By Mercedez Quinlan Labelle
I was one of 100 Canadians selected to attend the first ONE Voice organization Canadian Leadership Summit in Montreal recently.
I had added my voice to the ONE Voice campaign, and I would become trained on how to become an ambassador to reach out as an advocate and lobbyist to recruit other voices, such as yours.
I hope you will read the whole message that I am now delivering.
While I was in training, ONE had a town hall with Justin Trudeau, Bono of the band U2, Bill Gates (yes, that one), and International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau.
I felt very privileged to be part of this group that would be leading other Canadians in a quest to increase the amount of money pledged to support countries in need. This year's global replenishment fund event held in Montreal had 21 countries pledge almost $13 billion in aid to poor countries.
This will save eight million more lives.
What is so comforting about belonging to this group is that I will never ask you for money. We simply pressure governments to make financial commitments to help improve people's lives around the world.
We do this by adding your voice to millions of others to show government that this is what the people want — 94 per cent of Canadians believe extreme poverty can be prevented, which matches nicely with ONE's goal.
Since ONE began in May 2004, its efforts along with those of Global Citizens, have resulted in the following:
- Poverty cut by 66 per cent
- Malaria cut by 60 per cent
- HIV/AIDS cut by 45 per cent
- Tuberculosis cut by 47 per cent
ONE's goal: By 2030, to create a kinder, safer, more equal world with no evidence of poverty or preventable disease.
Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau are members of ONE, along with Bono, and Bill Gates —all committed to aiding ONE in its quest.
Please add your voice to theirs by completing one or more of the following actions:
Action 1
Become a member of ONE
Please sign up at ONE | Join the fight against extreme poverty https://www.one.org/canada/
Action 2
Become better informed by visiting ONE Campaign's Wikipedia entry
Action 3
Please print the pledge form (You can find it here) addressed to International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau along with your comments about:
- Your position regarding world poverty
- How Canada should continue to support the Global Replenishment Fund
- Canada increasing its financial commitment.
Then, mail the pledge form. It’s that simple.
