Good Works

In his latest Sports Illustrated column Rick Reilly reports on his trip to Nigeria to distribute the first round of anti-malaria bed nets, bought from money raised by the Nothing But Nets campaign.

A couple of weeks back, we told the story behind the creation of Nothing But Nets, a grassroots campaign asking people to donate $10 toward the purchase of bed nets to combat malaria. Today, Nothing But Nets officially goes online. WASHINGTON, DC (November 14, 2006) - The United Nations Foundation (UN Foundation) announced today the launch of Nothing But Nets - a grassroots campaign asking individuals to donate $10 to "send a net, save a life." Each $10 donation pays for an insecticide-treated bed net, distributes it to a family in need in Africa, and provides education on its proper use to prevent malaria. Founding partners of the campaign are NBA Cares, The People of the United Methodist Church, and Sports Illustrated.

It's not often that a story in Sports Illustrated can have a direct impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in sub-Saharan Africa. But with an 815 word column in April, writer Rick Reilly kicked off a grassroots campaign to do just that.

Turner created the UN Foundation 1998 with his historic gift in support of the United Nations. He has said that his gift is an "investment in the future of humanity." On November 10, Ted Turner will answer questions via video and online. Add your question by visiting The People Speak.

"Despite the deteriorating security situation in Darfur, a new United Nations assessment has found that overall malnutrition levels have mostly stabilized in 2006 and food insecurity has improved slightly thanks to a stronger international response to the suffering in Sudan's war-torn west. Crude mortality dropped for the third year running, but insecurity and lack of access to many Darfurians continued to cloud the aid picture." More

Reuters: "School children in Gaza, cricket fans in India and African church-goers have helped set a Guinness world record for "the largest number of people to 'stand up against poverty,'" U.N. officials said on Tuesday. The record was set when 23,542,614 people stood up as part of 11,646 organized events around the world during a 24-hour period this week, according to the official Guinness verification text, released at a U.N. news conference."

"Nicole Kidman is playing a role that has nothing to do with movies, touring Kosovo as a United Nations goodwill ambassador to the tense province.... The actress was named goodwill ambassador of the U.N. Development Fund for Women, or UNIFEM, in January and the tour of Kosovo is her first visit in that role." More

UNF board member Mohammed Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize today. In the 1970's Yunus pioneered the use of micro-loans to give rural entrepreneurs in the developing world start-up capitol needed for their small businesses. These loans typically range around $200, and are overwhelmingly directed toward women in the developing world who need funds to buy basic equipment or materials to get their small business off the ground. Fascinatingly, the Grameen Bank, which was founded in Bangladesh, claims a rate of return of over 90%.

In 1998 Ted Turner pledged $1 billion to United Nations causes. The United Nations Foundation that Turner established has now hit that mark. As the UNF's press release says, "The Foundation (and its sister organization, the Better World Fund) has donated over $600 million from founder Ted Turner and over $400 million from individuals, corporations, governments, and NGOs to programs that address key global challenges in four areas: children's health, environment, women and population, and peace, security and human rights."