I have not put up anything for sometime because of work and trying to work out some issues with the Stand Up Take Action folks. So in typical up against the deadline or way late blogger fashion, here is a reblogged posting of what has been happening in the world regarding the Millennium Development Goals.

2010/8/19

DEVELOPMENT-AUSTRALIA: It's Not Just About More, But Better, Aid Neena Bhandari SYDNEY, Aug 19 - Australia's foreign aid budget is likely to double by 2015, but civil society groups say this is far from enough if it is to keep to its "fair share" of commitments to poorer countries. MORE >> AFRICA: Woman Researcher Tackles Aflatoxin Poisoning Isaiah Esipisu NAIROBI , Aug 18 - Despite a bumper harvest of maize just a few months ago, many residents in the eastern part of Kenya are facing hunger and starvation. While granaries in the region may be full, the grain cannot be sold, let alone be eaten. MORE >> Q&A: "We Must Move from a Masculine to a Feminine Economy" Mario Osava interviews Brazilian feminist ROSE MARIE MURARO RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 17 - It is necessary to move from a "masculine" economy based on competition and a win-lose mentality to a "feminine" win-win economy based on the concept of collaboration, says writer Rose Marie Muraro, one of the pioneers of Brazil's feminist movement. MORE >> SWAZILAND: Finding Ways to Care for HIV Orphans Mantoe Phakathi KANGCAMPHALALA, Swaziland , Aug 17 - In the poor, drought-stricken community of Kangcamphalala, AIDS orphan Nomvula Dladla* is in tears. The 17-year-old has been told that her aunt, the only surviving relative she could live with, passed away a few hours ago of an HIV-related illness. And if she had been living anywhere else in the country, it would have made Dladla destitute. MORE >> Niger Facing Growing Food Crisis Ousseini Issa* NIAMEY, Aug 17 - In April, the United Nations World Food Programme estimated it would need 190 million dollars to respond to a food crisis threatening more than 7 million people in Niger. By July, the WFP had revised the amount needed upwards to $371 million: a month later, the U.N. agency has been forced to scale back aid for lack of funds. MORE >> KENYA: Poor Women Beset On All Sides By Violence Susan Anyangu-Amu NAIROBI, Aug 17 - "My daughter had repeatedly tried to describe to me what her step-father would do to her when I was not home," says Wanza*, a 28-year-old mother resident of Nairobi's Mathare slum. "On this particular night I pretended to be asleep and watched as he left our bed and went for my eight-year-old daughter." MORE >> RWANDA: Improving the Lives of Small-Scale Farmers Aimable Twahirwa KIGALI, Aug 16 - Joelle Nsamira Kajuga, a female agricultural researcher has a ready answer to describe which modified crop will produce a higher yield, which will be resistant to bacteria, and which will ensure food security and generate a higher turnover for poor small-scale farmers in different regions in Rwanda. MORE >> MALAWI: Local Management the Tonic for Water Woes Charles Mpaka BLANTYRE, Aug 16 - Hop over a seep of filthy sludge behind a bathroom screened with ragged sacks, turn past the toilet with battered cardboard walls, crab between mud-brick shanties roofed with rusty metal... There: emerge into a small, neat yard where a dozen women and girls are filling plastic buckets from five water taps sticking out of concrete wall. MORE >> U.N. Targets "Lost Generation" Jennifer Leong UNITED NATIONS, Aug 16 - Even as the U.N. launched the International Year of Youth last week, one of its agencies was warning of a "lost generation" of disillusioned young workers who are unable to find decent jobs. MORE >> SOUTHERN AFRICA: Land Reform Underfinanced and Failing Fidelis Zvomuya RAFFINGORA, Zimbabwe, Aug 14 - Mavis Muchena sits on the veranda of her mud hut, a middle-aged single mother of four with a face worn beyond her years and hands creased from working the soil. She should represent the future of a renewed farming boom in Zimbabwe, but instead she represents its failure. MORE >> GUATEMALA: Multi-Pronged Effort to Boost Food Security Still Falling Short Danilo Valladares GUATEMALA CITY, Aug 13 - "I used to work on the south coast, cutting sugar cane, and I would go all the way to Belize to pick oranges during the harvest. I went through a lot so we could get by," Héctor Pan, a Q'eqchi Indian in Guatemala who has now abandoned farming to become a river rafting guide, told IPS. MORE >> SOUTH SUDAN: Children Too Hungry to Return to Civilian Life Zack Baddorf SOUTH SUDAN, Aug 13 - When Timothy was forced into the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) at age 11, the first thing they did was beat him. Then they took him to a military base where his tasks were to carry other soldiers' bags, wash their clothes, collect firewood for them, and cook their food. MORE >> IPS is partnering with the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) to increase coverage of poverty issues and distribution of poverty related news articles worldwide. The core of this partnership is a three year (2010-2012) EU funded project that focuses on the situation in the Least Developed Countries. This page includes independent IPS news coverage financed by the EU in a project to cover the MDG situation in Least Developed Countries. The contents of this news coverage, including any funded by the European Union, are the sole responsibility of IPS and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union. ADVERTISEMENT

Read more IPS reporting on Development Deadline 2015 here. Copyright © 2010 IPS - Inter Press Service -- All rights reserved.

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Four days ago, David Lane, ONE President and CEO, informed me and more than 40,000 other ONE members that we had been successful in petitioning President Obama to deliver on his powerful pledge to present a plan for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) before the upcoming September's United Nation's Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York City. (Excuse for not doing this sooner is that again work got to hectic)

President Obama followed through on his pledge by releasing a new plan spelling out how the United States will work to achieve the United Nations' Eight Goal Millennium Campaign. 1. End Hunger 2. Universal Education 3. Gender Equity 4. Child Health 5. Maternal Health 6. Combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases 7. Environmental Sustainability 8. Global Partnership by 2015.

The plan, (you can read more about it here) stresses the importance of good governance, promoting economic growth and measurable results.

We should also feel proud to know that our work made a difference, and that the US is taking a real lead on the MDGs. But we can't forget that there's still a lot of hard work to do. We must make sure that the US acts on its new plan to tackle both the MDGs and broader development issues. We must urge other countries to commit to do their part at the September UN Summit. We must continue to let our leaders know that we support these goals and the hope, health, security and opportunity they offer to the world's poorest people.

Celebrate, Innovate, and Sustain: Toward 2015 and Beyond

I like the fact that it says "Toward2015 and Beyond" and leading with the word "Celebrate" is intriguing. First thing is to sit down and read it.

Related articles by Zemanta

• From principle to practice: Making the US MDG plan a reality (one.org)
• President Obama is releasing the US's MDG strategy today...but where's the bigger plan? (one.org)
• Breaking: White House releases MDG Plan (one.org)
• US gets a strategy to meet the Millennium Development Goals - please explain (aidwatchers.com)
• UN Foundation Founder and Chairman Ted Turner Calls on Private Citizens to Do Their Part to Help Achieve the UN's Millennium Development Goals (prweb.com)
• To Achieve MDGs, Economic Policies Must Help Poor, UNDP Head Says (medicalnewstoday.com)

The petition for the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) sponsored on Change.org by Help Women Thrive World Wide, and supported by a number of other organizations featured in this blog, was signed sometime ago and I had already asked my Senators to support it. Here is a response from Senator Boxer who helped introduce the bill on the Senate side. Senator Boxer and the International Violence Against Women Act (S.2982).

Now further movement has been with the announcement in July that Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA), described as a moderate, has decided to sponsor H.R.4594 - International Violence Against Women Act of 2010.

This has direct application to Millennium Development Goal No. 3. Gender Equity. You can't speak of equity or empowerment in a world where you are not safe. It also applies to all of the Millennium Development Goals because women will pay such a large part in bringing them about in thousands of villages across the globe.

It is all the more important because it is times of disaster that bring out best in some people but the worst in others. As a post earlier this year stated Women make a difference in Haiti and will make a difference in the new millennium. The threat of violence becomes all the worse during such calamities. The International Rescue Committee has called for support for this reason.

... months after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, many women and girls are still living in makeshift crowded camps in Port-au-Prince. In these teeming and often poorly lit settlements, women face the threat of physical and sexual assault and grapple with dangers posed by active criminal gangs.

These are stories regarding the Millennium Development Goals featured in the IPS Inter Press Service found further down below these posts under Global News Sources.

2010/8/6
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Removing Barriers to Trade Charles Mpaka* BLANTYRE, Aug 4 - Cecilia Gondwe waits in the shade of a tree at the Mwanza Border Post between Malawi and Mozambique. Somewhere inside, a clearing agent is completing elaborate paperwork on her behalf. MORE >> ZAMBIA: Election Violence Could Mean Fewer Women Participants Kelvin Kachingwe LUSAKA , Aug 4 - There are growing fears that increasing numbers of women candidates and voters may not participate in the 2011 general elections because of an upsurge in election-related violence. MORE >> DR CONGO: Sticks And Straw Out of Our Schools Badylon K. Bakiman KIKWIT, DR Congo, Aug 3 - Led by the local church, residents of Gungu administrative zone, in the southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo have used their own resources to transform the conditions in which their children study. MORE >> HIV-positive Kenyans Need Tribunal to Address Rights Violations David Njagi NAIROBI, Aug 3 - Nancy Njeri's life changed when she contracted HIV through a gang rape. Not only did the infection traumatise her, she was ostracised by close friends and neighbours whom she had known for almost a decade. She was fired from her job and when she attempted to sell vegetables, people boycotted her stand because of her status. MORE >> SOUTHERN AFRICA: Boost Cross-Border Trade for Food Security Lewis Mwanangombe* LUSAKA, Aug 3 - Small-scale traders on either side of the Mwami Border Post between Zambia and Malawi are key to meeting local demands that larger importers do not. MORE >> Developing More Top African Women Research Scientists Isaiah Esipisu NAIROBI, Aug 2 - In a tiny village near Kisumu city in Kenya, scientific researcher Mary Anyango Oyunga spends most of her time educating women about something they have always done – grow sweet potatoes. MORE >> Q&A: Clean Energy and Cultural Survival in Nicaragua Julio Godoy interviews ANNE-CÉCILE MAILFERT, of blueEnergy France* - PARIS, Aug 1 (Tierramérica) - For the past six years, French and U.S. engineers have been installing solar panels and wind turbines in the southeastern Nicaraguan town of Bluefields, promoting clean energy and development among the region's Rama indigenous peoples. MORE >> BURKINA FASO: Race to Achieve Goals on Sanitation Brahima Ouédraogo OUAGADOUGOU, Jul 31 - The government of Burkina Faso has embarked on the construction of 55,000 latrines each year to improve access to proper sanitation for the population from the present 10 percent to 54 percent by 2015. MORE >> MALAWI: Innovative Campaigning by Women Candidates Claire Ngozo LILONGWE, Jul 30 - You will find Beauty Kasonda on her campaign trail at funerals, weddings, church functions or just about any local gathering in her community. Kasonda does not have the sort of funding her male counterparts have for campaigning in the country's November 2010 elections but she is not letting that stop her. MORE >> POLITICS-GUINEA: Women Amongst Also-Rans in Presidential Elections Saliou Samb CONAKRY, Jul 30 - Celou Dalein Diallo gained a significant advantage over Alpha Condé, his main rival for the Guinean presidency, when a third candidate said he would back Diallo in a second round of voting in August. But what has become of women candidates for high political office in this West African country? MORE >> IPS is partnering with the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) to increase coverage of poverty issues and distribution of poverty related news articles worldwide. The core of this partnership is a three year (2010-2012) EU funded project that focuses on the situation in the Least Developed Countries. This page includes independent IPS news coverage financed by the EU in a project to cover the MDG situation in Least Developed Countries. The contents of this news coverage, including any funded by the European Union, are the sole responsibility of IPS and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.
Read more IPS reporting on Development Deadline 2015 here. Copyright © 2010 IPS - Inter Press Service -- All rights reserved.

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I am on Twitter now with this online persona and keep finding more people and groups working on the Millennium Development Goals with which to connect. The latest was with the World Food Programme (which I connected to through a fellow MAKE NOISE for the Millennium Development Goals BloggersUnite blogger from the Philippines).

The World Food Programme or WFP connected back with me and sent me a direct message.

WFP: Malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished children - we can break the cycle of hunger http://t.co/Mg8MxfR @WFP (pls share this)

The link goes to the video below.

This combines a number of the Millennium Development Goals together. MDG 1. End Hunger is an obvious one but as the cycle of malnutrition makes clear MDG 5. Maternal Health is an important aspect of the problem and if malnutrition impacts developmental health it is also a matter of MDG 4. Child Health. Finally, since most of this is handled by women MDG 3. Gender Equity should also be natural connection.

It can also be extended to include MDG 7. Environmental Sustainability because as the folks from Oxfam pointed out,

Poor women around the world are hardest hit by changes in the environment. When wells run dry, they may have to walk hours farther for water. Women are largely responsible for feeding their families, so when crops fail and food is scarce, they're the last to eat or they go without.

Back in June, I signed a Care2 petition supporting the Global MOMS Act which is designed to reduce global maternal mortality.

Implementation of MDG No. 5 Maternal Health would actually help stabilize our planet's population. It would also help to ensure economic vitality in our future, presuming we also fulfill the other of the 7 Millennium Development Goals.

As Kayla from the Care2 ThePetitionSite tells us:

No woman should have to put her life or health at risk during pregnancy or childbirth, and all new borns should have a healthy start in life. The Global MOMS Act will help countless mothers worldwide get access to quality health care services and reduce maternal mortality.

The term Maternal Death should become an oxymoron. Currently, they are are petitioner 12,857 and they are trying to reach 20,000. The bill seems to be going nowhere fast so needs all the help it can get. There doesn't seem to be any great amount of coverage by the main stream media.

Tell your members of Congress to support the Global MOMS Act and fight for women's health around the world. »

I did and got a response from one of them though it was not the one that is running for re-election and it was from the wrong part of the Congress .

Dear Mr. Dowling

Thank you for writing to express your support for the "Improvements in Global Maternal and Newborn Health Outcomes while Maximizing Successes Act" (Global MOMS Act) (H.R. 5268). I appreciate hearing your views on this pending legislation, and welcome the opportunity to respond.

Like you, I believe that the United States must continue to lead international efforts to improve maternal and child health care and reduce child mortality rates worldwide. During my tenure in the Senate I have worked hard to ensure that international maternal and child welfare programs are adequately funded. For example, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I supported the $7.8 billion included in the fiscal year 2010 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Act (Public Law111-117) for the Global Health and Child Survival Account, which funds programs to provide nutritional support and vaccines to women and children. Further, I coauthored a letter to Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Ranking Member Judd Gregg (R-NH) requesting that the Committee support full funding for the President's fiscal year 2011 international affairs budget request of $58.5 billion, which includes funding to directly improve the health, nutrition, sanitation, and educational needs of women and children worldwide.

As you may know, the "Global MOMS Act" is pending consideration by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and at this time, there is no companion bill in the Senate. Please know that I will continue to do my best to ensure that child health and welfare programs receive the funding they deserve, and be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind should this legislation come before me in the Senate.

Again, thank you for writing. I hope that you will continue to write on matters of importance to you. Should you have any further comments or questions, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

These are some of the links that I have saved at the Make NOISE for the Millennium Development Goals Diigo Group page with some of them having been featured in this blog. Seems like a quick and easy way to promote them again. Most of the comments are from the sites themselves, not me.

• Nets Save Lives | Nothing But Nets Campaign

  Simply put, malaria kills. Nets can save lives. Here are some harsh realities about malaria:
  Fact: Malaria is preventable, but causes nearly 500 million illnesses each year and kills more than 1 million of those who become infected.
  
  Fact: Ninety percent of deaths caused by malaria occur in Africa, where the disease is a leading killer of children. Every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies from malaria.
  Fact: Malaria is the #1 killer of refugees in Africa. Two-thirds of the 33 million refugees worldwide live in malaria endemic countries.
  So, as engaged global citizens, what can we do to help?

  tags: global health mdg6 millennium development goals UN nets save lives

• Measles Initiative

  Launched in 2001, the Measles Initiative is a partnership — led by the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and World Health Organization — committed to reducing measles deaths worldwide.The Measles Initiative founding partners provide technical and financial support to governments and communities conducting mass vaccination campaigns, improving routine immunization services, and establishing effective disease surveillance. To date, the partnership has invested US $670 million in measles control activities, helping to save an estimated 4.3 million lives.

  tags: measles initiative global health mdg6 millennium development goals UN

• Global Polio Eradication

  The goal of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is to ensure that no child will ever again know the crippling effects of polio. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is the largest public health initiative the world has ever known.

  tags: polio eradication

  global health mdg6 millennium development goals UN

• U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs

  The Committee that will be reviewing the Foreign Assistance Act which is an important component in America's effort to help in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

  tags: Foreign Assistance Act millennium development goals house committee

• USAID: USAID History

  On September 4, 1961, the Congress passed the Foreign Assistance Act, which reorganized the U.S. foreign assistance programs including separating military and non-military aid. The Act mandated the creation of an agency to administer economic assistance programs, and on November 3, 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

  tags: usaid millennium development goals Foreign Assistance Act

• United Nations Foundation » Achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals: Progress Through Partnerships

  UN Foundation CEO Kathy Bushkin Calvin testified on Tuesday, July 27, 2010, before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight. The subject of her testimony: how cross-sector partnerships are advancing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

  tags: mdgs United Nations Foundation UN

On Tuesday, I wrote about Congress hearing testimony on Millennium Development Goals for the first time. The House Committee on Foreign Affairs heard testimony on the Millennium Development Goals from John McArthur, CEO, (pdf) Millennium Promise, Scott Ratzan, Vice President, Global Health, Government Affairs and Policy, Johnson & Johnson and Kathy Calvin, CEO, United Nations Foundation.

UN Foundation CEO Kathy Bushkin Calvin testified before Congress about how collaboration and partnerships are key to advancing the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 (Read the full testimony here (pdf)).

The UN Foundation Team reminds us that:

Just as no nation should go it alone in the international arena, no single player can achieve the MDGs. From bishops to basketball players, collaborations across government agencies, corporations, foundations and individuals are absolutely essential to eradicating extreme poverty and bringing the MDGs within reach.

• Nothing But Nets
• Measles Initiative
• Global Polio Eradication Initiative
• Girl Up
• mHealth Alliance

The promise of the Millennium Development Goals is not some recent action by our governments. It is actually more than a promise, it is a commitment defined through the cooperative agreement of 189 nations that signed onto the Millennium Declaration on 8 September 2000. Numerous promises have been made since then, some closer to home than others.

Andrew at Care2 and ThePetitionSite Team reminds us that last year, President Obama stood before the UN and pledged to the world that the U.S. will support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and approach next year's summit with a global plan to fight world poverty.

This lifesaving pledge is due this September and we need more than just talk. Urge President Obama to follow through on his words and take the lead on achieving the MDGs by 2015 »

If these goals are achieved, world poverty will be cut by half, tens of millions of lives will be saved, and billions more people will have the opportunity to benefit from the global economy. Help cut poverty in half