ONE Vote

Visit: http://www.onevote08.org

For an Episcopal News Story on this, go here.

In a statement released to the media, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori expressed her support for the ONE Vote launch, calling it "an ambitious effort to make global health and extreme poverty top foreign-policy priorities in the 2008 presidential election." She acknowledged that "Episcopalians, like people of faith across the United States, are prepared to play an active role in ONE Vote in their congregations and communities."

"The next President of the United States will have an unprecedented opportunity to lead our nation in making good on the promises it has made to eradicate extreme poverty and deadly pandemics," she added. "Solutions are now more affordable, and closer at hand, than ever before. Winning the fight against deadly poverty and disease is essential to meeting one of the central global challenges of our time: building a more prosperous, secure and peaceful world for all God's people."

At its 75th General Convention in June 2006, the Episcopal Church launched a grassroots partnership with ONE, called ONE Episcopalian, which seeks to rally Episcopalians -- ONE by ONE -- to the cause of ending extreme poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"ONE Vote is the most important component of that mobilization to date," Jefferts Schori said. "I pray that all Americans will see, in ONE Vote, the opportunity for our nation to bring hope to the world and healing to the whole human family God so loves."

From the website:

ONE Vote '08 focuses on five achievable goals that are fully costed and proven and can have a rapid impact on the ground.

If the U.S. takes a leading role, in an effective partnership with other donors and poor countries, these cost effective solutions could achieve the following:

5 Achievable Goals

	Save 15,000 lives a day by fighting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, three of the world's most devastating diseases.
	Prevent 5.4 million young children from dying each year from poverty-related illnesses and 400,000 women from dying in childbirth each year.
	Provide free access to primary education for 77 million out-of-school children with a special emphasis on girls.
	Improve the living conditions of vulnerable populations by, for example, providing access to clean water for 450 million people and basic sanitation to more than 700 million people.
	Reduce by half the number of people in the world who suffer from hunger, resulting in 300 million "fewer" hungry people each year.

Unlike many issues in the 2008 presidential campaign that deeply divide Republicans and Democrats, ONE Vote '08 brings both sides together. The 2008 presidential election provides a not-to-be-missed opportunity to raise awareness about global poverty and its impact on America's global reputation and future security. Through the 2008 campaign, we have a chance to shape our foreign policy for years to come.

ONE Vote '08 has developed a presidential-platform of achievable solutions that – if championed by the next U.S. president – could have a profound impact on the poorest people in the world. The platform is built on the foundation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) agreed to in 2000 by the United States and 188 other nations to achieve poverty reduction and sustainable development by 2015.

I encourage everyone to be a part of the One Campaign and One Vote! - Rev. Kurt