ONE Applauds President Obama for Commitment to World’s Poorest People

Washington, D.C. – ONE applauded President Barack Obama for reaffirming America’s commitment to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people in his historic Inaugural Address this afternoon.

Senator Bill Frist, the Republican former U.S. Senate Majority Leader who co-chaired ONE’s nonpartisan presidential outreach initiative, ONE Vote ’08, made the following statement in reaction to the Obama inaugural:

“With hundreds of millions of eyes watching him, President Obama made clear that he will help to lead the world to finally end extreme poverty and entirely preventable diseases, that we will use the best of America to help people struggling to survive the world’s worst conditions.  These are not just words in a speech; this is a commitment from America to the world.  We are all in this together, and ONE members are ready to work to turn the Millennium Development Goals into the Millennium Generation’s greatest accomplishment.  It’s time that we open our eyes fully to the human catastrophes facing our world and lead the way to the solutions.”

More than 101,000 people signed ONE’s online petition calling on Mr. Obama to make clear in his speech the importance of fighting poverty and preventable disease worldwide.

During the campaign, Obama committed to doubling foreign assistance and to prioritise the provision of basic medicine, food and education in areas where people are living on less than $1 per day.  His commitments on HIV/AIDS, hunger, child and maternal health, basic sanitation, and primary education can be viewed at www.ONE.org