Matt Damon was among the policy-makers, CEOs, and thought leaders from across the globe who descended on Davos, Switzerland last week for the 2017 World Economic Forum. He attended not as an actor, but as a co-founder of Water.org, an organization dedicated to bringing clean water and sanitation facilities to those without. While in Davos, Damon sat down with CNN’s Richard Quest to share why he thinks President Trump should – and could – recognize that ending the worldwide water crisis is in America’s best interest.
Food consumers across the world—from North Carolina to Nairobi, from Kiev to Kathmandu—are expected to number 9 billion in 2050. And right now, around 795 million don’t have enough food to lead healthy, active lives. To feed this future, there’s an urgent need to find new, long-term solutions. Fortunately, a good idea can come from anywhere. That’s one of the driving concepts behind a unique partnership between Land O’Lakes International Development and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
For the first time since the discovery of HIV more than 30 years ago, scientists are hopeful that a new vaccine will be a breakthrough in the battle against this deadly virus. Last week, South Africa launched a first major clinical trial of an experimental vaccine against the HIV virus. The new trial is being conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in cooperation with local groups. “If deployed alongside our current armory of proven HIV prevention tools, a safe and effective vaccine could be the final nail in the coffin for HIV,” said Anthony Fauci, Director of the US National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases.
Even modest investments in helping ensure children attend, remain, and learn in school leads to a greater and better-educated workforce— which in turn improves local, regional, and national economies. And in Ethiopia, USAID investments have helped achieve 95 percent enrollment in primary school over just the past 15 years. What’s behind these numbers? Investing in those who teach. One USAID program is designed to reach remote areas of Ethiopia, providing schooling in off-the-beaten-path areas that had never had access to basic education, where the nearest government school is two hours away on foot.
The people of Colombia surprised the world this weekend by narrowly rejecting— by .04%— a peace deal to end the conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The reasons for the rejection largely revolved around the issue of transitional justice, as the agreement would have granted many rebel fighters amnesty if they confessed their crimes, leaving some Colombians feeling that FARC leaders were escaping justice. While emergency negotiations have been restarted, both sides have vowed that they will not return to fighting.
This year’s presidential debates will be different. While national security has had its own debate in the past, “Securing America” has been announced as one of the topics in the first and widely anticipated debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, and will also be part of the other debates. In the wake of domestic terror attacks and global conversation about “uncertainty and unease and strife” at the UN General Assembly, what should we expect to hear on America’s role in the world?
Americans view North Korea as one of our nation’s biggest threats, according to a CNN poll this year, and for understandable reasons. North Korea recently tested its fifth nuclear device, raising tensions and destabilizing peace and security in Asia. While North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests have increased the urgency to curb their military build-up, they also remind us of the importance of maintaining our long-standing relationships with our allies. Just two hours south of Pyongyang, is the capital of one of our most important allies in the region—South Korea.
“Washington is broken, nothing is getting done” is a mantra we hear often these days. Yet there is one issue that has continuously broken through in this Congress with bipartisan support: America’s foreign assistance programs. Five major pieces of bipartisan legislation on global development have been signed into law in less than two years—on food security, energy, rights for women and girls, water and sanitation, and aid transparency—all in an effort to advance America’s interests in the world.
While Congress debates additional resources to combat Zika this hot and steamy summer, over 900 entrepreneurs have been competing in a “Shark Tank”-like challenge for funding for new ideas to combat the virus. From an electric force field that repels mosquitoes to a mobile app that detects whether mosquitoes are carrying the virus, 21 ideas were selected to win over $15 million in grants through USAID’s Combating Zika and Future Threats Grand Challenge.
In the UN’s SDG Industry Index Report, Intel and Caterpillar were just two of the many private organizations recognized for excellent work toward achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the U.S. was key in developing. And Points of Light, the world’s largest volunteer service organization, released their 2016 Civic 50 list, recognizing for-profit companies like UPS for superior levels of community-mindedness. Check out how these U.S. organizations have been meeting the challenges of the international community and making a difference in the world.