Cholera Crisis Under Control

Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak, which has only recently gotten under control, is continuing to decline. Officials are happy to report that the number of cases is going down. Compared to the 13 related deaths reported in March, only 4 such cases were reported in April. Doctors and aid agencies are still hard at work treating the lessening number of patients, but they are optimistic about being able to solve the crisis.
Source: UN News Centre

Keeping up with Congress

Capitol Words is an online tool that tracks Congress sessions, cataloging the words that are most often used that day. They analyze that data and feed it through their website, allowing visitors to see what issues are being discussed the most on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. This is a great tool to use for keeping track of the issues that are important to us, such as global poverty and foreign aid!

Albright and Powell on Foreign Aid

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article by former secretaries of state Madeleine K. Albright and Colin Powell about the importance of foreign aid. Commending President Obama on his efforts towards improving aid, they encouraged foreign assistance especially in the midst of an economic struggle.

"Our country's economic health and security are inextricably linked to the prosperity and security of the rest of the world. The current economic crisis brings with it a strong temptation to turn inward and focus on the pain we are experiencing here at home. But pulling back from global engagement is not an option. Stability and prosperity go hand in hand, and neither is possible in the presence of widespread and extreme poverty."

Source: Wall Street Journal

Hunger Affecting More People Than Ever

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the number of hungry people will rise to a record-breaking 1 billion in 2009. If their projections are correct, one-sixth of the world's population will go hungry by the end of the year. The figure is staggering; never in history has hunger affected such a huge number of people. Read the full article here.

Recent Meningitis Epidemic

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 2,000 people have died since January from meningitis. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) are currently working on their biggest vaccination campaign ever to solve this epidemic, vaccinating about 7 million people. The disease is a bacterial infection of the brain membrane, and if left untreated, it has a very high mortality rate. As the world focuses on solving the problem of HIV/AIDS and malaria, it's important to remember that there are other deadly diseases out there that need our attention.
Source: DoctorsWithoutBorders.org

Bill to Improve Foreign Assistance

Last week, Representatives Howard Berman and Mark Steven Kirk introduced the "Initiating Foreign Assistance Reform" Act of 2009 (HR 2139). The bill focuses on improving aid effectiveness. It proposes that the President create and implement more effective strategies to combat global poverty. It also highlights the importance of making foreign assistance more transparent; informing the public of where the money goes and how it is spent. If passed into law, this bill would significantly improve the way in which foreign aid is currently being distributed.

Read the full text here, and remember to call your Congressional leaders about this bill!

Bill Providing Safe Drinking Water

Several weeks ago, a new bill was introduced by the House of Representatives. Titled "The Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act 0f 2009 (H.R. 2030)", this bill is aimed at providing easier access to safe drinking water and improving sanitation for 100 million people by 2015. Currently, there are about 1 billion people in the world who lack clean drinking water, and 2.5 billion who live in unsanitary conditions which often result in a life-threatening disease. If this bill gets passed, the US will become a leading player in addressing the MDG concerned with water and sanitation. According to Patricia Simon, wife of the late Senator Paul Simon, "This new legislation is critical for bringing support- both financial and human- for the water and sanitation crisis to respectable levels." Read more about it here.

Remember to keep calling your congressional leaders every week, and add this bill to the list of legislature that we want them to support!