Water for the World Documentary

Check out this documentary highlighting the importance of the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act! With interviews from the co-sponsors and former majority leader Bill Frist, it shows why this bill is essential for developing nations.

-Corey Cox

SOURCE: YouTube

A Gap in Pledged Vs Received Aid

If one measures international aid simply in the amount of aid pledged, then nations are doing a remarkable job. It seems the Obama administration or USAID announces major pledges to fight disease and poverty monthly, if not more. Last year, world leaders agreed to a $20 billion agricultural fund to assist the poorest of farmers. In September, the same leaders re-affirmed their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. And reports are already coming out abut the various deals reached in regards to developmental aid during the on-going G-20 conference. Yet at the same time we hear that the MDG has hit major challenges, and in some cases barely any progress has been made at all. President Obama campaigned on a promise of renewed vows to the developing world, but has hit road blocks as well.

So what's the problem? Why is there a disconnect between the amount of aid promised and the amount of aid received. I think there are three major reasons.

The first amounts to peer pressure. Nations want to look respectable and to be perceived as charitable by other nations, and so many nations commit to causes that they cannot feasibly support. The second, explained in a New York Times article by Helen Cooper, is the tendency for nations to double dip their accomplishments. USAID may produce an article touting their recent program spending millions of dollars to combat a major disease without acknowledging that those funds came from its already accepted budget and is not a new addition. Or worse, nations remove money pledged to an old campaign and move it into the new fund, which draws attention to the new fund while leaving the old one empty.

The final, and most important, reason of the "aid gap" is the simple fact that no matter how well-intended political leaders are, (at least in the case of the American President), they still have to respond and answer to those who hold the purse-strings: Congress. Congress has the power to control the budget and as such holds the final answer to whether or not the programs promised will actually be delivered. USAID, for example, receives billions of dollars less than it requests every year, as Congress looks for ways to balance the budget.

Too often, we applaud our nations for making pledges to developing nations without ensuring that the money actually ends up in the hands of those who need it the most. That is why The Borgen Project believes that contacting your Congressional leaders is essential. They are the ones that make the decisions involving the budget, and your phone calls communicate to them that international poverty reduction is important to you.

So make a call today. And sign this petition letting your Representative know that they should make water access for all a priority.

-Corey Cox

SOURCE: New York Times

A Simple Solution for Haiti’s Cholera Outbreak

A sugar and salt solution can save a child on the brink of death suffering from dehydration by severe diarrhea. This solution is called an oral rehydration solution and was discovered by United States-funded scientists in Pakistan in 1968 as a cheap treatment for severe diarrhea. And with the right proportions of salt and sugar, this oral rehydration solution can revive severely dehydrated people suffering from cholera. Remarkably, the solution is effective even when it must be mixed with dirty water. The effectiveness of this solution has also been remarkable. In South Asia, oral rehydration therapy has helped to reduce the fatality rate among those infected with cholera from 30% to less than 1% in just a few decades.

Haiti’s cholera outbreak is tragic especially since it could be so easily prevented and treated with oral rehydration solution packets. Thankfully, there are a few key organizations in Haiti that are distributing oral rehydration solution packets on the ground. Some of these organizations include: Save The Children, Partners in Health, and Doctors Without Borders.

Haiti’s cholera outbreak is a reminder that clean, safe drinking water needs to be universal and not just a privilege for people in developed countries. Please help support bringing clean water to millions of people around the world by getting behind the Water for the World Act. Call your congressional leaders and tell them to cosponsor this Act!

-Clare O.

SOURCE: NYTimes

A Post-Election Perspective

The United States held their midterm elections last night with the Republicans taking over the House of Representatives. Regardless of your political beliefs, these upcoming weeks are important for The Borgen Project as we encourage legislation to be passed in the upcoming lame duck session as well as begin forging important relationships with our newly elected Congressmen.

Although many people dismiss the lame duck session as a two month void where nothing gets accomplished except for the occasional necessary legislation, we believe that this is a vital time. We must work with our Representatives to pass the Water for the World Act before the new Congress begins. Even if your Representative was voted out of office, keep calling them and encourage them to act.

On the same page, it is important to develop a strong relationship with your newly elected Congressmen. As they begin their transition into office, e-mail them, explaining what The Borgen Project is and what their goals are. Encourage them to look over legislation that will aid the poorest of the poor. More than likely, they won't be able to take phone calls yet, but their campaign site will be using their campaign e-mails until January. Congratulate them on their victory. Be friendly, be polite, but let them know the importance of eliminating extreme poverty.

-Corey Cox

P.S. The amount of money spent on political advertisements this year? $3,000,000,000, enough to provide 300 million people water for ten years.

SOURCE: The Water Project

An App To Purify Water?

When water pumps are installed by various nonprofit development groups (including the United Nations), they tend to break within about a decade. According to Ned Breslin, CEO of the group Water For People, a substantial percentage, roughly 30 to 45 percent, of water pumps break within a decade. That’s why Water For People has created a smartphone app, called Flow, that lets people in the developing world snap pictures of water pumps that are broken, and hopefully connect with experts around the world who can fix these pumps.

Here is how the app works: Using Android cell phone technology and Google Earth software, FLOW provides anyone with crucial data for projects supported by Water For People. Community members, industry professionals, and volunteers gather data with an Android phone. At the touch of a button, data flows to the Internet and updates the status of a water point or sanitation solution on Google Maps and Google Earth.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call for a reduction of the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by half between 1990 and 2015. Call your congressional leaders to cosponsor the Water for the World Act if they haven’t already! Take action and make universal access to safe drinking water possible!

-Clare O.

SOURCE: CNN

Taking Advantage of Elections

Congress has recently adjourned until after the midterm elections, and this means that your Senators and Representatives are touring their districts, appealing to voters to re-elect them. This is a prime opportunity to get in contact with your Congressmen and urge them to support bills that support the poorest of the poor.

Has your Representative co-sponsored the Paul Simon Water for the World Act, which has passed the Senate and now waits for the House of Representatives to act? Check out the list here. My Representative, Debbie Halvorson (D, Illinois-11), has not, and myself and a small group of citizens from her district are calling her weekly to remind her the importance of the act.

Have you committed to calling your Representative to action? Call them today! It only takes thirty seconds and could potentially impact millions of people who do not have access to clean drinking water.

-Corey Cox

SOURCE: The Library of Congress

U.N. Recognizes Water as a Universal Human Right; U.S. Senate Approves Water for the World Act

In a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday, officials affirmed that the right to water and sanitation is a universal human right that can be legally upheld. While access to water was confirmed as a human right in July of 2010, Thursday's meeting clarified the legal standards that accompany this important right.

This action by the Human Rights Council is significant because it makes the international right to clean water enforceable under law, as outlined in multiple international human rights treaties. "This landmark decision has the potential to change the lives of the billions of human beings who still lack access to water and sanitation," said Catarina de Albuquerque, the UN Independent Expert on human rights.

This progress toward Millennium Development Goal 7, which includes expanding worldwide access to clean drinking water and sanitation, is augmented by support from the United States: Last week, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Water for the World Act, which aims to provide 100,000,000 people with first-time access to drinking water. The bill has now moved to the House of Representatives for approval before it becomes a law. Contact your representatives to demand that they support this historic legislation!

-Elizabeth Newton

SOURCE: United Nations Human Rights, Change.org