The ONE Campaign

The world's poorest people have been waiting far too long for relief and we applaud the ONE Campaign and the Live8 organizers for shining the spotlight on this tremendous need. This is an historic moment in world history - one where ordinary people lift their voices with one cause: to reduce global poverty.

In this age of incredible global economic and technological advances, it is hard to believe that so many still live in abject poverty. But they do. World Bank estimates show that roughly 1.2 billion eke out an existence on less than $1 per day. Nearly every day, almost 30,000 children under the age of five die from poverty-related causes, while their families and communities suffer from malnutrition, illiteracy and the spread of HIV/AIDS.

We at Grameen Foundation are pleased to join the ONE campaign and are heartened that the world's richest nations may finally pay serious attention to reducing global poverty. It is timely that this campaign comes during the United Nations International Year of Microcredit, a celebration of this proven strategy that empowers the world's poorest people to escape poverty.

For the world's poorest countries to live up to their potential, we need to free them from the burdens of the past. Recent commitments by world governments are encouraging and we hope that they will soon result in sustainable, tangible changes. In this fight, there is no single solution: all of us must come together to make poverty history. By combining the power of proven poverty reduction strategies, with the power of the G8 to eliminate debt, increase aid and exercise trade justice, we can foster a better world.

"WE BELIEVE that in the best American tradition of helping others help themselves, now is the time to join with other countries in an historic pact for compassion and justice to help the poorest people of the world overcome AIDS and extreme poverty.

"WE RECOGNIZE that a pact including such measures as fair trade, debt relief, fighting corruption and directing additional support for basic needs - education, health, clean water, food, and care for orphans - would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries, at a cost equal to just one percent more of the US budget.

"WE COMMIT ourselves - one person, one voice, one vote at a time - to make a better, safer world for all."

Sign the declaration