US Global Development Strategy Put Forward; A First Long Time Coming

Sphere: Related Content Raymond C. Offenheiser, Board of Directors, Oxfam America Advocacy Fund tells us that President Obama announced a sweeping new effort called the US Global Development Strategy - at a big poverty summit in New York [one presumes they mean the UN MDGs Summit which goes to my previous point of too little and too much] delivering the message in person - a first for any president!
The White House's New Approach to Advancing Development goes beyond giving aid only in times of crisis, becoming proactive rather than reactive. It adopts a multifaceted approach to ending poverty - utilizing diplomacy, revamping trade and investment policies, reforming our foreign aid policies and partnering with governments, NGOs and the private sector.
Oxfam wants us to join in pushing Congress to make sure President Obama's new strategy on foreign aid stands for administrations to come - by emailing your House representative now!
The existing bill in the US House, H.R. 2139, the Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform Act of 2009, would reform US aid to other countries and make sure key parts of Obama's plan are safe for years to come. That's why more representatives are needed to co-sponsor this reform bill and show the White House, Congress and the world that they're serious about real solutions for global poverty.

http://act.oxfamamerica.org/site/R?i=qJKdbgxVWRWzSxHpDPOOrQ.
So, officially speaking, what is its purpose?

• Official: To direct the President to develop and implement a comprehensive national strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting global development, and for other purposes. as introduced.

Why do we need this? This video from 2009, featuring Sabina Dewan, Associate Director of International Economic Policy at American Progress, provides some insights.


We need a National Strategy for Global Development which outline the goals of our development programs and the methods to reach those goals. A recent GAO report identified the lack of such a strategy as a major challenge for our global development efforts.
The current law on US foreign aid has been on the books for 50 years. It's grossly out of date and doesn't address the needs of modern poverty. The bill now being considered by the House will reform the way the US handles foreign aid, turning a key element of the Global Development Strategy into law and preventing it from being changed with each new administration.
A more thorough examination of the issue is provided by Farha Tahir in the article Interagency Coordination, Aid Effectiveness, and Corruption: A Roadmap found in the blog Random Musings.
Susan B. Epstein, Specialist in Foreign Policy also provides an in depth look at the issue through her article on Foreign Aid Reform, National Strategy, and the Quadrennial Review at International Humanitarian Policy CRS Reports relating to International Humanitarian Crisis and Emergency Aid Efforts
I recently became convinced to stop focusing on the United Nations as the primary means of implementing the Millennium Development Goals and focus instead closer to home on the policies of the United States. This is one policy that will help to implement the MDGs in a pragmatic and work in the political realities of this world type of way.
We need to make sure that these new policies on global poverty stand the test of time - we need to email Congress today and urge our House representative to co-sponsor this crucial piece of legislation before the end of the year.

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Can the MDGs End Poverty by 2015? asks the UN - What have they done so far? asks a billion others

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The claim is that We Can End Poverty with Millennium Development Goals by 2015: UN Summit, 20-22 September 2010, New York"> - Annotated

With only five years left until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit in New York on 20-22 September to accelerate progress towards the MDGs.

“Our world possesses the knowledge and the resources to achieve the MDGs” the Secretary-General stated in his report in preparation for the September summit. “Our challenge today is to agree on an action agenda to achieve the MDGs.”

Here is the question one billion people at the bottom of the global wealth scale could be asking themselves this month. Are the Millennium Development Goals helping me? At least one person has made this question explicit.

Are Millennium Goals helping me? « Ethnicsupplies’s Weblog
This week the Department for International Development here in the UK has issued a new report ELIMINATING POVERTY : Building Common future, which spells out a new direction and desire to address issue of poverty in the developing world and amongst other things the report looks at the impact of the economic downturn on those in the developing countries. And at the UN summit of September 2000 the richest nations in the world made pledges to the development world that are summed up in what has become to be known as the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs.

So, how do we monitor the MDGs? When the United Nations meets in a few weeks do discuss the Millennium Development Goals what will they be using as their benchmark? How will they assess how effective programs have been?

MDG MONITOR :: Tracking the Millennium Development Goals"> - Annotated

The MDG Monitor shows how countries are progressing in their efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). With the 2015 target date fast approaching, it is more important than ever to understand where the goals are on track, and where additional efforts and support are needed, both globally and at the country level.

The MDG Monitor is designed as a tool for policymakers, development practitioners, journalists, students and others to:

• TRACK progress through interactive maps and country-specific profiles
• LEARN about countries' challenges and achievements and get the latest news
  
• SUPPORT organizations working on the MDGs around the world
  

Diigo tags: Millennium Development Goals United Nations mdgs Monitor

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Help ONE save the International Affairs Budget and move the MDGs forward

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Recently Maryamu Aminu, the Director for Government Relations for ONE sent me some bad news . The Senate Budget Committee leaders ignored our voices and singled-out the International Affairs Budget for $4 billion in devastating cuts that could threaten programs critical to the health and survival of many poor people around the world. This despite more than 40,000 ONE members taking action and a record 31 senators responding by signing a letter to Senate Budget Committee leaders, urging full funding for the fight against global poverty. This is the second time ONE has requested we send an Urgent Message To [Insert Your Senator's Name Here] on U.S. International Affairs Budget.

Both of my Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer added their names to a new effort to restore funding and American leadership to the fight against global poverty and disease which is essential if the Millennium Development Goals are to be met. I featured Senator Boxer's support in the post Senator Barbara Boxer Speaks Up for the Millennium Development Goals.

I sent the message to my to Senators asking them to please fix this budget by signing the bipartisan appropriations letter, sponsored by Senators Kerry and Lugar, that supports full funding for the State-Foreign Operations bill.

For about 1.5% of the overall U.S. Budget we can have a tremendous impact on the world on ONE (and MDG) priorities such as debt relief for countries including Haiti; life-saving treatment and prevention measures for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; and programs empowering women, promoting agricultural development, and enrolling millions of children in school.

You can sent a message to your Senators by clicking here. ONE is seeking 25,000 responses and has 14,572 with me. So far 3,217 fellow Californians have signed the petition. My two cents to my Senators is below.

This message is going to both of my California Senators who have worked in the past on Humanitarian issues. Senator Boxer has been especially supportive in the past having been kind enough to send me an email bakck on August 14, 2009 stating, "I am pleased to report that the Senate has voted to fully fund President Obama's request for the Fiscal Year 2010 International Affairs Budget. S.Con.Res.13 includes $51.7 billion in funding, a significant and necessary increase over FY2009 funding levels. Please know that I will work to maintain this level of funding as the appropriations process continues." I am asking both her and her fellow California Senator to keep that promise. More and more we see that the way to world stability both economically and political cannot be at the end of a gun. The United States must take a lead role in working with other countries to solve the planet's problems.

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Meeting the Millennium Development Goals won't happen if nobody knows and nobody knows without Freedom of the Press and a good deal more.

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Tomorrow is another BloggersUnite event in which I am participating although the BloggersUnite site has been having trouble for some time now. This time it is World Press Freedom Day.

The United Nations General Assembly declared 3 May to be World Press Freedom Day[1][2] to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991.

At this year’s World Press Freedom Day celebration, UNESCO would like to explore how media freedom and access to information feed into the wider development objective of empowering people. Empowerment is a multi-dimensional social and political process that helps people gain control over their own lives. This can only be achieved through access to accurate, fair and unbiased information, representing a plurality of opinions, and the means to actively communicate vertically and horizontally, thereby participating in the active life of the community.

Let there be no doubt that I am fully in support of Press Freedom. I am, however, going to use this post to argue that while it is an essential foundation, often it is not enough to ensure empowerment. The empowerment is assumed because Press Freedom is taken for granted and the freedom in many ways is squandered.

At the beginning of 2010 the World Economic Forum was again held in Davos. One of the issues raised was how can the Millennium Development Goals for 2015 be met in the wake of the economic crisis? The problem was that a combination of food and financial crises had trapped an estimated 50 to 90 million people in extreme poverty in 2009. This FORA.tv video Meeting the Millennium Development Goals looks to start answering that question. This did not start off being a post about World Press Freedom Day but the economic crisis is a world changing news story in the negative and the Millennium Development Goals need to be a world changing news story in the positive.

Now I enjoy FORA.tv as a source of information and a quick check tells me that there have been 1,157 viewings by others. In terms of being a blip in world conversations going on this is minuscule. While it is true that other conversations of a similar nature are also going on I have personal reasons to believe that they are not as of yet significant in nature.

I find that my blog posts on the Millennium Development Goals often reach page one on Google searches. This, I realize is not because I am so good but because I have very little competition in this area. I am a small voice, a personal and non-institutional voice in a large public space. These stories are either too focused technically and are being dealt with by a small number of experts and policy wonks or there is a sizable but still not politically significant within the middle class of the democratic industrialized countries, especially in USA. It is the social media on the World Wide Web that helps in leveraging either small but potentially influential groups in developed countries with larger but more restricted groups in other countries. Doing this on a global basis however is a challenge that has not only not been met, I am not sure it is even being conceptualized. I am not looking to become a more significant voice with greater leverage, I am looking to becoming an even smaller part of the whole because the Millennium Development Goal public conversation becomes ubiquitous. The economic and political middle class across the globe needs to come to see the Millennium Development Goals as simply the right thing to do, not just young activists.

One of the overall challenges to implementing the Millennium Development Goals is that the economic crisis story gets for more time in front of the public eye than does the story of the Millennium Development Goals. One also has to worry if these issues will be portrayed or seen as being in competition with each other. If the middle class will see its way of life threatened if industrial countries use less than one percent of GDP to address these issues. This is not a matter of freedom of the press. I feel safe in saying that the United States, which has a high level of press freedom has among the lowest of main stream media press coverage of the Millennium Development Goals.

This lack of conversation in the public commons is also reflected in the lack of collaborative infrastructure which to my mind is more prevalent in Europe. The press has become a matter of two way information exchange, same as the market place in many ways. Yes, we in the USA have some of the major philanthropic and on-line community activist player such as CARE or Care2 but I find more collaborative organizational systems, both at the policy and grassroots levels in Europe. These include EUFORIC and ComPart. Perhaps they are more used to collaboration versus competition over there.

What the World Wide Web and social media makes possible is to move beyond information exchange to truly international levels of cooperation and collaboration. The Development Gateway Foundation and the related Zunia are two examples that go beyond national boundaries. I strongly suspect that they are not well known by most people anywhere, but more particularly in industrial development countries and especially here in the United States.

Access to basic and relevant information is undoubtedly essential to democracies. Individuals can make the choice to go outside their normal arenas and find other sources of information on issues such as the Millennium Development Goals from sources that have neither the assumed freedom or resources of major US news organizations, IPS Inter Press Service, IRIN, and SciDev.Net are a few outside the main stream news sources that are on my website. One very good sources for finding bloggers dealing with important issues across the globe is Global Voices, a community of more than 200 bloggers around the world who work together to bring you translations and reports from blogs and citizen media everywhere, with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media.

I have, of course, made a paper tiger with this argument. The truth is that the only way for us to achieve the level of informational empowerment envisioned here is for each of us to utilize our own individual Freedom of the Press and work to protect that freedom for others, to keep on writing or blogging about those issues we feel important and passionate about and using the Freedom of the Press to empower those seeking freedom in all aspects of their lives.

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Progress in Haiti are Lessons for the Millennium Development Goals

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Today is the day that bloggers participating in the Bloggers Unite for Haiti event submit their posts. Their badge is at the right hand column. I already did a couple of posts but with this one I want to try it more directly with the Millennium Development Goals.

The events in Haiti are now moving from the emergency response stage to the rebuilding stage. Numerous problems arose during the massive effort to respond to the disaster that will be the source of lessons to take forward. The biggest issue to my mind was that again it was using a pound of cure instead of an ounce of prevention which would have been the case if the Millennium Development Goals had already been made a reality. It is not only a matter of how well developing countries would be able to address major disasters themselves but how well a global cooperative effort would be able to do so.

One of the problems was the cessation of planes from the United States carrying earthquake victims to Florida hospitals. SHAILA DEWAN of the New York Times wrote about the Cost Dispute Halts Airlift of Injured Haiti Quake Victims: The United States has suspended its evacuations of critically injured victims until a dispute over who will pay for their care in Florida and other states is settled. The number and complexity of the cases the medical care was costing the state of Florida millions. Florida Governor Crist’s requested the federal government to shoulder some of the expense

“Florida stands ready to assist our neighbors in Haiti, but we need a plan of action and reimbursement for the care we are providing,” Mr. Ivey spokesman for Mr. Crist said.

I am not going to fault Florida because I agree that this and similar issues should be addressed at the national and global level. It is an inefficiency of the system that it overburdens a component of the system with relatively limited resources. The structure necessary to bring about the Millennium Development Goals would not only help developing countries to establish their own economic and infrastructure systems to weather disasters, it would also help establish a more robust cooperative system between nations.

The ongoing funding of the relief efforts is also penny wise pound foolish. The idea now is to forgive Haiti's debt. ONE is organizing an international campaign ONE | Help Haiti: Drop the Debt to persuade world leaders to cancel Haiti’s $1 billion international debt and give the country a chance for significant and lasting recovery. This blog also supports a similar effort by Change.org whose widget is at the right hand column if anybody wants to add their support.

Tom Hart, Director of Government Relations at ONE, personally delivered more than 150,000 ONE member petition signatures from to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urging debt cancellation for Haiti. Because of this effort and others, the IMF, Inter-American Development Bank, U.S. Treasury and other key players say that they want to find a way to cancel Haiti's debt. At least one has spoken up is support of this.

IMF: Haiti needs a Marshall Plan
The International Monetary Fund says Haiti will require an effort along the lines of the Marshall Plan for long-term reconstruction.

"My belief is that Haiti -- which has been incredibly hit by different things: the food and fuel prices crisis, then the hurricane, then the earthquake -- needs something that is big," the managing director of the Washington-based International Monetary Fund said.

"Not only a piecemeal approach, but something which is much bigger to deal with the reconstruction of the country -- some kind of a Marshall Plan that we need now to implement for Haiti," he said, referring to the US initiative launched in 1947 to rebuild war-ravaged western Europe. Google/Agence France-Presse

ONE wants to raise the number of signatures to 200,000 and deliver it to the world financial leaders when U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and other G7 finance ministers will be meeting in the Arctic Canadian town of Iqaluit. Right now, they are at 175,377 signature.

The question is how much more effective would those dollars have been if they had been invested before the disaster to build Haiti rather than rebuilding a shattered landscape. There isn't really all that much of a commitment coming from the G7 since Haiti was extremely poor before and now is devastated and its ability to repay the debt is basically nil. Fulfilling the promise of the Millennium Declaration would have far more lasting effect.

I am not going to try to claim that the Millennium Development Goals will solve the world's problems or eliminate the tragedy of disasters but they would help the world by making both the ability to withstand them and to address them more equitable and more efficient.

Haiti: Tragedy and Heroism of the MDGs under a Microscope

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One of the positive aspects of this blog is that it helps to put our (my) personal problems into perspective. Work in the "Real World/Day Job" is getting pretty rough because of the current economy and California budget situation. Compared to what is happening in Haiti or for many in other countries including the United States it is a small matter. Still it has required me to spent more time on municipal financial and development issues than on this blog. Now its the weekend and we are all dealing with a massively large challenge - the earthquake in Haiti. All means everyone from governments, to non-government aid organizations, to individuals, even slacktivsts.

The story of the challenge and the response is overwhelming so I decided to take just the last couple of days and make a list of how others are seeing and reacting to this disaster. We chose UNICEF as our means of responding.

$890 million for Haiti

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has the power to help make that happen. Please click the link below to join me and send Secretary Geithner this urgent message:

http://www.one.org/us/actnow/drophaitiandebt/o.pl?id=1398-4356611-0iBFgIx&t=2

As Haiti rebuilds from this disaster, please work to secure the immediate cancellation of Haiti’s $890 million debt and ensure that any emergency earthquake assistance is provided in the forms of grants, not debt-incurring loans.

Thank you,

Sheila Nix
U.S. Executive Director, ONE

Science & Environment Friday, January 15, 2010

In Haiti, aid workers face a dual challenge By Shari Roan The poor nation has long suffered from a lack of medical care and rampant disease. With the earthquake, aid agencies must build a healthcare system on the fly. >>

Tectonics and poor construction conspired to create devastation in Haiti By Cara Mia Dimassa and Alexandra Zavis The earthquake was a massive, shallow eruption beneath a heavily populated area that lacked stringent building standards, resulting in catastrophe. >>

We just received this message from the UN Foundation’s Dr. Daniel Carucci, who traveled to Haiti to deliver medical supplies and assess the situation on the ground in the aftermath of the 7.0 earthquake. I wanted to pass it along right away to give key supporters like you a firsthand look at how relief efforts there are unfolding. His message is a grim reminder of the devastation and urgent needs on the island.

Dan will continue sending updates from the field. We encourage you to follow them at our Haiti Earthquake Response page. Thank you for your support as we assist the UN’s work and help the people of Haiti.

-Kathy Calvin, CEO, UN Foundation

Click here to support the UN Foundation’s critical work by donating to the Central Emergency Response Fund

January 15, 2010 | News covering the UN and the world

Hard-hit UN calls for $550 million in Haiti aid UN Special Envoy to Haiti and former U.S. President Bill Clinton said the earthquake might be the most devastating disaster to have befallen the UN, citing the deaths of 16 employees and disappearance of at least 56 more. UN aid agencies are launching an appeal for $550 million in emergency aid. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said 17 search-and-rescue teams have been deployed in Port-au-Prince, with six more on the way to assist in searching out pockets of survivors still trapped in the rubble. Reuters (1/15) , ABC News (1/15)

The earthquake in Haiti has been catastrophic. More than three million people have been affected, and estimates are that over 50,000 have died. The human suffering is unimaginable.

That's why I'd like to pause from our usual conversation and ask for your help.

A number of organizations are already engaged in critical relief efforts, and I urge you to support as many of them as you can. One of them, Oxfam America, has an emergency response team of more than 200 people already on the ground. The need for clean water and critical public health services is massive and immediate -- and our donations can help save lives.

Make a donation to Oxfam's earthquake relief effort in Haiti:

http://acp.climateprotect.org/oxfam

Or, for a list of other organizations to donate to and ways to make a difference, see http://www.whitehouse.gov/haitiearthquake_embed.

Let's make sure the people of Haiti do not face this disaster alone. Thank you for taking action in the face of this tragedy.

Al Gore
Chairman
Alliance for Climate Protection

Words fail: up to two million children are at risk in Haiti right now.

Separated from their families. Trapped under rubble. Countless newly orphaned. Desperate.

Every moment matters: donate NOW and 100% of every dollar to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF will go directly to fund child-saving relief efforts in Haiti.

We can save these children. I say this because I've seen your generosity and I've seen UNICEF's response. Less than 48 hours ago, UNICEF delivered to Port-au-Prince:

• 10,000 tarpaulins
• 4,600 water containers
• 5.5 million water purification tablets
• 556,000 oral rehydration sachets

Caryl M. Stern
President and CEO
U.S. Fund for UNICEF

P.S. The U.S. Fund for UNICEF is absorbing all administrative fees associated with handling your donation, so that you can be confident 100% of every dollar you give will go directly to relief efforts.

Right now, the International Rescue Committee has deployed its Emergency Response team to help earthquake survivors. Our first priority is to rush medical, water, and sanitation support to local relief groups in Haiti, who are overwhelmed by the scale of this catastrophe.

Your support is urgently needed to help us rescue lives in Haiti. Please donate now. Immediate funding needs to support our response are $1.5 million.

The FP Morning Brief: Security deteriorates as desperation grows in Haiti

Top story: While the international rescue operation is beginning to swing into full gear, desperation is growing for Haiti and the security situation is beginning to deteriorate. Looters in Port-au-Prince broke into a U.N. warehouse stocked with 15,000 tons of provisions. Elsewhere, people formed roadblocks with the bodies of victims to demand faster aid. With Haiti's national police nowhere to be seen, international troops must be relied on to keep order.

From FastCompany Haiti Earthquake Disaster: Google Earth, Online-Map Makers, Texts "Absolutely Crucial"

Just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday, January 13, a magnitude-7 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince, Haiti, flattening hundreds of buildings and killing as many as 100,000 people. (Related slideshow: Haiti Earthquake: A Bird's Eye View of the...

Care2

EDITOR'S NOTE: The tragedy in Haiti has captured us all; the Web is full of stories and aid resources. Of course our community is no exception. We’ve offered plenty of material and several ways to take action. We’re also continually updating the How to Help Haiti. Let us know if we’ve left something out; we’ll continue to update you.

All the best, Cindy

Cynthia Samuels
Managing Editor

The Boston Globe's Daily Headlines

Bereft in rubble, they stagger, dig | Help has yet to reach most in crushed city

From all walks of life, donations pour in

[Slashdot] Stories for 2010-01-15

| Disaster Recovery For Haiti's Cell Phone Networks |
| from the what-the-world-needs-now dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday January 14, @12:01 (Communications) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/01/14/1538219/Disaster-Recovery-For-Haitis-Cell-Phone-Ne|


The immediate needs for survivors of the Haiti earthquake include first-aid supplies, clean water, body bags and emergency food rations — and we need your help to rush lifesaving aid to Haiti now. Even a small gift can make a big difference. For example:

• $10 can provide 1,000 people with clean water for a day
• $35 can provide a high energy meal for a family of five
  
  

Your donation of $10, $35 or more can help CARE deliver emergency aid as soon as possible.

CARE has been working in Haiti since 1954, when we helped survivors recover from Hurricane Hazel. After the earthquake struck, CARE was among the first to respond.

Remember, clean water and emergency food rations are urgently needed. Please give now to help CARE deliver emergency aid to the people of Haiti as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Helene D. Gayle, MD, MPH
President and CEO, CARE


We just got our first communication from our staff in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.
This crisis is like nothing we've seen before and we desperately need your help.

Please make an emergency donation TODAY – help Plan save as many children in Haiti as possible.

Thank you so much for anything you can do to help our efforts in Haiti.

Lisa Ledoux
Internet Marketing Manager
Plan USA

----- ORIGINAL MESSAGE -----
From: Tesfamariam, Rezene
Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 1:43 PM
Subject: The situation in Haiti

I just got the possibility of communicating with you through the internet...

The damage of the quake of Tuesday is beyond one's imagination. Although it is very difficult to determine the exact figure, I have seen bodies all along the main street of Port-Au-Prince. I have heard the voices of children trapped in the rubble of their schools.

A major part of the city Port-Au-Prince has been destroyed. Schools, churches, hospitals, and market places are destroyed. Our office in Jacmel, Croix-des-Bouquet and a part of the Country office in Port-Au-Prince are seriously damaged. This is also true for the houses of some of our staff and the residences of our internationals. All communication systems including internet connections were down until today. The quake has left thousands of families without homes and the city has turned into a collection of makeshift camps. In my professional life I have worked with refugees running for their lives and provided support to communities swept away by flood, but not like this. The situation requires quick and well-organized response.

Yesterday morning we drove through some parts of Port-Au-Prince and Croix-des-Bouquet to assess the immediate needs of those affected by the Quake.

We will immediately start providing water, food and hygienic materials to those in the various makeshift camps here in Port-Au-Prince and Jacmel.

We have already formed teams and are addressing the emergency in an organized manner.

We are thankful that other Plan offices are sending us support. Those who are coming will join the team of their specialty.

Thank you very much indeed for your concern and support.

From the New York Times: Patience Wears Thin as Haiti’s Desperation Grows
By MARC LACEY
Aid workers struggled to deliver relief supplies on Friday to survivors increasingly desperate for food and clean water.

There are two ways that you can help with Haiti relief today:

1. Give a Haiti relief charity gift to a Facebook friend.
When you give a charity gift on Facebook, you are buying a specific item needed on the ground in Haiti. We have several new gifts in the Facebook Charity Gift Shop, including:

• Water for Haiti from Oxfam
• Light a Candle for Haiti from UNICEF
• Food for Haiti from CARE
• Shelter for Haiti from the American Red Cross
• Survival Kit from World Vision

Visit the Facebook Charity Gift Shop to see all the Haiti relief Gifts.

2. Join and donate to a cause.
Many nonprofits have started fundraising projects, with funds specifically for Haiti relief, such as:

• Doctors Without Borders
• Friends of the World Food Program
• International Rescue Committee

Thank you for donating at this important time to those who need it most.

The Causes Team

We’re approaching the critical 48 hour mark after the devastating quake struck Haiti. EVERY MINUTE COUNTS: please give now to ActionAid’s relief efforts so we can save as many lives as possible.

The latest news is gut-wrenching. An estimated 3 million people impacted. Tens of thousands likely dead. Even more still trapped under rubble, severely injured, desperately in need of water and care.

Haitian government infrastructure has been crippled, and public services are barely available. United Nations agencies, donor governments and relief organizations still face major obstacles in accessing and distributing supplies. Our ActionAid office in Port-au-Prince has been badly damaged, so our team has now gathered in a private home to coordinate their relief efforts and prioritize next steps.

I'm sending the latest transmission we received from Haiti.

There is no good way to report the news. Thousands have died. Tens of thousands more – especially children – are at risk and may not survive without our immediate help.

Please give NOW – 100% of every dollar you give to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF will be sent directly to UNICEF to support emergency relief efforts.

The initial response to yesterday's appeal has already saved countless lives, but the need continues to overwhelm our available resources. The children of Haiti are relying entirely on international assistance to survive. The Haitian government has little to no means to respond to the crisis.

We are committed to doing whatever it takes to save these children. Please join us.

Thank you,

Caryl M. Stern
President & CEO
U.S. Fund for UNICEF

---

The damage is catastrophic; more than 2 million people have been affected, but the human toll is still unknown. Haiti's president has said the impact on the country is "unimaginable" and estimates that thousands have died.

Donations are urgently needed to rush aid to the area – please give now >>

The initial earthquake struck just before sundown and as many as 28 powerful aftershocks continued throughout the night – the darkness made initial recovery efforts nearly impossible.

Oxfam has four offices in Haiti and over 200 highly-experienced aid workers on the ground. They are already responding to the situation where our assistance is most needed, but we need your help immediately.

Thousands feared dead as major quake strikes Haiti
Dazed and injured Haitians sat on darkened streets pleading for help Wednesday and untold numbers were trapped in tons of rubble brought down by the strongest earthquake to hit this poor Caribbean nation in more than 200 years.
Haiti quake updates & aid effort launched New!
Quake buries 8 Chinese peacekeepers
Chinese rescue team depart for Haiti

U.S. retail chains among those aiding earthquake relief
The nonprofit arms of Publix Super Markets and Wal-Mart are among a slew of U.S. companies and foundations pledging aid to earthquake-torn Haiti this week. The Wal-Mart Foundation has pledged $500,000 in cash and is sending $100,000 worth of food, and Publix Super Markets Charities is donating $100,000. San Jose Mercury News (Calif.)/The Associated Press (1/13)

How the Haiti aid campaign overcame slacktivism
Groups raising money for disaster relief in Haiti have managed to overcome social media's reputation for "slacktivism" by using text messages to collect donations, writes Pete Cashmore. Social campaigns often struggle to convert buzz into concrete action, he writes, but the Haiti campaign's low barrier for entry has helped bring in more than $4 million in donations. "Hitting a button to blast out a message to your friends is easy, but when faced with a credit card payment form, many Web users shy away," Cashmore notes. "Text message donations coupled with the word-of-mouth buzz provided by Twitter and Facebook are proving a powerful combination." CNN (1/14)

A Coalition of Advocates (and me) Supporting the Presidential Study Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy

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ONE is joining forces with the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN)—including:

• Bread for the World
• Women Thrive Worldwide
• Mercy Corps
• Center for American Progress
• Oxfam America
• Publish What You Fund
• RESULTS
• Save the Children
• American Jewish World Service
• CARE
• Americans for Informed Democracy and
• International Women's Health Coalition

They are combining efforts across the Aid Advocacy community to help elevate the call for development and foreign assistance reform for President Obama and his key advisors through the Presidential Study Directive on U.S. Global Development Policy.

Tom Hart, Director of Government Relations at ONE.org advised in an email:

Right now, President Obama and his senior advisors, led by National Security Advisor James Jones and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers, are preparing a Presidential Study Directive that will shape the future of U.S. efforts to alleviate poverty, fight disease, and create economic opportunity for the world's poorest people.

The petition they want us to sign, with my two cents added, reads:

Please create a U.S. global development strategy giving development a strong voice in foreign policy decisions and coordinating efforts to alleviate global poverty, fight disease, and create economic opportunity.

This would be the strongest message that you could send to the rest of world supporting the vision you put forth when accepting your Nobel Peace Prize. It would also be one of the most significant actions the United States could take in supporting the United Nations Millennium Development Goals especially to end poverty.

MFAN will deliver the petition to key White House contacts on December 18. They are looking to get 25,000 signature and so far they have 23,989 with 3,999 from California. So this time I am getting this out about a week early giving anyone who reads this an opportunity to add their voice so that they reach their goal.

Enjoying Victories - Whether by Democrat or Republican - Whether by Activist or Slacktivist

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This blog endeavors to support the United Nations' Eight Goal Millennium Campaign by supporting the actions of a number of advocacy organizations including ONE. These actions often involve supporting the many different laws focused on the Millennium Development Goal to End Hunger.

Just before Thanksgiving, I sent in my comments urging my Congressional representative (Republican) to sign on to the Berman-Kirk letter requesting a robust International Affairs Budget. I was told that he would take it under advisement.

Well, whether he supported it or not (not), the overall Berman-Kirk FY2011 Budget Campaign was a Resounding Success and a bipartisan one.

A victory in the fight to "Upgrade Aid" occured when the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 15-3 to pass the Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act (S.1524) through their committee.

The bill we passed today…is the product of well over a year of research and analysis by Senators and their staffs. It has attracted the support of most development groups, led by the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. It is co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 19 Senators, twelve of whom are members of this Committee. This level of backing for a bill related to foreign assistance structure is extremely rare. It provides an opportunity to build something approaching a consensus on this issue.

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)
Committee Ranking Member

This legislation demonstrates Congress’s commitment to strengthening the capacity, accountability and effectiveness of our foreign aid programs. With the U.S. facing critical foreign policy and development priorities worldwide, it is vital that we update our foreign aid programs to reflect the new challenges of the 21st century.

Senator John Kerry (D-MA)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman

I’ve been able to see our foreign assistance dollars in action and am proud of the role we are playing in producing positive change in the lives of millions around the world, but at the same time, I share the frustration of many Americans that our foreign assistance efforts have often lacked transparency, coordination, monitoring and evaluation. This bill begins to reinvigorate USAID to improve the coordination, execution and efficiency of U.S. assistance so we can make each dollar go farther.

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN)
Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on International Development
and Foreign Assistance

This is one of the most significant pieces of foreign assistance legislation that has passed out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in decades. I am proud that this is truly a bi-partisan bill, developed in a collaborative manner and that it includes input from a wide range of voices. These programs are critical to millions of people around the world, they contribute to our mutual economic health, and are in the direct national security interests of the United States.

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Chairman of the Subcommittee on International Development and Foreign Assistance

Over 47,000 ONE members signed the petition
19 senators signed on—
9 of these since the campaign was first launched.

Sheila Nix, the U.S. Executive Director, ONE.org tells us that the next step for aid reform will be the White House Presidential Study Directive on U.S. global development, which General Jim Jones and Dr. Larry Summers are working on right now. Stay tuned to the ONE Blog and your email for updates and opportunities to take further action.

The need for this effort is made clear by the testimony of Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of CARE.

In the video she testifies in defense of Global Hunger and Food Security legislation, specifically the Global Food Security Act (HR3077) and the Roadmap to End Global Hunger Act (HR2817).

However, it seems that these bills are still languishing so the work still needs to continue.

Check out "2009 Stand Up Take Action is next month" on United Actions Global Network

Sphere: Related Content

I am still trying to get the word out about the Stand Up Take Action Against Poverty Event on October 16th, 2009 through various online communities. One of the online communities that I have become involved with through my FaceBook page is the Ning Social Group

United Actions Global Network Don't wait for solutions; create them Brian Dowling Check out '2009 Stand Up Take Action is next month' Link: 2009 Stand Up Take Action is next month About United Actions Global Network Connect to United Actions Global Network and shape our world for our generation and for the generations to come. 271 members 105 photos 76 songs 27 videos 11 discussions 60 blog posts

Here is an invite to both the group and the event.

Brian Dowling Brian Dowling has invited you to the event 'Stand Up Take Action Against Poverty' on United Actions Global Network! Check out "Stand Up Take Action Against Poverty" on United Actions Global Network Brian Dowling Time: October 16, 2009 at 6pm to October 18, 2009 at 7pm Location: World Wide Organized By: United Nations Millennium Campaign Event Description: This year on October 16, 17 and 18 help break the record yet again and send a LOUDER message than ever - Achieve the Millennium Developments Goals by 2015. See more details and RSVP on United Actions Global Network: http://unitedactions.ning.com/events/event/show?id=2932281%3AEvent%3A6502&xgi=2eYlkqhYW0QW4w About United Actions Global Network Connect to United Actions Global Network and shape our world for our generation and for the generations to come. 271 members 105 photos 76 songs 27 videos 10 discussions 60 blog posts

Senator Barbara Boxer Speaks Up for the Millennium Development Goals

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I wanted to do a positive "things can and are getting better" article and have decided to post the email that I received from Senator Barbara Boxer. The letter is in its original form with some links added. Following the links does dampen the positive spin of the email somewhat, but it is good to know that my representatives have their heart in the right place. There are still plenty of negative and hard-road-to-travel posts waiting in my drafts, but for now at least we have an administration that is headed in the right direction.

Dear Mr. Dowling:

Thank you for contacting me to share your views regarding America's commitment to providing international humanitarian assistance.

Like you, I believe that the United States must take a leading role in alleviating poverty and creating initiatives to help improve living conditions for the less-fortunate throughout the world. Our financial commitment to fighting global poverty and disease not only demonstrates our dedication to easing human suffering but also shares our humanitarian values with the world.

I am pleased to report that the Senate has voted to fully fund President Obama's request for the Fiscal Year 2010 International Affairs Budget. S.Con.Res.13 includes $51.7 billion in funding, a significant and necessary increase over FY2009 funding levels. Please know that I will work to maintain this level of funding as the appropriations process continues.

In addition, I strongly support the Obama Administration's goal of doubling foreign assistance by 2012. To that end, I am very pleased with the Administration's request to double funding for agricultural development programs in developing countries, making these programs more efficient and alleviating food shortages around the world. This effort closely mirrors the Global Food Security Act (S.384), which I also support.

Throughout my tenure in Congress, I have been a strong supporter of humanitarian assistance to people in need around the world. That is why I strongly support international efforts to fight HIV/AIDS and advance the Millennium Development Goals - a series of objectives endorsed by all 191 member states of the United Nations that range from halving extreme poverty to providing universal primary education by 2015. I also strongly support efforts to fully fund The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a critical component of the United States fight against global poverty and disease.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please know that I will continue to support humanitarian and financial assistance to people in need around the world.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

New MDG blog links and resources from Millennium Promise

Sphere: Related Content I recently had the following exchange with Nicholas Chang of Millennium Promise.

Hi Brian,

I found your blog the other day after it was including in my google alert. I love what you are doing spreading the word about the MDGs! I work for Millennium Promise as the Social Media Specialist, and we are the NGO partner organization founded by Raymond Chambers and Jeffrey Sachs that works to achieve the MDGs with the UNDP and the Earth Institute. I was wondering if you could add us as links in your blog? For example, can you add a link to our blog under your "Millennium Bloggers" section and a link to our website in your "Supporting Millennium Development Goals In the Trenches" section? And can you add our facebook fan page to your facebook links section? We also have a twitter and myspace account that are all very new re-launches.

Well, if you can do this, I would appreciate it greatly. Great job on your blogging, and hope to hear from you. Please become a fan of Millennium Promise on facebook when you get a chance! Here are the links to the blog and social media profiles that I was talking about earlier:

Blog
http://blogs.millenniumpromise.org/

Website
http://www.millenniumpromise.org/

Facebook fan page
http://www.facebook.com/MillenniumPromise

twitter
http://twitter.com/EndOfPoverty

myspace
http://www.myspace.com/millenniumpromise


Nicholas Chang
Millennium Promise
432 Park Avenue South, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10016
(917) 771-3147
nicholas.chang@millenniumpromise.org
http://www.millenniumpromise.org/

Follow us on twitter, facebook, and myspace!

http://twitter.com/EndOfPoverty
http://www.facebook.com/MillenniumPromise
http://www.myspace.com/millenniumpromise
----------

My response

Hi Nicholas,

First off thanks for visiting my blog and your kind words. Your blog is now under the "Millennium Bloggers" section your webpage is under "Supporting Millennium Development Goals In the Trenches" section and your facebook fan page has been added to the facebook links section of my blog.

I also have a wiki from PBworks Milestones For A New Millennium and have added these resources there as well.

One section that may be of particular interest is Jeffery Sachs and the Millennium Villages

It is only suppose to be a simple explanation, but if one is going to explain the Millennium Development Goals then it seems necessary.

Thanks again for the encouragement and the chance to help.

Brian Dowling
BrianDRPM

From Hardware to Collaborative Philosophy "Whatever it takes"

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Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore's had a post which has been sitting in my draft box for some time. It was on a comparison of Scale vs. Diffusion. His focus was about how to "scale" social sector innovation, and whether "diffusion" might be a more useful idea.

He followed up with another post on Understanding Scale. There is a great deal of interesting insights in the comments sections of both posts. This brings this blogging effort full circle returning to concept of "Creative Destruction" in my first blog which lead me along the path to where I find myself today. Also touches upon "Disruptive Innovation" from earlier in this blog. The concept of in-bound marketing is now taking root in empowering people.

The response to the post demonstrated a nerve was hit and that many social entrepreneurs are thinking hard about how to reevaluate the notion of "scale." It has taken me some time to get my head around it and I will be coming back to these concepts. In very simplistic terms, scaling is bricks and diffusion is water. Use both and you can turn grain into bread. Here is a quick bullet list, more at the original posts.

• Comment Theme #1 - Finally, "Scale" Isn't Sacrosanct:
• Comment Theme #2 - Affirmation of Local Context: Diffusion necessarily gives local context a stronger hand in adapting an innovation to meet a particular and discreet set of needs.
• Comment Theme #3 - Mind Shift, Not Resource Increase: Foundations still had a potentially vital role fostering the ecosystems in which innovation could diffuse across networks, and that a mindset shift was more important than any sort of resource increase.
• Comment Theme #4 - Institutional Scale Still Matters: A final point was that the "diffusion" mindset doesn't entirely supplant our notion of scale as much as supplements it.
  

What I also found interesting was the examples provided. They demonstrate a pathway from hardware technology create to solve a specific problem to organizational adoption to collaborative strategies. Paul Farmer's work has been featured in this blog and earlier in my first blog.

• FrontlineSMS: A free, large scale text messaging solution for NGOs and non-profit organizations

  FrontlineSMS is free open source software that turns a laptop and a mobile phone into a central communications hub.
  

  • A lack of communication can be a major barrier for grassroots non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in developing countries. FrontlineSMS is the first text messaging system created exclusively with this problem in mind.

    FrontlineSMS leverages computers and mobile phones already available to most NGOs enabling instantaneous two-way communication on a large scale.
    

• jopsa.org - Projects and perspectives on global health

  The FrontlineSMS in action

  • From the start of our projects to the finish, it’s people who determine what FrontlineSMS:Medic does, when we do it, and why. The tech tools we use exist to serve patients, community health workers, and healthcare professionals – not the other way around.
    

    We strongly believe that projects should start when clinics ‘pull’ them to a site, as opposed to having projects ‘pushed’ onto healthcare providers..

• FrontlineSMS:Medic | Text Messages Save Lives

  Implementing the Millennium Development Goals health objectives in the developing world will require new technologies arising from disruptive innovation. Finding new uses for technologies we take for granted.
  

  • How powerful is a light-weight tool in the right hands? During a six month pilot in Malawi, our partner doubled the number of people being treated for Tuberculosis.

  • Driven by local ownership and appropriate technology.

    In the developing world, lack of infrastructure prevents health workers from delivering efficient healthcare to rural areas. As health workers travel from clinics to reach isolated patients, they are often as disconnected from central clinics as the patients they are trying to serve. The mission of FrontlineSMS:Medic is to advance healthcare networks in the developing world by building and distributing innovative, appropriate mobile technologies.

• Partners In Health Vision - Whatever it takes

  The PIH model of care – partnering with poor communities to combat disease and poverty
  
  For the first time, substantial funding is available to treat infectious diseases in impoverished settings. Funding alone, though, won’t be enough. For this massive investment to make a real impact on the twin epidemics of poverty and disease, a comprehensive and community-based approach is key.

  • The PIH Vision: Whatever it takes
  • At its root, our mission is both medical and moral. It is based on solidarity, rather than charity alone.
    
  • Whatever it takes. Just as we would do if a member of our own family—or we ourselves—were ill.

Diigo tags: frontlinesms, mobile, global health vision, mdgs jopsa.org, jopsa, sms, activism, development,

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.