2016 Annual Report

By Tom Hart, North American Executive Director

The Global Fund set an ambitious goal for its 2016 replenishment. ONE and (RED), with partners and volunteers around the world, campaigned for nearly a year to convince governments and the private sector to support it. And our efforts paid off.

At the Montreal summit, donors committed just shy of $13 billion, with more likely to come in subsequent months, making it the largest multilateral commitment to global health in history. While many partners around the world helped make this happen, ONE was among a small team—including the Gates Foundation, the government of Canada and the Global Fund itself—which drove the strategy and advocacy.

The Global Fund is the single most powerful weapon ever wielded in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, three deadly diseases that collectively claim the lives of more than three million people each year. Through innovative partnerships with governments, the private sector, and impacted communities, the Global Fund channels resources to country-driven programs to deliver essential treatment and life-saving prevention tools, such as mosquito nets and education. Since 2002, programs supported by the Global Fund have saved a remarkable 20 million lives.

On World AIDS Day in 2015, ONE and its closest activists, donors and friends gathered in Carnegie Hall in New York to celebrate the work of ONE and (RED) and to commit to advocate the $13 billion target in the upcoming replenishment period, a goal that experts said could save an additional eight million lives, avert up to 300 million new infections across the three diseases, and contribute to broad economic gains of up to $290 billion over the coming decades.

"The Global Fund is the most powerful weapon in the fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria."

The road ahead was daunting. The budgets of traditional donor governments were strained and new ODA resources scarce. There was no question that securing the funds would be an uphill challenge.

The first and arguably most important step was securing a strong, active government to host the replenishment conference. Canada rose to the top of the list. But its new Liberal government was just getting settled after a surprise electoral victory.

ONE played a critical role in making the case to the Prime Minister’s office. We explained how the Global Fund conference would support the new government’s objectives, particularly around women and girls, and Justin Trudeau’s call that “Canada is back.” Bono also had key conversations with Prime Minister Trudeau. After months of effort, on May 9 the Prime Minister announced Canada would host the replenishment in Montreal and increase Canada’s pledge by 23%.

In concert with this effort, ONE released a letter with nearly 100 high-profile signers and called on world leaders to take action for women and girls, including supporting the Global Fund. In August, Prime Minister Trudeau was the first world leader to respond.

We mobilized support for the Global Fund at international moments. We lobbied governments. We mobilized nearly 400,000 actions by our members, including petitions, emails and phone calls.

Our global campaign champions were Kenyan activists Patricia Asero Ochieng and Consolata Opiyo, a mother and daughter living with HIV, who throughout the year told their story and the impact of life-saving pills delivered by the Global Fund. They brought their message to Montreal. “I was going to die because of where I lived, and I was also going to lose my baby because of where I lived, because I knew at the time that there was medication in the West, and we did not have access because of poverty,” Patricia told CTV news.

The conference took place on September 16–17, with donors, activists and leaders who had come from all over the world to make pledges. At the same time, ONE brought 103 Canadian volunteers from every province and the Yukon for a two-day advocacy and leadership training conference, to empower our best Canadian volunteers.

When the final tally was announced, the Global Fund secured more than $12.9 billion in pledges, nearly $1 billion more than its last replenishment.

ONE hosted a 300-person Poverty is Sexist town hall meeting with speakers including Prime Minister Trudeau, Bill Gates, Bono, Danai Gurira and Kenyan activists Patricia and Consolata.

In addition, Patricia and Consolata delivered ONE’s Girls Everywhere petition to Prime Minister Trudeau. The event was a massive success, with blanket media coverage.

The dedication, creativity and hard campaigning of our members in all of our countries helped secure this historic result. But our work is not complete. We will campaign to ensure all the promises made by donors are delivered into life-saving medicines and programs until the three diseases are wiped out forever.

From top: ONE members in Montreal. (Photo credit: Dave Chan); ONE Member at the ONE Champion launch in Nigeria, Africa; Deborah Dugan of (RED) and Mark Dybul of the Global Fund speak to ONE members in Montreal. (Photo credit: Dave Chan).

By Roxane Philson, Chief Marketing Officer

There is nowhere on Earth where women have the same opportunities as men. Nowhere.

This is why we created Poverty is Sexist as a campaign to draw attention to the injustices that exist at every stage in a girl’s life. Girls in extreme poverty are denied a fair shot, they are less likely to go to school than their brothers, more likely to be victims of sexual violence, and later in life are often denied the right to own the land they farm or bank the money they earn. But awareness isn’t enough—we need to create progress.

Last year, we used the power of Poverty is Sexist to fight back against the fact that HIV/AIDS is the biggest killer of women in the prime of their lives. That’s right: HIV/AIDS kills more young women aged 15–24 every year than cancer or car accidents. And in sub-Saharan Africa, 75% of adolescents who get infected with HIV are girls—that’s shocking and unacceptable. We knew we needed to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

We kicked off Poverty is Sexist 2016 on International Women’s Day, launching a smart new policy report and an open letter calling for immediate action on gender inequality and HIV/AIDS that was signed by 200,000 ONE members and 92 of the world’s most influential people—including Oprah Winfrey, Condoleezza Rice, Sheryl Sandberg, Elton John, Tina Fey and the late Muhammad Ali. Many signers also joined us for advocacy meetings, including Danai Gurira, who came to Capitol Hill with 150 of our best U.S. activists. This put wind in the sails of our year-long campaign to push for increased funding for the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

We learned in 2015 that Poverty is Sexist was a melody line that captivated our members, and in 2016 politicians, too, sang along. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau—who hosted the Global Fund in September—was a major champion of the campaign, and he became the first world leader to publicly reply to the open letter, agreeing with us that poverty (and HIV/AIDS) hits women hardest. In the end, and as you’ll read elsewhere in this report, the Global Fund successfully reached nearly $13 billion in pledges, which will allow eight million more people—including millions of women and girls—to access life-saving drugs. We are incredibly proud of what Poverty is Sexist contributed to this effort.

While health was the major focus for Poverty is Sexist last year, it was a valuable way to talk about our issues in other contexts too. In November we were at the Web Summit in Lisbon with 50,000 of the world’s biggest names in tech to launch a report highlighting the sexist gender gap in internet access—and the incredible boost connectivity could provide for all the issues we hold dear if only women and girls in the poorest countries were able to get online to benefit. The week after, we were in Los Angeles to convene some of the entertainment industry’s best and brightest around how we can meaningfully tackle gender inequality in 2017. Indeed, it was an incredible year for this campaign.

But our work is far from over.

Right now, there are 130 million girls out of school. If they were their own country, it would be the world’s 10th largest—bigger than Japan or Germany. This is an outrage and an injustice—not to mention an obscene amount of untapped potential.

In 2015, the world made a promise to get every girl in school by 2030—but right now, we are wildly off track and we need to take immediate action. In 2017 we’ll be throwing everything we’ve got at this, using the power of Poverty is Sexist to pressure world leaders all year long to deliver a plan for girls’ education.

This year, we’ll be fighting day in and day out for the 130 million girls who are denied their right to an education—and I sincerely hope you’ll join us.

From top: Consolata Opiyo in Montreal. (Photo credit: Dave Chan); Strong Girls march as part of ONE’s “Strong Girl” music video in South Africa. (Photo credit: Mike Turner).

By Deborah Dugan, Chief Executive Officer, (RED)

The second annual “(RED) Shopathon” delivered a shopping extravaganza for the holidays, offering a number of winnable experiences with many of the world’s hottest stars on Omaze, and opportunities to shop more than 200 products that “give back.” In support of World AIDS Day, the campaign created heat around the fight and raised money for the Global Fund. Highlights included:

Jimmy Kimmel Live (RED) Show

On November 22nd, Jimmy Kimmel once again generously donated his entire show to (RED), kicking off the Shopathon campaign. Joined by stars including Bono, Julia Roberts, Channing Tatum, Kristen Bell, Neil Patrick Harris, Halsey, Herbie Hancock, Brandon Flowers and DJ Khaled, the show saw many of the stars promote their unique (RED) experiences on Omaze, with parody home shopping sketches featuring (RED) products, and a finale in which all the show guests came together to perform a special track. This special (RED) show re-aired on November 30th driving a second wave of press, viewers and entries to experiences.

Once-in-a-lifetime experiences with leading celebrities on Omaze.com

In partnership with the online giving platform, Omaze.com, for a $10 donation to fight AIDS, fans could buy the chance to win once-in-a-lifetime experiences with top celebrities. Experiences included going to a private U2 dress rehearsal, winning a trip to Korea with K-Pop star, G Dragon, a jet ski ride and Snapchat session with DJ Khaled and a Magic Mike adventure in Las Vegas with Channing Tatum, among many more incredible experiences.

Shop (RED) and save lives at RED.org

RED.org offered more than 200 stylish (RED) products including Apple, Beats, Dyson, Gap, Lokai, Mophie, S’well, Vespa and more, with every purchase raising money to fight AIDS.

(RED) Shopathon original video content

A very special (RED) Shopathon “infomercial” saw Hollywood actress, Robin Wright, showing viewers how to shop, fight AIDS and lie down at the same time! In the video, Robin showed viewers how to enjoy a multitude of (RED) products. Additional campaign video content brought together ten of Instagram’s famous dogs to feature in a parody of Kanye West’s “Famous” video, with the dogs wearing (BEDHEAD)RED pajamas and using their own fame to raise awareness around the AIDS fight.

In June, the EAT (RED) SAVE LIVES campaign saw multiple (RED) partners and the culinary world act to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund.

In June 2016, (RED) once again rallied the culinary world to fight AIDS through its EAT (RED) SAVE LIVES campaign. Led by chef Mario Batali, the campaign launched with a very special “(RED) Supper” for 600 guests, created by ten leading chefs including Anthony Bourdain, Tom Douglass and Nancy Silverton. Throughout the month, hundreds of special events in restaurants and bars around the world enabled people to join the AIDS fight by eating and drinking (RED).

For the first ten days of June, (BANK OF AMERICA)RED, activated their “Keep The Change” program in support of EAT (RED) SAVE LIVES, donating 30 cents every time customers used their debit card in restaurants and bars, generating more than $600,000 to fight AIDS.

More broadly, the EAT (RED) SAVE LIVES campaign was supported by more than 70 leading chefs, and generated original (RED) content, including the first “(RED) Kitchen” series on Snapchat, with top chefs demonstrating how to make a delicious (RED) meal on a budget.

From top: A star studded Jimmy Kimmel Live! Show to support (RED)’s Shopathon, including Bono, Julia Roberts, Kristen Bell, Neil Patrick Harris, DJ Khaled, Channing Tatum, Halsey and The Killers; Chefs Mario Batali and Anthony Bourdain snap a selfie at the 2016 (RED) Supper in New York City. (Photo Credit: Noam Galai).

By Maggie Bridges, ONE Vote Campaigns Representative

This election season I traveled with the ONE Vote Caravan for three and a half months driving cross country to remind Americans that we can be the generation that puts an end to extreme poverty. We launched the caravan at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, took it over to Philadelphia for the Democrats, and proceeded to travel over 6,000 miles, stopping in 17 states for 27 different events.

We mobilized 120 volunteers to get 2,985 people to sign the ONE Vote petition asking candidates to have a plan to end extreme poverty before entering the White House—94% of these people are new ONE members. We generated 3,447 personalized messages directed at the two major Presidential nominees (1,918 to Clinton and 1,529 to Trump). The caravan featured a virtual reality experience that took you on a journey through a day in the life of a woman named Doris, living with HIV in Ghana, and the opportunity to sign the ONE Vote petition as well as take catalytic action toward the two presidential nominees and candidates in open House/Senate seats. Oh, and we also had a giant, inflatable White House bounce house.

This aspect of the campaign may not have been the most traditional, but it sure did make a splash everywhere we went—I mean, who doesn’t like the idea of a giant White House bounce house? Campuses and communities around the country were thrilled to have the opportunity to host the caravan and it did not disappoint. The bounce house was bigger and more incredible than I ever imagined. And it certainly did its job of attracting attention wherever we stopped. No one could walk past without stopping to find out what was going on. And I made sure that I bounced in every single state, at every single stop—27 bounces in all. But my favorite aspect of the caravan had to be the virtual reality. The technology is incredible: it made talking about our issues so much easier. It is one thing to tell people about the things we work on, but it is another thing to show them and allow them to have an experience of their own.

I would not want to trade a second of the three and a half months that I spent on the road. Meeting some of our top members and forming relationships with new people is something that you cannot do on the phone, and even over a cup of coffee it’s tough. But when you have to set up an 800 pound bounce house or stand out in the heat for five hours straight you form a bond and are able to truly understand why they got involved and why they are passionate about our work.

From top: ONE members jump inside the White House bounce house during the ONE Vote campaign; The ONE Vote Caravan.

By Nachilala Nkombo, Africa Executive Director (Interim)

ONE partnered with Nigerian NGOs, celebrities and media in 2016 under its #MakeNaijaStronger campaign. The goal: to persuade the Nigerian government to invest lifesaving funds in health and prioritise the most marginalised, especially girls and women.

Despite being Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria proportionately spends very little on the health of its citizens and is failing to meet its promises on health spending made in the Abuja Declaration 15 years ago. We asked the government to re-commit to the Abuja health budget target and to the creation of a Basic Health Care Provision Fund as outlined in the National Health Act, starting with the 2017 federal budget. The campaign also called on the government to commit to increasing transparency in the health sector.

The team lobbied the Ministers of Health, Budget and National Planning, as well as the President and Vice President. Our co-founder Bono joined the team in the meeting with Vice President Osibanjo. A key activity was a public hearing that looked into the health sector funding crisis led by the Honorable Chike Okafor, Nigeria’s House Committee Chair on Health Care Services. We joined a rally organized by the Nigeria Medical Association that called for increased funding for the health sector.

The campaign used innovative ways of winning new support. The team released a video during the campaign launch in April featuring celebrity ambassador Waje alongside a Nigerian man who had sadly lost his wife due to the failures of the health system. We partnered with Connected Development (CODE) and Ummah Support Initiatives (USI) in collecting offline petitions in 11 Nigerian states. These asked citizens to demand answers from local leaders on poor public service delivery. Close to 200,000 Nigerians signed the petition. And ONE mobilized 69 Nigerian organizations that signed an open letter calling on President Buhari to address health issues. The campaign was featured on major media and digital platforms such as Nigerian Television Authority, Ebony TV, Daily Trust and Business Day. It was also promoted during International Youth Day partner events.

ONE launched a PSA video titled “I am in…to Make Naija Stronger.” Renowned Nigerian artists included Waje, Ali Nuhu, Falz, Desmond Elliot, Kate Henshaw, Toolz O, Basket Mouth, Sani Danja, Asa and Praise added their voices to call for urgent government action on health. The campaign hashtag trended during the PSA launch. It reached over 30,000 people on Facebook and had 208 million impressions and 188,000 video views.

ONE drove this campaign as a member of the Nigeria Health Sector Reform Coalition. It also partnered with the Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria, Nigeria Health Watch, the National Immunization Financing Task Team, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, Nigeria Medical Association, the International Vaccines Access Centre, National Association of Nigerian Traders, Centre for the Right to Health, Afri-Dev.Info and the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre. With these partners, we developed compelling policy analysis, strengthened networks and documented real life stories that were used to support the call for the federal government of Nigeria to prioritize public health investments in the 2017 budget. This budget is likely to be appropriated by January 2017.

From top: ONE member poses for a strengthie at Policy Forum in Zambia; Bono shakes hand with a woman during his visit to Borno state in Northern Nigeria (2016).

By Imo Chinasa Ude, ONE Champion

From the moment I saw the advert calling on volunteers to serve as a ONE Champion, I knew I wanted to be part of the mission. There is a saying: “If you want to make the world a better place, start with yourself.” So I was excited to have a chance to advocate for a better health system for my country, Nigeria.

A ONE Champion is a volunteer who supports ONE’s advocacy and campaigning efforts in an African country. The training I received on advocacy and campaigning helped boost my confidence and efficiency as I mobilized communities to join the fight to end the health crisis in my country. The fight is not easy. But I am lucky that I am not alone, I get support from other champions and ONE staff through meetings and virtual support in a WhatsApp group.

Below are my 2016 highlights with ONE:

• I mobilized 175 new members to support ONE’s work. Many also joined the members’ WhatsApp group.
• I hosted events and used opportunities to showcase ONE’s work including:
  • the AIDS Candlelight Memorial in May where we raised awareness on the #MakeNaijaStronger campaign.
  • Collaborated with Stand to End Rape and used the platform to advocate for the campaign and get petition signatures.
  • Met with the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital to mobilize students.
  • Mobilized student doctors to support community outreach and talk to residents on health challenges.
  • Used an opportunity in Ibadan of the Youth Speak Forum to share the campaign.
  • One of five ONE Champions to represent African members at ONE’s Youth Summit in Paris, France in May 2016. I had the opportunity to engage with policymakers’ on the refugee crisis and what could be done to protect the vulnerable.
• I have written five blogs which have been published on the ONE Blog.
• I advocated for ONE in the media.
• I participated in marches, and an amazing “die-in.” This taught me that there are other ways we can draw attention to issues which we are passionate about.
• I supported social media actions including Twitter chats, social media videos, and targeted tweets towards policymakers.

I have enjoyed and been humbled by the adventures and exposure to these important issues. I have traveled widely and experienced different cultures. I also made new friends including fellow ONE Champions, members and staff. I see their passion and zeal to succeed.

ONE has changed my life and strengthened my resolve—I want to continue serving my country and the world in the fight against poverty and disease.

Imo Chinasa Ude, ONE Champion

By Michael Elliott

Michael Elliott, ONE’s former CEO died July 14, 2016. Two days before, he gave a fabulous speech at a celebration of his work in Washington D.C. This is an edited transcript.

“I want to thank everyone who’s worked for ONE or (RED) in our offices and all over the world, from the garment district in New York, where (RED) is, to the endless skies of Johannesburg. Their amazing hard work and creativity and passion in service to those, who through no fault of their own have been asked to live with stunted life chances simply because of the accident of their birth. When we celebrated our 10th anniversary recently we took the motto: ‘It’s not about us.’ And I am just so proud to have worked with people for five years who have lived there every day,who know the victories, recognition, high fives, rewards, achievements, that we might endure mean nothing, mean absolutely nothing, literally nothing, if they do not directly improve the lives of those we are here to serve.

“Through it all, what’s always inspired me is the resilience of ordinary people.”

I’ve said before that I often think that this whole thing has been a terrible mistake. Neither of my parents ever flew. They lived pretty much their whole lives within four miles of where they were born in Liverpool, and I seem to have been traveling ever since I hitchhiked from Liverpool to London when I was 15 years old. And I’ve never really stopped.

And I’ve seen a lot. I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. (All my staff know that I have to drop one movie quote into any speech). I’ve seen that strange light, not quite pink, not quite purple, that bathes Harare with an unforgettable beauty at jacaranda time. I’ve watched from a boat in the harbor as the wall of fire lights up Sydney Harbour Bridge to welcome in the New Year. I’ve hiked to 13,000 feet to a Tibetan yak pasture in northern Yunnan province, in a light so sharp and crisp you thought it could cut you. And when I got back down I’ve drunk Yak butter tea, which trust me you don’t have to do. I’ve hiked the length of the Samaría gorge in the White Mountains of Western Crete, my favorite place in the whole wide world, five times, and I plan to do it again.

And because I wanted to experience it all, good and bad, I’ve also seen the lonely, silent pain of the Pine Ridge Preservation in South Dakota, the legacy of long years of genocide foisted on Native Americans. I’ve seen people shuffling dazed around houses reduced to matchwood in Thailand after the great tsunami of 2004. And perhaps saddest of all, ten years after a vicious civil war stopped, I’ve seen those walls from one end of Monrovia in Liberia to the other, where bullet holes are mixed up with streaks of mold, in something like a weird art installation that belongs in the Whitney or the Tate Modern.

Through it all, what’s always inspired me is the resilience of ordinary people. From children carrying water for hours on the roads of Malawi to women coming in from their villages to markets in San Cristobal de las Casas or LiJiang or Elmina, to sell a few ears of corn or bunches of handcrafts.

And as some of you have heard me say before, whenever I’ve seen sights like that, I’ve gone back to a passage in Derek Walcott’s magnificent poem, Omeros, when he remembers his father taking him as a child to watch women in St. Lucia load a ship with coal.

A longer version of this speech is available at
time.com/4413334/michael-elliott-speech-one/.

From top: Former ONE CEO Michael Elliott visiting health clinics in Liberia; Former ONE CEO Michael Elliott (middle) speaking with Liberia President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (left) and Global President for Mars Food, Fiona Dawson (right) at a ONE reception in Liberia.

By Diane Sheard, Europe Executive Director (Interim)

While the historic agreement of the Sustainable Development Goals at the United Nations in September 2015 answered the question “what will it take to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030?”, it didn’t set out “how” we would achieve the task. As 2016 dawned, we began to ask ourselves: when will we see signs that donors and developing countries are coming together in renewed partnership? How will the private sector, citizens and campaigns all play their part? Will donor countries really step up their commitments? Will aid budgets actually go up, both in numerical terms and as a proportion of all government spending as a response to this latest promise?

2015 was a year of unprecedented migration into Europe and 2016 began with worrying signs that many European governments were looking to solve the immediate crisis of refugees and migrants arriving on their borders by redirecting a part of their international development assistance to be spent at home on supporting new arrivals. While it goes without saying that the needs of refugees and migrants must be met wherever they are in the world—Dadaab, Bavaria or London—we need to be careful not to raid overseas aid which should be invested in longer-term poverty-fighting programmes. The world can and should do both.

We therefore began the year campaigning to “Protect the Poorest.” Backed by more than 115,000 ONE members, we asked European leaders to meet the needs of refugees arriving at our borders without doing so at the expense of the world’s most vulnerable people, and to make sure that global aid prioritises the countries and people that have the least. We were particularly concerned about the actions of some countries such as Sweden, a leading light in development, where the government said that it was considering allocating more than half of its overseas aid to cover the rapidly rising costs of supporting refugees within its own borders. After pressure from citizens, campaigners and civil society partners including ONE, the government agreed to reduce its cap of these so-called in-donor costs.

The German government responded to the more than 1.3 million refugees arriving in the country in the past two years by both increasing the amount of money it spent at home in supporting them, and—crucially—also increasing its international assistance.

Last year, the German government announced a historic €8.3 billion aid increase for 2016 to 2019, and then this year announced a further €2.8 billion increase for 2017 to 2020 to fight the root causes of flight and to increase humanitarian aid.

“the needs of refugees and migrants must be met wherever they are in the world.”

As well as this welcome response in Germany, and the UK’s continued commitment to invest 0.7% of national income in aid, we have also seen a reversal in the decline of Canadian, French and Italian aid budgets. Together these five countries account for 42% of global aid.

All eyes are therefore on the forthcoming elections in several European countries this year as we continue to campaign for lifesaving aid. It’s vital that we support those living in developing countries who are tirelessly working to lift themselves out of poverty. After all, this is about justice, not charity.

From top: A mother walks with her daughter inside the Dadaab refugee camp; A group of women prepare a meal at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya.

By Hannah Treanor, Youth Ambassador

The moment I found out about ONE was the moment I decided to become a Youth Ambassador.

The position immediately appealed to me as it combined three of my favorite things: a political yet non-partisan approach, a focus on social issues and, of course, the opportunity to make a tangible difference. I sent off my application, did a telephone interview and was delighted to be informed that I had been chosen as one of 25 Irish Youth Ambassadors for the coming year. The training weekend provided me with a glimpse of what was to come over the next couple of months: media and lobbying training, information sessions, PR stunts… essentially all the ingredients to get ONE’s voice heard in our increasingly hectic, social media focused world.

The year ahead would contain many amazing experiences. Between leading a Twitter campaign to encourage increased commitment to the Global Fund, convincing a political leader to support us despite skepticism from his party members and carrying out a stunt to highlight the sexism of poverty with 300 people in Paris, life as a Youth Ambassador was a rollercoaster.

The stand-out experience was attending the ONE Leadership Summit in Montreal, which coincided with the Global Fund conference, an event we had been campaigning for back home. During the summit, I met many incredible people and heard from inspiring speakers such as Patricia Asero Ochieng and her daughter Consolata Opiyo (both advocates for women living with AIDS), Bill Gates, Bono and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Being present when the Executive Director of the Global Fund came out to speak to us and tell us that the conference had managed to raise almost $13 billion to fight malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS was a defining experience in my time as a ONE Youth Ambassador. Although I knew before that our work made a substantive difference, the opportunity to be personally thanked by the conference leaders really brought home to me how well-organized campaigning can have a huge impact, and shape the world.

I am so grateful for my year spent working with ONE. It has provided me with a belief in myself and my ability to make things happen. The most important thing I have learned this year is that a small group of people have the power to make a significant difference. Young people today are often viewed as politically disengaged, overly sensitive and self-centered individuals. As the Youth Ambassador programme shows, when young people encounter an important issue, the passion and drive with which we will greet that topic is astonishing. I have met so many young people who manage to balance school, social lives and the everyday pressures of growing up, with an overwhelming desire to make a difference in the world. ONE gives its Youth Ambassadors a specific focus and leaves the choices about how to achieve those goals up to us. In return, we prove that when given responsibility we always rise to the challenge.

ONE has instilled in me the dream of working on the executive board of an NGO one day. I have learned that my organizational and leadership skills can be used in a setting other than just a corporation whose main objective is profit. I now understand that my passion for equality does not just have to be an “extracurricular” project. Instead, I can devote my time and talents in making equality a reality.

Hannah Treanor, ONE Youth Ambassador

By Jamie Drummond, Executive Director, Global Strategy

There was a palpable growing sense through 2016 that the challenges to smart development and foreign policy have never been greater, the opportunities as well as threats never larger, but the quality of global leadership never weaker, unfortunately, than today.

Let’s remind ourselves of the stakes as they were presciently set up in an open letter to world leaders written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Malala Yousafzai, Graça Machel, Bono, Mo Ibrahim and others all the way back on Mandela Day, July 18, 2014:

Down one hopeful path we have built on progress, and learned how to eradicate extreme poverty, hunger, as well as put an end to preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths. In so doing, we will give everyone everywhere opportunity and the right to lead their lives with dignity without jeopardising our planet’s ability to provide for its people now and into the future. This is an entirely possible outcome if we do the right thing.

Down another path we have failed to build on progress, but have allowed the injustice of poverty, hunger and pandemics to spread. A growing insecurity caused by unequal access to increasingly scarce natural resources leads to tragic conflicts from which nobody—no elite, no matter how rich—can hide. This is an entirely plausible outcome of a complacent business as usual approach…

There have been some exceptions to the complacent “business as usual” norm in 2016—the Global Fund replenishment, most especially—but overall, leaders are just too busy dealing with political crises at home to knit together cooperation at a global level that makes real headway on major global challenges.

For our part, aside from our normal advocacy for improved development finance and policy, we also tried to shift from our own version of “business as usual” through two moves: on the one hand by aggressively getting ourselves smarter on what kind of development works best in the setting of fragile states, where an increasing portion of the worlds poorest live; on the other hand by engaging on a few key humanitarian campaigns. For example we lobbied for better, more predictable funding for UN agencies in these settings, for increased resources for the education of refugees and towards the end of the year mounted a meaningful effort to raise emergency funds for the worsening situation in Borno, northeast Nigeria..

To better acquaint ourselves with these challenges and how to meet them, ONE with assistance from our friends in the UN agencies helped arrange two trips which fed our understanding—to Dadaab in Kenya and Gaziantep in Turkey in April, and to Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria in August, to witness the insecurity felt by the displaced and the efforts of citizens and governments to respond.

The abiding impression from these trips and from the research is one of a huge number of underemployed or unemployed young people, with currently few prospects. They are growing up with little hope of leading the life of dignity we all deserve, but every expectation of the desperation that breeds more displacement, resentment, anger and vulnerability to the three extremes—extreme poverty, extreme climate and extreme ideology.

From 2015, Africa’s population will grow by 500 million to 1.7 billion by 2030, and more than double to 2.5 billion by 2050, with most of the population growth occurring in currently weakly governed countries stressed by the three extremes. The implications are immense. European politics has not been able to cope with the fallout from Syria. It is highly unlikely that it could deal with the scale of fallout should all the nations of the Sahel, including Nigeria, fail.

We also consulted experts at the World Bank, African Development Bank, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, African Union, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, faith groups and private sector partners as well as of course governments to try to understand how we can collectively partner more effectively in delivering development in fragile settings.

The experience gathered from trips and consultation through 2016 will be fed into a robust pitch into the G20, G7, EU and AU processes in early 2017 which must secure agreement to implement a game changing improvement in our collective investments into Africa’s youth bulge. This investment surge can help unleash the positive potential of this youth boom, with benefits for all. But if we fail to make these enlightened investments, our children will curse our generation’s myopia. ONE’s mission has never been more important.

From top: Refugees welding at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya; A group of refugees at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya.

By Sara Harcourt, Policy Director

In 2016 the world was faced with record numbers of people displaced by war, conflict and persecution. Over 65 million people had been forced to flee their homes, greater than the entire population of the UK. A third of those displaced were refugees who lost not only their home, but their country. The maritime arrival in 2015 of more than a million people on Greek and Italian shores saw this crisis initially viewed narrowly as a European problem, but in reality it was always one of global reach and proportion. Various international conferences and summits were thus held over the course of 2016 to try to find a way to manage this crisis.

Starting on February 4th the UK, Germany, Kuwait, Norway and the United Nations co-hosted a conference in London which raised over $12 billion in pledges for people in need inside Syria and in Syrian refugee-hosting countries. Of that, $900 million was committed to ensure that 700,000 Syrian refugee children had access to education.

In April, our co-founder Bono visited refugee camps in Jordan, Turkey and Kenya to learn about the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis, as well as the substantial refugee crisis within Africa. Bono joined a U.S. Congressional delegation during the visit to Turkey and traveled on with them for meetings in Egypt. When he returned, he testified before the U.S. Senate on what he had seen and about the critical connection between security and development, something he also addressed in a New York Times op-ed. That trip helped build the argument for ONE to campaign on refugees.

Access to education, healthcare and employment are basic necessities and allow refugees to restart their lives with dignity. But 86% of refugees are hosted in developing countries with limited resources, which poses numerous challenges to delivering essential services like quality education. Once they have been displaced, refugee children are five times more likely to be out of school than other children. These children have already lost their homes. They shouldn’t lose their futures, too.

“86% of refugees are hosted in devloping countires with limited resources.”

So in July, while many children in North America and Europe enjoyed their summer holidays, ONE launched its #EducationforRefugees campaign, to seek to ensure that millions of refugee children would have an opportunity to start the forthcoming school year. The campaign—aimed at the UN High-Level Summit for Refugees and Migrants in September, and the Leaders’ Summit for the Global Refugee Crisis scheduled for New York that same month—called on leaders to commit the financing and policy changes necessary to ensure that every refugee child gets a quality education as soon as possible, and, as a first step this year, deliver on the promise of the London Summit and ensure that quality education is provided for at least one million out of the 3.7 million out-of-school refugee children.

We asked members to show their passion for #EducationForRefugees with a photo and message of support, and we received hundreds of tweets. Our petition was signed by more than 185,000 people and delivered to the U.S. State Department on the eve of the Leaders’ Summit. Plus, 296 ONE members made calls to the White House and 1,957 people penned hand-written letters to President Obama. ONE also made an amazing video which showed people from all walks of life being hypnotized, to find out how they would handle losing their ability to read, write and count. The video shows the jeopardy facing millions of refugee children if they’re not able to access basic education.

At the September summits, the New York Declaration adopted by UN member states includes a commitment to “provide quality primary and secondary education in safe learning environments for all refugee children… within a few months of the initial displacement.” And the Leaders’ Summit reportedly met its goals of ensuring a 30% increase in humanitarian funding and securing commitments that would get one million more refugee children into school.

This was a great first step. But even if every commitment is delivered, there will still be millions of refugee children out of school. Ensuring that donors and refugee-hosting countries come together to deliver and build on these commitments will be the responsibility of everyone; ONE will be monitoring this closely in 2017.

From top: A student at the Sabatta Primary School in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Assistant Secretary Anne Richard at the U.S. State Department with ONE members and partners for a petition delivery. (Photo credit: Esther Chan).

By Jennifer Jones-Wood, Congressional District Leader

In March 2016, Scoggins Berg, our Regional Field Director for the Southeast U.S., had us sitting on the stage at Gallaudet University in Washington D.C. at our Annual Power Summit. He handed all the Congressional District Leaders a sheet of paper. It was our Catalytic Action goals for 2016, the number of direct political actions we aimed to complete.

My heart started beating faster. He suggested that my goal be one hundred. ONE HUNDRED!?! Now, I had never doubted my effectiveness in representing ONE. Passion? Check! Drive? Check! Vision? Check! But recruiting a volunteer leadership team? Negative. Up till this point, I had only been able to recruit one volunteer and that was my daughter. How in the world was I going to get 100 catalytic actions?

First on my list of goals was to get Seacrest Church, my home church in Charleston South Carolina, on board. I set up a meeting with my pastor. I walked in with wristbands, t-shirts, a folder of information and the high that comes from a Power Summit. But my church was not ready to commit.

In April, I got the okay to set up a small table for Purple Thursday (in memory of Prince). I set out to get some people to write letters to Congressman Mark Sanford about the budget for nutrition. And I got 28 handwritten letters which I hand delivered to him! I met with Representative Sanford at the Power Summit and then had an in-district meeting with him.

Summer arrived in Charleston, heavy, hot and humid but that didn’t stop my tiny team from hitting the Farmer’s Market, Family Fest and finally Pride Fest! In temperatures exceeding 97° my little team set out to accomplish the goal of 100 handwritten letters to both Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump for the ONE Vote campaign. As that 100th letter was written, we had a victory dance! We’d reached our goal!

Fall approached and although the leaves stayed green, temperatures stayed at record highs. My Regional Field Director made another trip to the Low Country, this time for a meeting with the Missions Minister of Seacoast Church. My campus pastor, who I talked with previously, introduced him! So even though my original meeting didn’t seal the deal, it did open the door.

I will never forget where I was when he called me with the news. “Hey Jennifer!” he said. “You opened a door at your church and they have agreed for ONE to be the action partner for their annual Chosen Women’s Conference!”

I knew how huge this was. The Chosen Women’s Conference is attended by a few thousand ladies and watched via satellite by tens of thousands more! Scoggins said they had agreed to write letters to Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) about the importance of nutrition for mothers and their babies.

More than a thousand ladies from South Carolina wrote a handwritten letter to Sen Graham during a 15 minute segment of the conference. And before we even set up an appointment to deliver the letters to Sen Graham’s office in Charleston, his Regional Director contacted my Missions Minister at Seacoast requesting an introductory meeting. Evidently, he had heard that 1,000 ladies just took action. And even better, I had many ladies come up to me wanting to learn more about getting involved.

This was my year. My journey. My challenges. And we succeeded!

Congressional District Leader Jennifer Jones-Wood (right) and Pastor Jodi McCall (left) in front of Senator Lindsey Graham's office.

By Stuart Hickox, Canada Director

ONE hit its stride in Canada in 2016. With a new government in power saying “Canada is back,” one of our strategic priorities for 2016 was to secure a strong working relationship with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his top advisors. Also, as a relatively new voice for international development advocacy in Canada, ONE had to find a unique voice among many established players. We succeeded in both goals.

We played a major role in convincing the new government to host the Global Fund replenishment conference and securing a 23% increased pledge. We opened the door to the idea of 0.7% as a target for overseas assistance, with the government challenging ONE and other sector leaders to help “build the constituency” for the goal. And we put girls and women front and center in the fight against poverty—the Prime Minister was the first world leader to say: “Poverty is Sexist.”

Most of this success can be attributed to a strong working relationship with the new government. Together we secured the trust of senior officials in the new government and the Prime Minister’s Office. The government sees ONE as distinct among development sector organizations because of our global policy depth and our pragmatic approach.

Our membership in Canada grew by over 40,000 in 2016, to over 160,000. New campaigns bolstered the numbers and invigorated the support base. Some key member campaigns included “Score a hat trick” against extreme poverty—featuring George Strombolopolous, host of “NHL: Hockey Night in Canada.” The online petition calling for an increase in ODA spending in the March budget topped 18,000 signatures. The budget included the first increase in spending since 2011, moving Canada’s ODA to 0.28% of national income from 0.26%—a modest increase, but an end to the decline.

We also deepened our grassroots network by recruiting 100 top ONE leaders from every province to a Canada Leadership Summit in Montreal, in conjunction with the Global Fund replenishment, and ended the summit with a powerful Poverty is Sexist Town Hall with the PM, Bono and Bill Gates and a powerful mother-daughter team from Kenya, Patricia Asero Ochieng and Consolata Opiyo.

2017 marks Canada’s 150th birthday and a big opportunity to move Canadian commitments forward.  ONE will challenge Canadians to talk about what our gift to the world’s most vulnerable should be on our birthday.

From top: ONE Members at the 2016 Leadership Summit in Montreal. (Photo credit: Dave Chan); Consolata Opiyo and Patricia Asero Ochieng with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at ONE’s Poverty is Sexist town hall in Montreal. (Photo credit: Dave Chan).