I got two messages from the folks at ONE last week. One was from Sheila Nix, U.S. Executive Director for ONE, personally asking for our help to send a message to the White House which will soon be announcing how much they'll be committing to the Global Fund. The message to President Obama reads:
Please commit $6 billion to the Global Fund over the next 3 years.
The focus is to make sure that no child is born with HIV.
Over 52,000 ONE members have already asked the President to give the Global Fund the support that it deserves. Let your friends and family know that this is the moment to add their name too.
The second message was on the same basic subject, taking a different tack and proving flattery can get you somewhere.
You write some great blogs about the MDGs and the work that is needed in pursuing and supporting them. Today ONE launched the NO CHILD BORN WITH HIV BY 2015. This campaign will be an intense burst for a week channelled through www.one.org, culminating with the UN Millennium Development Goals Summit next Monday (20-22nd September) in NYC. It is a really entertaining way to show some support! Hopefully it will generate some internet buzz as babies get sent around threatening to 'Throw the bottle out of the Pram' or 'Put us on the naughty step' unless we show some support.
Check it out at http://www.one.org/international/actnow/babyprotest/
We would immensely appreciate your support by signing the online petition and – if you're so inspired – to blog about it or share it with your friends by email or on Twitter. This is a cause that can only be made good with the help of the public. Every name on the petition counts.I am so inspired though I usually don't go for the cutesy stuff. The policy being advocated by ONE does take the approach that asserts that the Next Millennium Development Goals 'should be more holistic' SciDev.Net in addressing the issues facing the developing world. By focusing on preventing babies from being born with HIV, ONE addresses 4 of the Millennium Development Goals 3. Gender Equity 4. Child Health 5. Maternal Health and 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases together. Getting the funding commitment is the first step in a long struggle.
