Funding For Fighting Poverty Is Preserved!!

Those who were worried about the House of Representatives' decision to cut aid money can finally relax now as last night the Senate preserved all funding for fighting global poverty. The Senate passed the 2011 US budget compromise by a margin of 81-19 votes which came just hours after the House passed it 260-167. Fortunately, the budget preserves almost all key funding for various programs fighting poverty in the developing world. Here’s a breakdown of what these programs finally ended up with in the FY11 budget:

# The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria– no cut, funded at $1.05 billion

# The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) — no cut, funded at $4.6 billion

# Feed the Future Initiative (agriculture) (bilateral) — no cut, funded at about $813 million

# Feed the Future Initiative (agriculture) (multilateral) — received $100 million appropriation for the first time

# Development Assistance — no cut, at FY10 level of $2.5 billion (contains ag, ed, microfinance, water, etc)

# GAVI – hard to determine, but most likely to be flat at $78 million, perhaps better

# World Bank IDA — no cut, at $1.235 billion

The ONE Campaign has been advocating for months to preserve the abovementioned key programs at current funding. They delivered a petition of over 150,000 signatures, made over 16,000 calls to members of Congress, and arranged hundreds of in-district meetings. Those who did not sign the petition or make the call do not need to feel left out. We'll need you again next year to step up and save millions of lives in the developing world for 2012 budget fight.

For now, I am just glad I signed the petition!

-Nisha Noor

SOURCE: ONE

ONE International's Petition For Increased Transparency In Aid Funding

ONE International, through their online blog, has created a petition for people to sign to demand governments publish details of what they fund with aid money. The ONE organization wants to influence governments (especially Italy, Portugal, Austria and Japan who are the least transparent) to become more transparent in letting the public know exactly where and what aid funds are being used for. The goal is to make sure that aid is being spent in the best ways possible, free from corruption and inefficiency. The petition reads: "Please publish the details of all the aid you give, and push for all other aid donors to publish theirs too."

This campaign is just the start of a year-long fight by ONE for increased government transparency in all areas, with the hope of bringing about change that can focus governments on improving the livelihoods of their populations. You can access the petition from the link to the blog post below.

- Brock McNairy

SOURCE: ONE International