Washington, D.C.- American leaders from both sides of the aisle have returned from a trip to Africa led byformer U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Bill Frist (R-TN) on behalf of the ONE Campaign.  The delegation, which included key humanitarian and political figures such as Cindy McCain, John Podesta, and Mike Huckabee, travelled throughout Rwanda to see how U.S. investments improve lives by providing health care and alleviating extreme poverty in the region.

From July 17 to 23, the group watched and listened as Rwandan citizens and the country’s own political heroes guided them through coffee farms, health clinics, church services, investment opportunity discussions, and memorials to the recent genocide, among others.  Each site presented unique ties with an assortment of U.S. initiatives and partnerships that are helping Rwandans find ways to improve the nation’s access to medicines, treatment, food, clean water, education and improved infrastructure.

By witnessing how America is making a difference in Rwanda, the delegation was renewed in their commitment to make extreme poverty and preventable disease a top priority for America’s political agenda.  The trip also highlighted the opportunity for America’s next president to build upon these successful initiatives and formulate new policies that will curb suffering from poverty and entirely preventable diseases.

“Rwanda is filled with stories of hope, opportunity, growth and industry. Public and private partnerships have renewed a once broken society.  These people have won the battle over despair and violence and I’m pleased that America has taken steps forward to help the people of Rwanda.  But we have much more work to do throughout Africa and the world’s poorest regions to prevent further suffering.  We can stave off malaria, prevent new HIV/AIDS infections and save the lives of children who die due to treatable diseases.  Millions of Americans join me when I say that America must continue to find ways to make beneficial partnerships throughout Africa and the rest of the world,” said Senator Bill Frist.

“One of the most striking elements of this trip was the quality of the leaders in Rwanda.  From President Kagame to the workers at the health clinic, we saw how people came together with a vision for a better world and put forward all of the energies towards achieving a better life,” said Senator Tom Daschle.  “America has facilitated some of those improvements.  Throughout the trip, it became strikingly apparent that what happens in Rwanda is important to American citizens.  We cannot turn our backs when just a small investment results in such drastic changes.

The trip culminated in a meeting with President Kagame who spoke to the group about his hope for Rwanda’s future and how outside parties can continue to facilitate the nation’s renewal process.

“We went to Rwanda to listen and to learn, and with every site visit, I became more deeply rooted in my resolve to make sure that we are doing whatever we can to push forward the movement against extreme poverty.  The Rwandan people,  like other African nations, possess the spirit and intelligence to improve their world.  Our responsibility is to do whatever we can to help them harness those talents into real change,” saidONE President and CEO David Lane.

“Americans want to help.  It’s up to our next President to lead the way.  We will be relentless as we follow up with Senators McCain and Obama on the commitments they’ve made already to alleviate extreme poverty and push them to work with Congress to improve upon plans already laid,” Lane added.

Background

Thanks to America, millions of lives have been saved in communities all around Africa. For instance, by the end of 2007, 59 million bed nets had been distributed by the Global Fund alone, helping to dramatically reduce malaria rates in several African countries, including Rwanda. Also thanks to American leadership, more than 2 million Africans are now on lifesaving AIDS medicine, up from only 50,000 in 2002. In the last five years, some 29 million more African children have been able to go to primary school because the United States has helped with resources and expertise. Through these investments, America is giving millions the chance to improve their own lives, to return to work, to build stronger families and communities and, in the process, make a more stable, secure world for us all.

The trip is the latest advocacy effort of ONE Vote ’08, the ONE Campaign’s effort to energize and engage the presidential candidates to make the fight against global disease and extreme poverty a foreign policy priority. ONE Vote ’08 combines grassroots mobilizing at campaign events with an unprecedented non-partisan team of political strategists, policy experts, security and military advisors, entertainers and influential faith leaders. As a result of this grassroots mobilization and policy-level interaction, both Sens. McCain and Obama are releasing plans that address ONE’s core issues in an unprecedented fashion.

By showcasing the difference that America is making right now-and what future investments can mean in saved lives and a stronger global leadership role for America-ONE is playing a vital advocacy role. Through trips like this one, ONE builds an understanding with key decision makers about the reality of life in these extremely poor areas and the opportunity for leadership that America has before it. Already, this advocacy work, coupled with the efforts of other organizations, has resulted in substantial new commitments from the United States, bringing with it millions of lives saved from poverty and disease.

The ONE Campaign is a grassroots movement — 2 million members and growing — that is committed to holding world leaders accountable for working together to address global poverty and disease.

ONE Vote ’08 is a project of the ONE Campaign and ONE Action. It is not endorsing or opposing any candidate, but is encouraging all presidential candidates to address these critical issues.

The ONE Campaign is a global organization uniting millions of people to press government leaders to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world. For more information, visit www.ONE.org. 

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