For a 2010 with less hunger.

Lately and for the forthcoming future we are used to receive information about how bad is the financial situation for us, the western people: rising unemployed levels, people not being able to pay the mortgages, banks not giving money to new enterprising that easily...

I would like to draw attention to what I consider the media, and ourselves, are not dealing according with its importance.

The F.A.O. estimates that about 1 billion people in the word are undernourished. They consider hunger has increased because high domestic food prices, lower incomes and increasing unemployment due to the global economic crisis. We can see more hunger statistics as well as an interactive hunger map.

There is also another web page that I consider could help us to make it relative and to make it priority our problems. In it we can easy notice that about 28000 people died daily because of not having enough to eat. At the same time, we can easily realize that more that 100,000 $ are spent daily in U.S.A. in weight loss programs.

The good news, and that should foster us, is that N.G.O. like Action Against Hunger considers that we can eradicate it (1min 35 sec video). At least, it could be addressed and stop the yearly death of 5 million infants.

I consider an enormous step forward the RUFT(Ready-to-use Therapeutic Foods). And these can be locally produced! Even small-scale production is possible, and thus contributing to the economic development of the country!

You can see an UNICEF video about the RUTF saving lives in Ethiopia.

Another important issue is that around 8,000 people die daily in Africa due to easy treatable diseases.

I take this chance to let you know that as from 15th of January 2008 a friend of mine and myself are carrying out a 24h fast. The 3-6 Euros that we save in food are given to a NGO that fights against hunger.

This way we help a bit and we come aware of what hunger could feel and how huge our human capacities are.

Sincerely,

oscgim

P.S. I believe that a 24h monthly fast, with about 100-300 Calories (kilo-calories) coming from sucrose (3-4 sugar sachets), a tinny amount of salt and about 2-5 litres of water is is not a harm for a healthy person.

P.D.2. Read about ONE action related to this issue in a more recent entry.

We, EU, are giving difficulties for the acces to essential drugs.

EU 'putting drug companies before health'

The European Union is contradicting world trade rules by putting the interests of big drug companies before the 2 billion people in the world who cannot access essential medicines, according to a new report.

This above has been published by OneWorld net.

Oxfam International has published the following:

The European Union is contradicting world trade rules by putting the interests of big drug companies before the 2 billion people in the world who cannot access essential medicines, according to a new report issued today by Oxfam International and Health Action International Europe.

MSF are already launching a campaign: mailing the farmaceutical companies in order to get some medicines within the patent pool for HIV medicine (that could easy this situation).

In my opinion: the worst is to realize that as Europeans, we are "giving money to the poor" and on the other hand we are "making life difficult" to them.

Africa´s petition tu G20 leaders

Dear ONE Member,

Presidents and prime ministers are headed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania later this week for the G20 Summit—the latest in a series of high-level talks on the global economy, covering everything from international trade to the rules governing financial markets.

But it’s not only what these world leaders talk about that matters. Where they meet is important, too. If an African country is picked next to host an upcoming G20 summit, it would bring new attention to the role Africa can and must play in any successful global economic recovery.

Click the link below to add your name to our petition asking the G20 to host an upcoming summit in Africa and put that continent’s potential on the political map:

http://www.one.org/international/g20toafrica/o.pl?id=1187-4038914-hma6xwx&t=3

The petition reads:

Dear G20 Leaders,

Please hold an upcoming G20 Summit in Africa, and see for yourselves how its one billion people can be part of the global economic recovery.

The Africa I’ve seen is ready to join the global marketplace and help drive economic growth. And its agricultural resources, if fully developed, could feed the world. In a recent visit to Ethiopia—where malaria deaths have been halved in only two years—I visited the new Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), a first of its kind electronic, international exchange for coffee, grain and other agricultural products. The ECX is entrepreneurialism at its best, helping farmers and traders get fair prices for their goods.

This kind of success is being repeated across Africa. Through smart aid and African-led innovation, poverty and disease are giving way to trade and opportunity. Now, we need the leaders of the G20 nations to go to Africa and see it for themselves.

Click the link below to take action now and send that message. Tell the G20 that one of their upcoming meetings must be in Africa:

http://www.one.org/international/g20toafrica/o.pl?id=1187-4038914-hma6xwx&t=5

Thank you for making a difference,

David Lane
President, ONE.org

A couple of good news

First good news is that the New Economics Foundation (NEF) has published the new Happy Planet index (HPI). This is not a happy index itself; this index measures the green eficiency that could provide long and happy lifes for every citizen.

The HPI suggests that the path we have been following is, without exception, unable to deliver all three goals: high life satisfaction, high life expectancy and 'one-planet living'," says Saamah Abdallah, NEF researcher and the report's lead author. "Instead we need a new development model that delivers good lives that don't cost the Earth for all."

Latin American nation tops index ranking countries by ecological footprint and happiness of their citizens.

This news by The Guardian.

The second one is that a leading arm of the United Nations working to spread the benefits of information technology today announced the launch of the first ever tuition-free online university.

Since opening enrollment in April, the People has attracted more than 750 applicants spanning 97 countries.

In recognition of this initiative, the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID) hosted a briefing at the United Nations Headquarters to announce our world-renowned Advisory Committee and Chair of the Business Administration Department.

This news by the University of the People website.

This news by the UNESCO website.

A link to nice and thinking pictures.

I consider Shahidulnews something special.

This link is full of different pictures: you could go over them fast or slow, whatever you do they will tell you something.

http://www.shahidulnews.com/tag/photography/

Asking the IMF to help the poorest countries.

Dear friend, ONE is writing us this:

In this time of crisis when resources are scarce, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is sitting on a pot of gold, a small fraction of which could help the world’s poorest countries stay afloat.

Please take action right now and ask the managing director of IMF to sell some gold reserves to help the poorest countries weather the downturn.
Click here to sign our petition to the IMF and send an email directly to Dominique Strauss-Khan, Managing Director of the IMF:
http://www.one.org/international/gold/o.pl?id=906-4038914-cRBLMqx&t=3

Thankful to you and to ONE Internatinal,

oscgim

No Hunger. Campaign to help end childhood malnutrition.

Dear friend,

Last week I came across a surprising an interesting campaign to help end child malnutrition.

You can see a short video about this at http://www.askalgoretomakethismovie.org (1´35") and decide whether you would like to help in achieving this objective.
This link is not working from 16/04/2009; you can check at the Spanish one at: http://www.pideseloaalgore.org

Some 19 million children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition. And this serious, life-threatening form of hunger kills more than 5 million children each year.

It is estimated that 3 billion Euro´s could save their lives.

If you are interested in helping and/or you have any doubts please visit: http://www.askalgoretomakethismovie.org/index_en.php#/desnutricion

Thanks for your interest,

sincerely,
oscgim