CARE

On Thursday, March 4 join Marisa Tomei, Maria Bello, India.Arie, Nicholas Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn and others in the largest International Women’s Day celebration on the planet.

Inspired by stories from the critically-acclaimed book “Half the Sky” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, CARE’s Half the Sky event – in nearly 500 movie theatres for just one night – will feature an uplifting night of music, celebrity discussion and film. With performances and appearances by India.Arie, Maria Bello, Michael Franti, Dr. Helene Gayle of CARE, Angelique Kidjo, Nicholas Kristof, Marisa Tomei, Sarah, Duchess of York, Sheryl WuDunn and other notables, as well as the world premiere of “Woinshet,” a powerful short film directed by Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone, this night will move you to empower women and girls in the fight against poverty and oppression.

Check out a short video about the Half the Sky event:

CARE’s Half the Sky event will take place at 7:30 pm in all time zones in nearly 500 movie theatres in the U.S. and Canada. Tickets are approximately $10-$12.50 depending on the theatre and a portion of ticket sales goes to support CARE. To find a theatre near you and purchase tickets today visit www.halftheskylive.com.

-Stephanie Libby, CARE

Check out this post about an event that ONE is partnering with CARE on in NYC Feb 11th.

On Thursday, February 11 in NYC, don’t miss the chance to see an exclusive sneak peek of CARE’s 2010 International Women’s Day star-studded event, Half the Sky LIVE.

Inspired by moving stories from the critically-acclaimed book “Half the Sky” by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky LIVE will feature an uplifting night of music, celebrity discussion and the world premiere of “Woinshet,” a powerful short film directed by Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei and Lisa Leone. The film chronicles the struggles of an Ethiopian woman who triumphs over violence and discrimination. Half the Sky LIVE will also feature appearances by India.Arie, Maria Bello, Michael Franti, Dr. Helene Gayle of CARE, Angelique Kidjo, Nicholas Kristof, Andrea Mitchell, Marisa Tomei, Sarah, Duchess of York, Melanne Verveer, Sheryl WuDunn and other notables.

Half the Sky LIVE will take place at 7:30 pm at NYU’s Skirball Center (566 LaGuardia Place at Washington Square South). Ticket price is $25—and tickets are limited, so click here to purchase your ticket today.

We look forward to seeing you! And if you can’t make it on February 11, Half the Sky LIVE will screen on March 4 at 7:30pm in theatres nationwide (including NYC). For more information, visit www.halftheskylive.com and check out the trailer below:

-Stephanie Libby, CARE

Here’s a guest post about child marriage from our partners at CARE.

Last week on Capitol Hill, I joined Paul Barker, CARE’s Country Director of Tanzania, as he spoke to legislators about the problem of child marriage in Tanzania. It is estimated that over the next decade, more than 100 million girls in the developing world will be married before they are 18. The millions of girls who become child brides face daunting odds: they are less likely to finish school, have fewer economic opportunities and face a multitude of health problems, including premature pregnancy, complications in childbirth and a high risk of physical and sexual abuse from husbands and in-laws. But beyond this overwhelming statistic, there are individual stories, too, which help convey both the tragedy and the hope surrounding the issue of child marriage.

One such story is that of Mukeshwari. She was 15 years old and living with her grandfather in an isolated village in India when he arranged for her to marry to a man in a neighboring village. Child marriage is common in India, where close to 50% of girls are married before they are 18.

Fortunately Mukeshwari’s story ends well. With the support of a CARE trained volunteer health worker, her situation was brought to the attention of the village council. They voted to stop the marriage, in line with India’s marriage age law. The case also inspired the village to form a committee on early marriage, which now works with the families of adolescent girls in the village to discourage the practice.

Mukeshwari’s story is inspiring, but it also provides valuable lessons on some of the actions needed to address the problem of child marriage. This includes support for community-based mechanisms and programs for girls and their families. US policy makers have a chance to support such solutions by passing the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act. This legislation, which has been introduced in the U.S. Congress, requires the President to develop a multi-year strategy to help prevent child marriage in developing countries. It also requires the Department of State to address child marriage in its annual Human Rights Report, to integrate child marriage prevention strategies throughout U.S. foreign policy initiatives, and to scale up successful approaches to prevent child marriage.

The time is now for leadership from Congress on this issue—on behalf of Mukeshwari and girls just like her around the world. Policymakers have to make difficult decisions every day. Passing this legislation should not one of them. Ask your representatives today to co-sponsor the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009.

-Erin Kennedy, Policy Advocate, CARE USA

Photo credit: © Ami Vitale/CARE

Here’s another round-up of today’s news—including on-the-ground stories, pictures and updates—from our partners and friends on their work in Haiti.

American Red Cross
Read a situation report from President and CEO Gail McGovern.

AmeriCares
Chief of Staff Carol Shattuck recounts her experience on AmeriCares first emergency airlift to help Haiti with earthquake and humanitarian relief.

CARE
A story from the field by Rick Perera.

Catholic Relief Services
CRS turns a golf course into a relief camp in Port-au-Prince.

Concern Worldwide
Program Officer Susan Finucane offers a video update of Concern’s work on the ground in Port-au-Prince.

Leon H. Sullivan Foundation
“In the aftermath of the largest earthquake to hit the Caribbean nation of Haiti in more than two centuries, the Leon H. Sullivan Foundation has initiated a relief effort to help meet the population’s immediate needs and participate in long-term efforts to restore normalcy to a country plagued by natural disasters.

“To merely replace the unsound buildings and feed people temporarily will not be enough. My organization is working on projects to help Haiti and its people become more self-sufficient over the long term,” said Hope Masters, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Sullivan Foundation. “We who have so much must never forget to help those who have so little.”

Mercy Corps
Cassandra Nelson, Director of Multimedia Projects, talks with CNN.

Oxfam America
A blog update from staff member Coco McCabe on the ground in San Juan. Also, a video on distributing water in Haiti.

Partners in Health
An on-the-ground update from Dr. Evan Lyon, who has been working at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince since Saturday.

Physicians for Peace
A blog update and photos from Dr. Lisbet Hanson in Haiti. Also, Physicians for Peace will be holding a collection drive in Norfolk, VA this Saturday.

Save the Children
Save the Children sets up child friendly spaces in Haiti.

TransAfrica Forum
An online resource for the latest news on the earthquake and its aftermath. TransAfrica Forum also held a candlelight vigil at the Haitian Embassy in Washington DC earlier this afternoon.

World Food Programme
“Within the next week, we aim to move the equivalent of 10 million ready-to-eat meals so that people whose homes have been destroyed, and who have no access to cooking facilities, can feed their families,” said WFP Executive Director Josette Sheeran. “We are also procuring 4.2 million rations of supplementary ready-to-use foods specifically designed to give children the calories and nutrition they need each day.”

As you may have already heard, a catastrophic 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti several hours ago. While many details about the situation on the ground are still developing, CNN reports that the US State Department has been told to expect a serious loss of life. Below is a round-up of statements and updates from our friends and partners. You can also read these statements from President Obama and Secretary Clinton.

CARE:

CARE is attempting to contact our country office in Haiti and assess the humanitarian situation following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck near the impoverished nation’s capital city. Initial reports indicate the disaster could be a major catastrophe.

World Vision:

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck a region about 14 miles from Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince, according to media reports. World Vision staff members are assessing the situation and determining a potential emergency response.

CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviews a World Vision official:

Save the Children:

WESTPORT, Conn. (Jan. 12, 2010) — Save the Children is verifying the safety of staff just hours after a major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, near the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

Houses are down in the area surrounding the Save the Children office, which was also damaged in the quake, according to Ian Rodgers, the agency’s Emergency Response Advisor, who is currently in Port-au-Prince.

An estimated 1.8 million residents were violently shaken by the earthquake and aftershocks affecting the densely populated areas near Port-au-Prince.

Save the Children has worked in Haiti since 1985, primarily in the capital city of Port-au-Prince and the Central Plateau region, providing health, education, protection and food security programs to vulnerable children.

Right now, Save the Children is assessing staff and program safety, which will be complicated by the onset of evening. Employees who were in the office at the time are uninjured, though about half of program staff were elsewhere. The agency plans to deploy emergency teams and begin relief efforts soon.

American Red Cross:

Our thoughts and support are with Haiti. We have pledged an initial $2oo,ooo and are accepting donations to the International Relief Fund.

For the most updated Red Cross information about the earthquake, visit our Disaster Online Newsroom.

We are releasing all our supplies located in a Panama warehouse, from kitchen and cooking sets to mosquito nets.

We expect to see immediate needs for food, water, temporary shelter, medical services and emotional support.

Mercy Corps:

I’ve been on the phone for most of the last three hours figuring out the best way we can respond to the news in Haiti.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake has toppled buildings, including at least one hospital, and we assume there are significant casualties (the news has been slow to trickle out).

We do not currently have staff in Haiti, but we do have extensive experience responding to earthquakes — most recently in Padang, Indonesia last September. My colleagues and I have been canvassing our own emergency operations team as well as veteran relief workers from throughout the agency to determine the most qualified and immediately deployable staff.

We will begin deploying our team tomorrow and working now to line up resources to respond.

Check out this partner post from our friends at CARE, just in time for the Copenhagen climate conference:

Dama Boru Godana couldn’t make it here to Copenhagen. But I sure wish the Ethiopian pastoralist could. Delegates negotiating a new global climate change treaty over the next two weeks would learn a lot from her, particularly as they decide how much assistance developed countries should invest in the world’s poorest communities to help them adapt to climate change.

I met 40-year-old Dama in the Borana zone of Southern Ethiopia in June.

“It is much warmer these days,” she told me. “Droughts are occurring more frequently, they are lasting longer and they are more severe compared to when I was young. Many of us have watched our cows die of starvation, and the dry season grazing areas are not so accessible anymore.”

A few years ago, Dama learned about a village saving & loans initiative taking place in a nearby village. She subsequently started one with 15 other women in her village. The results underscore what I’ve witnessed in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa: positively empowering women goes a long way in positively changing the lives of their families and communities.

These women pooled their financial resources, and using their traditional knowledge, they fattened two bulls and sold them for a $200 profit. With this money, they stocked up on cereals and sugars sold during the dry season when demand is higher. Then, with the help of CARE, they learned how to make hay, saving themselves from long treks to get food for their livestock during the lean season.

“Most pastoralist women depend on handouts from their husbands,” Dama said. “I formed this credit group so that we can work together, make some income and improve our lives.”

World leaders, did you hear her? You can alleviate this historic unfairness–the least responsible paying the greatest price–with a hand up, not a handout. Here in Copenhagen, you must agree on an increased and sustained investment, above and beyond what is currently labeled development assistance, something that can empower innovators such as Dama to appropriately adapt to climactic changes not of their making.

Looking at Dama that day, I saw adaptation past and present. Let’s hope, by the end of this fortnight, I can say I saw adaptation’s future, too.

-Cynthia Awuor, CARE’s climate change coordinator for East and Central Africa

This week The University of Miami’s Department of International Studies teamed up with ONE’s partner organization, CARE to present a panel discussion on climate change as a human security concern. Many ONE members came out for the event to learn more about the challenges that drastic changes in climate present for people living in extreme poverty.

Dr. Sherri Porcelain, senior lecturer with the Global Public Health Department at UM kicked of the event and moderated the panel discussion which covered topics such as resource scarcity, increased spread of diseases like malaria from more active mosquito populations, to the mass migration of people from coastlands and other areas affected by climate change.

As policy makers prepare to meet next month at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, we will continue to work on the ground here in Florida and around the country to educate our members of Congress and raise awareness about the deadly costs of climate change to those living in extreme poverty.

On Saturday approximately 275 Atlantans joined together with ONE and CARE to Take a Stand Against Poverty. It was an amazing event, featuring Fredrika Whitfield from CNN, CARE CEO and President, Dr. Helene Gayle, CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden, and ONE CEO David Lane. Mayor Shirley Franklin was also in attendance.

The event began in the atrium of the American Cancer Society Center with cocktails and a buffet provided by local Atlanta restaurant, Six Feet Under. As guests mingled, they had the opportunity to shop the microfinance marketplace which showcased handmade goods made by women from around the world including handbags from Guatemala, paper beads from Uganda, candles from India and beautiful beaded work from Kenya. Guests also had the opportunity to meet with author Mary Cantando and purchase a copy of her new book “Leading With Care,” a look at how women around the world are inspiring businesses, empowering communities and creating opportunity.

ONE volunteers staffed a sign up table and talked with guests about the importance of the advocacy work that ONE is engaged in. Local ONE’rs also had an opportunity to chat with David Lane as he mingled with the crowd and took part in the evening’s festivities. The CARE Action Network and Join My Village also had tables. At 7:45 the Burundi Drummers entered the atrium and treated everyone to a rousing performance of dancing and great African drum beats that continued as they lead the guests, conga line style, into the theatre for the rest of the evening’s entertainment. Philanthropy awards were presented to two local Atlanta young women for the work they have done to raise money and awareness on anti-poverty initiatives.

But the biggest surprise of the evening was the musical guest Hanson! We were treated to a 30 minute mini-concert by these incredibly talented men as they sang and played some of their newest songs for us. With a piano, a guitar and a cajon (a Mexican drum box) as accompaniment, Hanson’s well blended vocals and thought provoking lyrics were a perfect reminder of the reason we had all come together: to renew our commitment and show solidarity for actions that lead to ending poverty in our lifetimes.

What can you say about an event that is not only inspirational but fun? All I want to know is what do we get to do next year?

-Nancy Bauer, Atlanta ONE Member

We’re excited to relate that Helene Gayle, head of CARE, global health advocate & leader, and ONE board member has been appointed Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA).

President Obama commented on the appointment, “(a)s we organize numerous ways to engage the American people in confronting the HIV epidemic in our country, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS will play a critical role in developing and implementing a National HIV/AIDS Strategy.” “Dr. Gayle brings an intense commitment to fighting HIV/AIDS and unique experience in advancing public health. I look forward to her leadership and counsel.”

The position is voluntary and part time. Dr. Gayle continues in her ongoing leadership of CARE.

You can read the full story on the appointment on CARE’s website.

Congratulations Helene! This is great news for U.S. leadership on ending HIV/AIDS.

-Mark Brinkmoeller

Yesterday, I joined Pennsylvania ONE Members and representatives from CARE in a meeting with Rep. Chaka Fattah’s Chief of Staff Charles Hayden. Congressman Fattah is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and has been a supporter of many of ONE’s legislative priorities throughout his career. The meeting went very well as we were able to represent over 6,000 2nd District PA ONE Members. We made sure to ask Mr. Hayden to pass along our gratitude to Rep. Fattah for voting in favor of the PEPFAR reauthorization last year and more recently for Co-Sponsoring the Paul Simon Water for the World Act and the Initiating Foreign Aid Reform bills this Congress.

Mr. Hayden listened intently as we presented information on ONE and the reasons as to why it is critical to have leadership for those who do not have a voice. We requested Mr. Hayden to ask Rep. Fattah to please urge all other members of the House Appropriations Committee to lead by example with their votes when it comes to critical legislation that saves millions of lives. Mr. Hayden thanked us and said he would certainly pass on the specifics of our meeting to Congressman Fattah. Meeting with your Member of Congress this August is extremely important while they are in-district so they know their constituents support them in the fight against global poverty and disease. I hope all ONE Members schedule a meeting today with their respective elected official!

-Deesha Dyer, PA ONE Member