Other Blogging Efforts For the Same Cause Ending Poverty

Sphere: Related Content

Now that the Millennium Milestones Wiki is finished, I am going to start to focus on another project related to this effort and that is working with

I have participated in their blogging events before, but this is the first time that I have tried to promote a BloggersUnite event myself in support of the Stand Up Take Action End Poverty Now! campaign. I have to admit that so far the participation is limited to only two other bloggers (who are greatly appreciated).

Part of the problem may be competition. Seems that October is the month of actions against poverty and hunger. Below are other BloggersUnite actions taking place in October of this year. I have decided to take "the-more-the-merry" approach to this, figuring we are all supporting the same basic cause and have joined up with each. I have also included them on the calendar at the Milestones for a New Millennium wiki. My hope is that people participating in each of the events will take the same approach.

• World Food Day

• World Food Day is annually held on Oct. 16 to commemorate the founding of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

• International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

• Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated.

• Up Against Corruption and Poverty

• To Support the Millennium Development Goals

Of course another part of the problem is that I have not done a good enough job of promoting the event on BloggersUnite or other venues. That will be one the the next things on my to-do list to support the Millennium Development Goals.

Related (Somewhat) Posts:

• Making Hope Last Longer Than Hunger
• Refugees Across the Globe - A Millennium Problem
• FAO not Schwartz part 1 - Global Plan of Action Addresses a Global Challenge Hunger
• FAO not Schwartz part 2- Opposing Pathways to Ending World Hunger and Malnutrition
• FAO not Schwartz part 3 - A World Tragedy Too Long

UN Budget Shortfall Financial Industry Receives 10 Times More Money in 1 year than Poor Countries Receive in 49 Years

Sphere: Related Content

I am back to posting to this blog, hopefully on a regular and more frequent basis. Although I raised a number of different aspects of the Millennium Development Goals that will need to be addressed to see their successful implantation, the most critical one is still funding, only things are getting worse. Two sources on the same subject, one from Change.org and the other from the Millennium Campaign.

Budget Shortfall from Change.org

It seems like everyone is facing a massive budget gap this year, and the United Nations is no different. Of the $9 billion that the UN was supposed to receive for humanitarian aid this year, the organization has only received half. And that's despite the fact that more people - some say upwards of 43 million people - are relying on UN aid than ever before. Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman studies the budget shortfall at the UN and how this might impact humanitarian relief throughout the globe. Turns out that the problem is partly about a lack of money, and partly about a lack of political will. (Read More)

Directly from the United States Millennium Campaign which reported that on June 23, 2009 , the United Nations Millennium Campaign released an analysis showing that since the inception of aid (overseas development assistance) almost 50 years ago, donor countries have given some $2 trillion in aid. Yet over the past year, $18 trillion has been found globally to bail out banks and other financial institutions.

The stark contrast between the money dispersed to the world's desperately poor after 49 years of painstaking summits and negotiations and the staggering sums found virtually overnight to bail out the creators of the global economic crisis makes it impossible for governments to any longer claim that the world can't find the money to help the 50,000 people who are dying of extreme poverty every day," said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. "This is a straightforward question of political will. Rich countries' priorities will become crystal clear at this week's summit on the economic crisis, where we hope they will finally deliver on the aid they have repeatedly pledged but not delivered to those who need it most."

The Campaign is therefore calling on donor countries to immediately and unconditionally do the following:

• Agree to a timetable to accelerate delivery of their aid commitments.
• Make rapid progress toward achieving the Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda to simplify and streamline aid, including a clear timetable for implementation of existing commitments.
• Reduce and/or eliminate all trade-distorting agricultural subsidies.
• Ensure that poor countries are fully represented in all decision making bodies and in the restructuring of the global financial infrastructure.

Millennium Campaign is calling on poor countries to immediately do the following:

• that national development policies and plans are pro-poor and focused on women and excluded groups.
• Prioritize expenditures on the Millennium Development Goals.
• Ensure accountability and transparency in the management of public money.
• Prioritize domestic resource mobilization.

Go to www.youtube.com/mcampaign to watch the videoclip.

-------

Brian Dowling has sent you a link to "FrontPage" on milestonestomdgs

Sphere: Related Content

This is the link to the the FrontPage of the new Wiki Milestones for a New Millennium

This is self-promotional, but I finally have the new PBWorks wiki ready for official unveiling. This is why I have not been paying nearly enough attention to this blog (that and real life/day job). Although I have included connections to the new wiki on this site for some time, it is only now that it is complete enough to make fully public. Of course being a wiki, it in never really complete simply a work in progress and continual improvement.

View the page now on the Milestones for a New Millennium Wiki.

---

Milestones For A New Millennium

Pathways to the Millennium Development Goals

We all see the problems afflicting the world. They are the problems we each face ourselves in some small way each day, except for most of us reading this they are not matters of life or death or threaten to relegate our lives and the lives of our children to the prison of poverty. We see the abundance of this world, yet so many living without hope and wonder what path that we as individuals can take to bring about long lasting change to what are global and systemic problems.

The United Nation's Millennium Development Goals are such a path. Originally defined through the cooperative agreement of 189 nations when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration, they are the policy implementation objectives of numerous global organizations specializing in a variety of policy concerns, the rallying cry of hundreds of advocacy, philanthropic, non-profit/non-governmental, change-agent organizations and they are for over 116 million people coming together all over the world last year, a vision and a pathway for a better future for all people on this planet we share.

This wiki and my blog are my personal social media tools for connecting to others on the World Wide Web in countries across the globe.

Getting Americans more educated to become more globally engaged to take greater leadership

Sphere: Related Content

Change.org is providing an opportunity for participation through the U.S. Center for Citizen Dipolomacy in an arena that is vital if the Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved. We are pressed to take a leadership role in the Millennium Campaign because we have the greatest level of resources, we use the greatest amount of resources and we are still seen by the world as being among the primary leaders in the world, and in my view, we have the greatest capacity for leadership.

America's image abroad is improving, numerous polls and studies prove anti-American sentiment still exists around the globe. We need to dramatically increase our capacity to reach out to the rest of the world to foster mutual understanding and find common interests and values.

US. Center for Citizen Diplomacy is calling on all Americans to sign a Letter to the President urging President Obama to convene a National Summit on Citizen Diplomacy in order to bring this issue to the forefront and provide opportunities for global engagement at all levels of American society The idea is to encourage more Americans to reach out to the rest of the world and foster mutual understanding.

Tremendous opportunities exist to involve many thousands more Americans in this vital work, contributing as citizen diplomats in a variety of ways. A program that expands and utilizes their talents and expertise will greatly help the United States regain its stature as a respected, positive force throughout the world. Much of our thinking builds on the successful models of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, and leaders such as J. William Fulbright.

The goal is to multiply the connections between American citizens and their counterparts overseas fourfold by 2016.

Change.org wants us to ask President Obama to expand resources for bringing Americans together with others to promote shared values and understanding >

One of the goals of the Millennium Campaign is 2. Universal Education, but the truth is that we are as much in need of education as those in developing countries. The fourfold increase by 2016 is laudable and matches fairly closely with the 2015 goal to end poverty, but it raises the question how many connections exist now. This blog provides me a platform to interact with like minded people in India, Australia, Brazil and other countries as well as in the United States through communities like Change.org, Orkut and Facebook.

The Common Ground Blog (which I will be adding to the blogs to which this blog links) has a post and a question on the subject US CENTER FOR CITIZEN DIPLOMACY: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION SHOULD SUPPORT CITIZEN DIPLOMACY OVERSEAS

Question to the Blogosphere:

What can the Obama administration do to encourage Americans to engage in efforts to strengthen America’s international relationships? Should public high schools in the United States be provided with funds to send young people to different parts of the world? What types of development assistance and community-based initiatives would be most useful in promoting international understanding? What can be done to involve the older generations in the United States in citizen diplomacy?

2 Steps Forward, 2 Degrees Back

Sphere: Related Content

This is a cut-and-paste post from a variety of sources dealing with Millennium Development Goal 7. Environmental Sustainability, offering a number of useful links and opportunities for participation. Trouble is that time is now short. A moment of good news along the pathway, but then the realization that the pathway still continues uphill. The good news, tempered with a call for more needed action on the horizon, came from both the Union of Concerned Scientists and Care2. Last month in June:

House of Representatives took a historic vote to pass comprehensive climate legislation legislation that would put in place a nationwide plan to rein in global warming pollution and create an entirely new, cleaner approach to our nation's energy system.

But we will need your help to put a strong bill over the finish line. Specifically, you can help turn up the heat on the Senate to act quickly and ensure that we enact a final bill that helps build a revitalized clean energy economy, while reducing the threat of global warming.

Learn more about the American Clean Energy and Security Act, the Climate 2030 Blueprint, key elements of comprehensive climate legislation, why the time to act is now, and how UCS is working to ensure passage of a strong climate

The vote for the American Clean Energy Security Act on the House floor came to an ultimate margin of a mere seven votes, 219-212. Let's pause for a moment to celebrate our success -- and then gear up for what is sure to be a similarly tight vote in the Senate.

Read more about today's victory at Care2's Cause Channels, and leave a comment with your reactions to this sweeping climate bill.

The path get even steeper when we move from the national stage to the international stage of the G8 talks in Italy and later the global summit in Copenhagen. I am personally disappointed that Canada is among this group.

Avaaz has let us know that the the world has just months left to agree on a binding global climate treaty, this is the leaders' last in-person negotiation before the make-or-break Copenhagen summit, but that at the upcoming G8 summit, Canada, Japan, and Russia are trying to veto the 2-degree limit.

Avaaz has put together a worldwide petition, which-- an Avaaz team in Italy will deliver it directly to world leaders and through spectacular stunts on Thursday, (tomorrow) bringing global media attention to shame the climate-wreckers and press them to back down.

We urgently need at least 100,000 signatures -- click to sign:

The G8 leaders -- joined by eleven other heads of government at a parallel "Major Economies" meeting next door -- represent more than 80% of climate emissions.

We know last-moment pressure can change their policies: Canada's Harper, Japan's Aso, and other leaders could face elections, they can't afford global embarrassment. Sign the petition, send it to friends, and help rescue the climate target now:

They were at 93,757 when I signed. Found at the Global News Sources of this blog more news from IRIN GLOBAL: Twelve countries on climate change hit-list.

SOURCES FROM AVAAZ:

• G8 summit key to global efforts on climate change
• Background on 2 degrees threshold: "'Too late to avoid global warming,' say scientists"
• Canada, Russia Considered Climate 'Bad Boys' Among G8 Nations
• Make-or-break summit as G8 gamble on climate and economy
• EU's Barroso seeks two degrees Celsius pact at G8

Finally, some inspiration for the long journey along the path.

Thoreau's Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming introduces a new generation of writers and photographers with a personal connection to global warming. The 67 essays and images in this anthology are drawn from nearly 1,000 submissions about beloved places, people, plants, animals, and activities at risk from a changing climate—and the efforts that individuals are making to save what they love. A foreword by author Barbara Kingsolver serves as a powerful call to action.

The essays we selected represent a variety of perspectives, voices, and experiences. The authors follow in the long tradition of great American environmental writers, like Henry David Thoreau, who have broadened our awareness and sharpened our perspective about the world we share. And they are inspiring action to protect our planet from global warming.

From the Millennium Campaign: ECONOMIC CRISIS IMMINENTLY THREATENS ECONOMIC SURVIVAL OF POOR COUNTRIES

Sphere: Related Content

This is basically a complete re-blog of a post emailed to me by the UN Millennium Campaign Newsletter. I have inserted some additional links.

UN Millennium Campaign Newsletter

ECONOMIC CRISIS IMMINENTLY THREATENS ECONOMIC SURVIVAL OF POOR COUNTRIES

Ahead of G-8 summit, United Nations Millennium Campaign warns that developing countries will be forced to slash desperately-needed expenditures for the poor; Campaign calls on G-8 leaders to urgently provide financial resources to poor countries

The United Nations Millennium Campaign is warning that the ongoing economic crisis is likely to bring the economies of many developing countries to the brink of collapse and threatens the very survival of their citizens. According to the African Development Bank, countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kenya could run out of foreign reserves to purchase goods necessary for survival in a matter of weeks. At the same time, countries including Laos, Senegal, Uganda, Cape Verde and Sudan are cutting expenditures on poverty alleviation for desperately poor citizens. Experts predict that spending on core development, including the Millennium Development Goals, could decline by $200 billion as a result of the crisis.

"When world leaders break a promise, it is a sin - but when governments break a promise to the poorest people on the planet, it is nothing short of a crime," said Salil Shetty, Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign. "All over Africa and Asia, governments might have no option but to cut expenditure which the poor need to survive. Given that leaders of rich countries have found $18 trillion to bail out financial institutions over the past year - nine times more money than they have given in aid over the past 49 years - we know that finding financial resources is possible if the political will is there. G-8 leaders must not turn their backs on the world's most vulnerable in L'Aquila."

G-8 leaders must urgently announce timetables for meeting their existing aid commitments. The UN Millennium Campaign is also calling for new resources tailored to address the challenges caused by the economic crisis. These sources must be additional to existing commitments and must not come with conditions which hamper effectiveness or increase indebtedness.

The quality of aid must also improve. Earmarking aid runs counter to the agreed aid effectiveness agenda; donors should be aligning their aid with developing countries' priorities and programs.

Finally, the majority of the world's poor live in rural areas and depend on agriculture. Rich countries continue to spend exhorbitant amounts of money to subsidize the agricultural products of their own farmers, at the expense of farmers in poor countries with no other means of subsistence. This practice must stop.

Specifically, the UN Millennium Campaign is calling on G-8 leaders to:
• Announce transparent and predictable timetables for the delivery of aid committed at Gleneagles in 2005, clearly spelling out precise schedules of annual increases for each country.
• Provide additional financial resources to poor countries - not repackaging of existing commitments -- which do not increase their indebtedness or contain harmful conditions.
• Issue a moratorium on debt repayments from poor countries.
• Improve aid quality and avoid earmarking aid for specific purposes, as this is counter to the principle of aid effectiveness and does not allow countries to define their own priorities.
• Immediately eliminate trade-distorting agricultural and export subsidies, given that existing trade tariffs make it difficult for poor countries to compete and the economic crisis has further reduced their export markets.

Visit our online special at www.endpoverty2015.org

About the Campaign
The UN Millennium Campaign was established by the UN Secretary General in 2002. The Campaign supports citizens' efforts to hold their governments to account for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The Millennium Development Goals were adopted by 189 world leaders from the north and south, as part of the Millennium Declaration which was signed in 2000. These leaders agreed to eradicate extreme poverty and its root causes by 2015. Our premise is simple: we are the first generation that can end poverty and we refuse to miss this opportunity. For more information, visit www.endpoverty2015.org

Take Action

What Do You Want G-8 Leaders To Do To Achieve Millennium Development Goals?

On July 8-10, leaders of the G-8 countries -Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States - will meet in Italy. Their meeting comes with less than six years until the 2015 deadline for meeting the Millennium Development Goals, as a mounting economic crisis threatens to reverse the progress that has been made so far. The UN Millennium Campaign and Al Jazeera English are hosting online debates. We'd like to hear from you: what would you would like world leaders at the G-8 to do at the summit in order to get back on track towards achieving the Goals?

Visit us:

- Join us on Facebook
- Get updates on Twitter

Support Women and Girls around the Globe!

Sphere: Related Content

This weekend, despite being the Fourth of July, was a matter of three's. I received three requests for support for issues involving Millennium Development Goal 3. Gender Equity. I was able to get a mention in each of the campaigns about Stand Up Take Action's focus this year on holding governments accountable for improving the status of women and their rights. Stand Up Take Action will be focusing on improving maternal mortality or hunger and nutritional status for women and girls in poor countries. The campaigns below focus on some of the other critical issues that must be faced if we are to achieve the Millennium Development Goals at the most basic level, family.

The Change.org Team in partnership with friends at the United Nations Foundation wrote me about the Afghan Women Empowerment Act introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA).

Young women and girls account for one-eighth of the world's population. And even though many are the primary caregivers and breadwinners in their household -- most still do not enjoy even basic human rights.

This situation is especially acute in Afghanistan, where despite efforts by the U.S. government, the United Nations, and others to improve the lives of women and girls, many still lack access to basic health care and schools. Many face violence and intimidation, daily. And Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.

You can ensure these basic rights for the women of Afghanistan by asking your senator to support The Afghan Women Empowerment Act introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA). This bill is critical as the maternal death rate for Afghan women is tragically high -- with one mother dying for every 56 births -- because it provides equipment, medical supplies and other assistance to health care facilities to reduce maternal and infant mortality. The bill also funds programs to protect women and girls against sexual and physical abuse, abduction, trafficking, exploitation, and includes emergency shelters for women and girls who face danger from violence.

They also sent me an invitation to make the pledge "to Support H.R. 1410: Newborn, Child, and Mother Survival Act of 2009 that was originated from the Hunger Site".

Every year, more than 9 million children die from preventable and treatable diseases, and more than 536,000 women die from pregnancy and birth-related causes around the globe. These deaths can be prevented if health services are provided to parts of the world where they are most needed. This is a good investment: ensuring not only the survival but the good health of women and children now means reduced health costs in the future and higher productivity in communities.

Care asked me to send a letter to my Senate representatives asking them to take immediate action and co-sponsor the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009.

60 million girls around the world are married before the age of 17 -- many to men more than twice their age or older? Child marriage is a human rights violation that puts young girls at risk and keeps them mired in poverty. When a girl is forced to marry at a young age, it diminishes her chance at an education, endangers her health and puts her at increased risk of lifelong poverty. Young brides are more likely to become young mothers, and girls under the age of 15 are five times more likely to die of childbirth than a woman in her 20s.

The Millennium Development Goals may be only eight in number, but they cover hundreds of different issues being addressed by thousands of people in hundreds of organizations. Makes sense to me that if we can create some cross-fertilizations regarding these challenges and issues, we should.

No More Celebrities? Where is NoExcuse?

Sphere: Related Content

Just found out that the links below don't work anymore so I am taking them off my blog page. Tried Googling to see which celebrities were still supporting the Millennium Development Goals for the long haul but it is not as long of an A list as a year ago. With another 6 years to go until 2015 we are going to need more than just the odd video or promotional event now and then. Seems that the latest thing is inmyname videos. These efforts are all good and should be appreciated as means of reaching out and making others aware, but there still seems to be a tremendous gap in general public awareness and real understanding by most people in the United States.

Watch the videos and join Shakira, Lenny Kravitz and others in the fight to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and End Extreme Poverty Learn about the United Nations Millennium Campaign. We are at the half-way point to achieving the Millennium Development Goals -- We can only get there with your help. Join the Campaign! or Click here to read more on our site