John Mc Arthur has a great piece in the Ottawa Citizen today on the need for Canadian leadership at the G8/G20 this coming June, our chance to meet the MDGs and the successes of aid.

Some highlights on what aid has accomplished in Africa since 2000:

(1) Measles deaths have dropped by more than 90% saving over 1,000 children’s lives a day.

(2) Nearly three million more people are on antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, preventing new infections, keeping parents alive and turning HIVS/AIDS into a manageable disease rather than a death sentence – just like the rich world. ARVs cost less than $100 annually now to produce generically down about $10,000 from roughly a decade ago.

(3) Roughly 200 million more bednets have been distributed preventing new potentially fatal bouts with malaria, as well as contributing to whole countries (Rwanda, Ethiopia and Eritrea) more than halving death rates from the disease.

(4) Malawi doubled its food production and has seen astounding economic growth, which gives hope for the potentially historic breakthrough on hunger at the G8 through the $20 billion in aid for food security for small holder farmers which of course could easily wind up being the equivalent of over $100 billion in food aid.

Three cool short videos.

Good three minute video on the Millennium Declaration and the Millennium Development Goals with Kofi Annan naratting courtesy of Millennium Promise, Malaria No More, and GOOD.

Another excellent three minute video, Celebrate, Accelerate on the progress towards the Millennium Development Goals by the ONE campaign. 

Great one minute video on ending poverty by Christian Aid.

Over 200,000 Canadians Stand Up and Take Action Against Poverty!!

When?  It hasn’t happened yet.  STAND UP and TAKE ACTION on Oct 16-19 is a three day global mobilization to demonstrate support for the fight against poverty and the Millennium Development Goals – www.standagainstpoverty.org  STAND UP can be as big or little as you make it.  For it to count as a STAND UP event all you have to do is read the “pledge” and then those who agree stand up and then you report your numbers. 

Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate said: “Poverty does not belong in a civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum. That’s where it will be. When schoolchildren go with their teachers and tour the poverty museums, they will be horrified to see the misery and indignity of human beings. They will blame their forefathers for tolerating this inhumane condition and for allowing it to continue in such a large segment of population until the early part of the twenty-first century.”

Like the campaigns to end slavery, apartheid, racism and sexism, a tipping point did not come until there was a critical mass of people who knew about, and were willing to take action (together) on, the issues.

A word about Canada’s G8 commitments:

You may have heard, with some elation, that Canada is actually on track to keeping its commitments, made at the G8 summit in 2005, to double aid to Africa.  In a purely technical sense that is correct, though the more you probe and prod the less and less honourable the commitments become.

Complex problems have complex solutions.  To stop the 18 million people that will die this year from poverty all at once would require structural reform and be an overwhelming task.  However, 6 diseases are responsible for 90% of disease deaths[i], or in other words 8 million people, and it would only cost $30-$40 per person to end.[ii]