In response to The First Post’s column attacking Bono’s charitable work, a ONE spokesman explains where the money goes.
Contrary to Johnny Dee's column (Bono under fire: where does all the ONE cash go?), ONE does not fundraise from the general public, we do not receive any government funding and we do not deliver development projects on the ground.
We are funded almost entirely by a handful of philanthropists on our board of directors to raise awareness and pressure political leaders to fight extreme poverty through smart and effective policies and programs, like the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria, which is saving 4,000 lives a day.
The whole point of ONE is to combat extreme poverty by raising awareness and changing government policy - it has never been to directly fund charity projects in developing countries, work which is done well by other NGOs. ONE was created by philanthropists to tackle the structural policy issues such as debt, trade, and access to health care and other resources which make it hard to break out of extreme poverty.
ONE has nearly 120 staff in the US, UK, Germany, Brussels, France, Nigeria and South Africa whose job it is to fight for funding for effective programs like the Global Fund and the US global Aids program PEPFAR.
As a result of those programs, today more than 4 million Africans have access to life-saving Aids medication, up from only 50,000 people in 2002.
Malaria deaths have been cut in half in countries across Africa in less than two years. As other examples of our work, ONE helped successfully press for debt relief for Haiti after the devastating earthquake there and we recently played an important role in the passage of a law in the US requiring oil companies to report any payments to government officials - an effort to end backhanded deals between energy companies and corrupt politicians that hurt people in poor countries.
We raise awareness and bring about policy change by mobilising the support of the two million members who have given their voice to our campaign and by lobbying governments to keep to the promises they have made. We also work on issues of good governance and transparency, to ensure that aid goes to those who need it most and to support trade, investment and strong economic growth in Africa.
ONE has been a relentless advocate for these programs and policies and we have used the media spotlight to ensure world leaders keep their commitments.
The media kits that were mentioned in your article, which were an effort to focus reporters on the Millennium Development Goals, a set of promises world leaders made to cut poverty, hunger and disease by 2015.
www.thefirstpost.co.uk
We are funded almost entirely by a handful of philanthropists on our board of directors to raise awareness and pressure political leaders to fight extreme poverty through smart and effective policies and programs, like the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria, which is saving 4,000 lives a day.
The whole point of ONE is to combat extreme poverty by raising awareness and changing government policy - it has never been to directly fund charity projects in developing countries, work which is done well by other NGOs. ONE was created by philanthropists to tackle the structural policy issues such as debt, trade, and access to health care and other resources which make it hard to break out of extreme poverty.
ONE has nearly 120 staff in the US, UK, Germany, Brussels, France, Nigeria and South Africa whose job it is to fight for funding for effective programs like the Global Fund and the US global Aids program PEPFAR.
As a result of those programs, today more than 4 million Africans have access to life-saving Aids medication, up from only 50,000 people in 2002.
Malaria deaths have been cut in half in countries across Africa in less than two years. As other examples of our work, ONE helped successfully press for debt relief for Haiti after the devastating earthquake there and we recently played an important role in the passage of a law in the US requiring oil companies to report any payments to government officials - an effort to end backhanded deals between energy companies and corrupt politicians that hurt people in poor countries.
We raise awareness and bring about policy change by mobilising the support of the two million members who have given their voice to our campaign and by lobbying governments to keep to the promises they have made. We also work on issues of good governance and transparency, to ensure that aid goes to those who need it most and to support trade, investment and strong economic growth in Africa.
ONE has been a relentless advocate for these programs and policies and we have used the media spotlight to ensure world leaders keep their commitments.
The media kits that were mentioned in your article, which were an effort to focus reporters on the Millennium Development Goals, a set of promises world leaders made to cut poverty, hunger and disease by 2015.
There is a rich and vibrant debate in the UK media about aid that doesn't happen in the US, which is why these press kits were delivered to US reporters in New York. In hindsight, the kits were not the best way to gain attention for the issues and we regret that sending them distracted from the work we are trying to do and the issues we care about.
Sincerely,
Olly Buston, European Director, ONE
Sincerely,
Olly Buston, European Director, ONE
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