As Matt mentioned earlier, across the city from where world leaders are gathering today to take stock of the Millennium Development Goals, Democratic nominee Barack Obama announced earlier that as president he would commit to ending deaths from Malaria by 2015.
This is big news.
Malaria kills 1 million people each year, the vast majority of whom are children under the age of five living in sub-Saharan Africa. The thing is, these deaths are entirely preventable. A relatively modest investment in preventative measures like bed nets and in treatments like ARV drugs can have a profound impact on the health and welfare of poor, Malaria endemic communities. First Lady Laura Bush has been an outspoken advocate on Malaria. It is very heartening to see that one of the two men who may become president has committed himself to ending this global scourge once and for all.
There will be more news on Malaria coming out of CGI today and tomorrow. In the meantime: Send a Net, Save a Life.
Drew Barrymore is on stage right now with President Clinton. She and others were representing WFP and the "Fill the Cup" campaign, launched earlier this year to raise funds and awareness about the 59 million children who go to school hungry. The symbol of the campaign is a red cup, "based on the millions of plastic cups that WFP uses to handout [sic] porridge or other food rations."
Today WFP's efforts were bolstered by commitments made by a five-year, $80 million pledge by YUM! Brands. The lion's share, $50 million will go to WFP to provide 200 million meals to school children.
WFP made some commitments itself, including to increase by a million the number of meals provided to school children each day.
Clearly, given the fact that the current economic crisis can only exacerbate the rising price of commodities, this is welcome news.
The following appeared as an op-ed in The Guardian Online on Thursday, September 25th.
This week, over 150 world leaders are gathered at the UN for the opening of the general assembly. If recent years are any indication, news outlets will focus on the disagreements aired on Tuesday, when George Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the podium.
But the real drama occurs today (Thursday), when the same global leaders that butted heads earlier in the week take stock of one of the most far-reaching and noble statements of international cooperation ever agreed upon, the millennium development goals.
Hundreds of world leaders gather at the United Nations today to take stock of the Millennium Development Goals. Here's an excerpt of my op-ed today in The Guardian on the topic.
This week, over 150 world leaders are gathered at the UN for the opening of the general assembly. If recent years are any indication, news outlets will focus on the disagreements aired on Tuesday, when George Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the podium.
But the real drama occurs today (Thursday), when the same global leaders that butted heads earlier in the week take stock of one of the most far-reaching and noble statements of international cooperation ever agreed upon, the millennium development goals.
Click over The Guardian to read the rest.
Hip-Hop star Wil.I.Am released a new video, "In My Name," which launches a new online collaboration between the artist and a number of global poverty-fighting NGOs around the Millennium Development Goals. Watch for the celebrity cameos in the video, each of whom sign their name in support of the MDGs.
Now, sign your own name. And if you submit your own video Will.i.am may include it in a create a mash-up of the best user-submitted videos.
Suzlon Green Power, one of the top five producers of wind turbines worldwide, just announced the biggest commitment (dollar-wise) of CGI. Suzlon has committed to bring 3,500 megawatts of electricity to nearly 10 million people, primarily in India and China, over five years. The projected cost of the project is $5 billion, and Suzlon will contribute $1.5 billion in equity. The increase in capacity represents roughly a third of the current capacity of GE, the current world leader.
Suzlon estimates that the these projects will cut 7 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent a year, roughly the equivalent of what 350,000 Americans consume -- nothing to sneeze at.
President Clinton just asked Neville Isdell, chairman of the Board at Coke, a question that he was mulling over in a private briefing I was lucky enough to attend on Tuesday. He asked whether the economic crisis would cause companies to cut their philanthropic activities.
Isdell believes that the business philosophy that leads to that prediction is outdated, and this is, in part, due to the benefit that employees get from working for a company that is engaged in good works. Common economic theory states that the higher a salary (plus benefits) a company offers -- to a point -- the better an applicant pool they'll get, the higher quality employees they'll have, and the more profit they'll make. If you consider the desire to work for a company that does good a tangible benefit, then aggregate salary will be higher for companies that are engaged in philanthropy, and their profits will be higher.
This, of course, presumes a broad desire among the populace to work for a conscientious company, which I believe to be true, and that the knowledge of this benefit is widespread among business leaders, which I hope to be true. It's also fails to compare the relative benefits of a company spending on good works and of it spending its money elsewhere. If profits continue to constrict, that will certainly be prove to be even greater a consideration.
How do you make sure that this benefit is properly considered? Simple. If you care that your company is engaged in good works, let them know about it.
The United Nations launched a YouTube page yesterday. So far, most of the content is from UN agencies, like this spot from the United Nations Population Fund called "No Women Should Die Giving Life"
In his latest "Backgrounder" on UN peacekeeping, Heritage Foundation hand Brett Schaefer has some relatively positive things to say about the efficacy and value of supporting the blue helmets.
Multiple Administrations have concluded that it is in America's interest to support U.N. operations as a useful, cost-effective way to influence situations that affect the U.S. national interest but do not require direct U.S. intervention. Although the U.N. peacekeeping record includes significant failures, U.N. peace operations overall have proven to be a convenient, sometimes effective multilateral means for addressing humanitarian concerns in situations where conflict or instability make civilians vulnerable to atrocities, for promoting peace efforts, and for supporting the transition to democracy and post-conflict rebuilding.This glimpse of the big picture was welcome in a report that focuses much of its attention on criticizing the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) for its alleged "mismanagement, fraud, and corruption." The problem with Schaefer's excessive focus on the latter is not that DPKO, the UN, or any such large organization, is a pristine body void of any transgressions or bureaucratic impediments; it is simply that the existence of such problems does nothing to diminish the value of UN peacekeeping -- particularly when Schaefer himself recognizes it.