ONE by ONE
Every year, Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region of the world, spends $14.5 billion repaying its debts to the world’s richest countries and international institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. But the efforts of a grass-roots coalition known as the ONE Campaign may be helping to erase that debt and make significant progress in the goal to end world poverty.
ONE is a new effort by Americans to rally their fellow citizens “ONE by ONE” to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. According to local organizers, “The ONE campaign seeks to give Americans a voice, to ring church bells and cell phones, on campuses and in coffee shops, for a historic pact to fight the global AIDS emergency and end extreme poverty.”
The ONE Campaign was founded by a diverse coalition of faith-based and anti-poverty non-governmental organizations such as Bread for the World, CARE, Oxfam, Save the Children, DATA, International Medical Corps and Rock the Vote. Launched at a Philadelphia rally in May with the help of U2’s Bono, the campaign has gathered the signatures of hundreds of thousands of Americans asking President Bush and other world leaders to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty by eliminating the debt owed by the poverty-stricken nations and increase economic development, education and medical resources.
Advocates believe that in the U.S. alone, an additional 1 percent of the U.S. budget dedicated to humanitarian relief could go a long way towards providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food — transforming the futures and hopes of an entire generation of the poorest countries.
In early June, finance ministers from the Group of Eight, or G8, nations agreed to write off billions of dollars of debt for sub-Saharan African nations, and in return for cancellation, the qualifying countries will invest these savings in their own people — to help with more schools, health clinics and wells.
The agreement came after a public awareness campaign featuring such diverse high-profile Americans as Bono, Brad Pitt, Pat Robertson and Billy Graham. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Americans joined the ONE campaign by signing petitions asking President Bush to cancel the debt of these poor nations.
After the June agreement, Bono, a founding member of ONE, said, “The journey of equality took another step today, and broke free millions of people in some of the poorest countries from the bondage of immoral and unjust debts.”
While the G8 finance ministers have agreed to cancel the debt of these poor nations, leaders must finalize the agreement at the G8 summit July 6-8. The main themes of this year’s summit are social, political and economic conditions that have left almost 1 billion people living in extreme poverty, nearly half of whom live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
While the ONE campaign seeks to mobilize Americans to urge President Bush to support the debt cancellation, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty is afoot in countries. Bob Geldof, who 20 years ago put together the famine-relief concerts of Live Aid, the biggest single-day musical event in history, announced recently that simultaneous free concerts will be held on July 2 in Philadelphia, London, Paris, Berlin and Rome, known as Live 8.
The concerts, which will feature many of the biggest names in pop music, will not be intended to raise funds. Rather, they will spotlight the problem of poverty in developing African countries just days before President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of five other industrial nations gather for the G8 Summit in Scotland.
“The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history,” Geldof said when announcing the concerts. “They will only have the will to do so if millions of people show them that enough is enough. We understand precisely what must be done to free the weak, the hungry and the sick from the awful, needless condition of their lives. Now is the time to do it. This isn’t about charity, it’s about social justice.”
Local organizers in Indianapolis are offering a series of public awareness events throughout the summer. For information on ONE volunteer opportunities, meetings and upcoming events in Indianapolis, contact Michelle Harris at michelle@data.org. For information about the ONE Campaign visit www.one.org.