Rep. Scott, Experts Discuss Haiti & U.S. Global Poverty Efforts at Hampton University

Hampton, VA-Today at Hampton University, Congressman Bobby Scott (D-VA) joined President of Physicians for Peace, Gen. Ron Sconyers, students, professors and members of the global anti-poverty organization ONE to discuss America’s impact in the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease around the world.

The forum, hosted by ONE and Hampton University, highlighted the ongoing international response to the earthquake in Haiti as well as America’s long-term global efforts to save lives and increase opportunity in the poorest countries around the world.  The connection between U.S. global anti-poverty efforts and U.S. security was also emphasized.

“I’m excited to join ONE and the NAACP Chapter at Hampton University to discuss the issues of global health and poverty,” said Rep. Scott. “As we saw with the earthquake in Haiti, Americans are obviously willing to respond in times of crisis.  However, global health and poverty are important every day, not just in times of crisis.  We must find a way to translate our concern for humanity into sustained policy efforts that will strengthen the global community and lead to a safer and healthier world.”

Joining Rep. Scott on the panel was Brigadier General Ron Sconyers, President and CEO of Physicians for Peace, a global organization based in Norfolk that quickly responded to the earthquake in Haiti and focuses on delivering health care needs throughout the developing world.

“The fact that more than one billion people, seventy percent of whom are women, live on less than one dollar a day and the impact that has on families and communities is an issue that needs greater attention,” said Gen. Sconyers. “We all are very encouraged by ONE’s grassroots advocacy efforts to shed more light on these critical problems and the ways we can work together to address them.”

Also speaking at the forum was Keren Dongo, a Haitian-American and ONE’s Senior Manager of Community Engagement. In response to the tragedy in Haiti last month, Dongo and ONE lead an effort to convince world leaders to drop Haiti’s $1 billion in international debt. ONE’s “Drop the Debt” petition received more than 200,000 signatures from ONE members, and world leaders and institutions have indicated their intention to follow through and drop the debt.

Hampton University English Professor Shonda Buchanan moderated the panel discussion.

Beyond rebuilding efforts in Haiti, the speakers also emphasized the historic results that America’s global health efforts have delivered over the last several years particularly in Africa, thanks in large part to bipartisan support from the U.S. Congress. These successes include:

• Around 4 million people living with HIV/AIDS now have access to lifesaving medication-up from just 50,000 people in 2002-thanks to U.S. commitments to programs like PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
• Millions more are surviving malaria because of cost-effective investments in simple bed nets and medicines. In Rwanda and Ethiopia, for example, malaria cases have been cut in half in just two years.
• Some 42 million children living in sub-Saharan Africa went to school for the first time between 1999 and 2007 after many governments used some of the billions of dollars freed up by debt cancellation to help eliminate school fees.