The government of Ghana in late March started the implementation of its Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) scheme nationwide. The programme which is aimed at providing financial assistance to the 18.2 percent (880,000) persons considered to be extremely poor under the Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS) conducted in 2005 and 2006 is expected to benefit 8,350 individuals from 1,654 households in 21 selected districts in the country. Beneficiaries under the scheme will receive between GH¢ 8 ($ 8) and GH¢ 16 ($16) per month depending on the household. Most beneficiaries of this assistance are old women above 60 years, orphans and physically challenged persons. Currently, beneficiaries of this scheme receive their monies through the post office. However, it will be of a great service to the beneficiaries if an account is open for them at any bank closer to them for the monies to be transferred into it in order to instill saving attitudes in them.

Compassion has flooded the hallways of Libertyville High School in Illinois. I and my fellow students are taking action for the fight against disease and poverty and today, on March 19, our school will become the first official “ONE High School” at the same time Libertyville becomes an official “ONE City.” Next month, we’re organizing a massive community benefit concert that will take place on April 18, 2008 at the high school’s field house.

Just like the roots of the ONE Campaign, this started as just a few students’ idea and has grown into a movement. What inspires me the most is how quick more students are to join. Our group continues to grow and we’ve already signed up more than 580 new members in just two days of tabling. Between our school and town, the Libertyville community is truly taking on to the idea that we all can come together as ONE community to change the world.

The World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland has called for renewed commitment to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MGDs), aimed at halving extreme poverty, boosting health and education and further empowering women across the developing world by 2015.

World leaders called for action as the current steps made around the world are not nearly enough to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. The secretary general of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, the singer and activist Bono and the multimillionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates are some of the personalities sounding the alarm:

Those goals fixed a 2015 deadline to tackle extreme poverty and improve access to education and healthcare. "Too many nations have fallen behind. We need fresh ideas and fresh approaches. It is unacceptable that one child dies of hunger every day, every five seconds," Ban told a news conference at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

The ONE Campaign launched the new web site On The Record, which presents the plans of presidential candidates to end global poverty.  The videos are a result of hundreds of thousands of emails, phone calls, and letters sent to politicians demanding they put their plans to end poverty and achieve the MDGs on the record for everyone to see.

A great feature of the site is the ability to compare the action plans of politicians together side by side.  How does Rudy Giuliani's plan to end HIV/AIDS compare with Barak Ombama's? 

You can take part in the ONE Campaign by signing the On the Record Petition.  By getting every candidate to outline their plans to end global poverty, we will be able to hold whatever candidate becomes president in 2008 accountable to their promises.

If the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were a person, they would be the teenager who complains that no one understands her.  The latest example of people not getting what the MDGs are about is Bunker Roy’s article in the American.  Don’t get me wrong- Roy makes very good points, and if the MDGs are as he understands them, he would be right to criticize them.  The problem is that lots of people seem to think the MDGs equal a big gush of aid and Millennium Villages.

I think it’s great that Roy is focused on community empowerment, rural development, practical solutions coming from the poor themselves.  He’s appropriately skeptical of so-called experts parachuting in to tell people the solutions to their problems. 

To me, the beauty of the MDGs is in their framework- that every country, every person has a role to play.  Poor countries have to fight corruption, put the needs of the poor first, give voice to the grassroots.  But rich countries can help by reforming trade rules and yes, by aid.  Countries need help paying the salaries of teachers, nurses, agricultural extension workers.  They need outside resources to pay for AIDS drugs, to build roads and sanitation systems.

What is most exciting about the MDGs is the grassroots citizen movement they have sparked.  Across the world, there are anti-poverty MDG campaigns made up of citizen organizers, farmers, young people, teachers, clergy.  They are working to take the MDGs to the people, to empower them to demand that their government do right by them.  In South-South collaboration, they are sharing ideas and are part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty.  They are focused most on attacking corruption, government indifference, bad policies, but they also recognize that their countries can’t go it alone- they need trading opportunities and they need development aid that supports local priorities and empowers local people.  (Admittedly, way too much aid empowers donor agencies and consultants, rather than people, but MDG campaigns are tackling that issue too.)  The UN’s Millennium Campaign’s mission to support and work with these groups shows that the UN’s work on the MDGs is about a lot more than villages, even if the day to day work of empowering people doesn’t get the media and celebrity attention that a showcase village does.

Take action and send Gordon Brown an email asking him to be bold and put the fight against poverty, climate change and its impact on the poorest, and a just foreign policy firmly on the table during his first 100 days as Prime Minister.

While Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown showed his personal commitment to the fight against poverty, by taking significant action in a number of areas.

But as Prime Minister, it is even more important that during his agenda-setting first 100 days in office, he outlines what his government will do to make a lasting difference, for the millions of poor people in developing countries whose daily lives are blighted by poverty, injustice and conflict.

You can Email Gordon Brown now.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Tony Blair's recent successor, gave a speech at the UN headquarters on Tuesday, appealing to world leaders to hasten progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Brown discussed the immediate need for international unity to end extreme poverty by 2015, as a new 2007 UN progress report on the Goals finds that the world is not on course to meet the objectives of the 2000 Millennium Declaration.

"It was a remarkable moment --- the whole world coming together as one, the leadership of the poorest countries to be empowered by the obligations accepted by the richest. All of us accepting our shared responsibilities to work together for change. But seven years on it is already clear that our pace is too slow; our direction too uncertain; our vision at risk."

12 world leaders and 20 business leaders are backing Brown's plan to bring together government officials, the private sector, civil society and volunteers at a global meeting on the Goals at the UN next year. Brown called the lack of progress a "development emergency" and implored the world to take collaborative action to empower the poor, to save the thousands of children who die needlessly, to protect the environment from degradation and to meet the MDGs and bring about the change that can alter the lives of billions.

Two thousand people dived simultaneously against poverty at Carcavelos’ beach, near Lisbon, Portugal. “Mergulha Contra a Pobreza” (Dive Against Poverty) teamed up the Portuguese Millennium Campaign – Objectivo 2015, the local municipality and youth organizations to put together a mobilization event that highlighted the midway point to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

It was 5 p.m. sharp on July 6^th when local girl scouts whistled to call all 2000 bathers for a refreshing dive against poverty. Young and old ran into the sea, soaking their special t-shirts. Even the local municipality vice-president couldn’t resist the call against poverty – nor the 30ºC (86ºF).

The Millennium Campaign team wished to stay in the fresh water for the rest of the day. Fat chance. They had to talk to the media and set the Campaign’s Voice Box up, part of the MUSA Festival, a local youth music event.

Sarah and the Concern team are responding to the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by rebuilding 30 kilometers of road and 18 bridges as well as by distributing seeds, tools, oil, salt, food and resettlement kits to people in 64 villages in Katanga. 

July 9, 2007- It’s been quite an interesting few weeks here in Katanga. We’ve been out doing a water and sanitation assessment, so I’ve visited about 60 villages, been stuck on the road nine times, done a ten-hour drive from Shamwana to Dubie and received a marriage proposal! 

We started the water and sanitation assessment three weeks ago to see if the needs were strong enough to start a program here. We split the work so that Per, our advisor, looked at the water sources in the villages and I did the group discussions with the community members. The water sources in the communities are sometimes more than a 30-minute walk away from the village. You can imagine how difficult this is for the women here who have to make three trips a day to collect up to 20 liters of water for all their cooking, drinking, and bathing needs. My job was a lot easier than Per’s because I got to sit under a tree and have discussions with the people. We were asking them questions about their hygiene habits, trying to teach people to use latrines, wash their hands regularly, etc.

I don't usually sit through a 5-minute YouTube video unless its a Daily Show clip but this video really got my attention.  A friend shared a video about Teenage Affluenza, a syndrome that millions of young people from developed countries suffer from.  The video does a great job juxtaposing the problems of young people in a rich country vs. the monumental difficulties young people in poor countries face, but in a sarcastic way that isn't too overbearing or preachy.