We did it! Last Saturday the SF Bay Area Oxfam Action Corps held a Hunger Banquet to Stand Up Against Poverty, contributing to the 1,328 events that took place worldwide at the time of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Review Summit in New York City (Sept. 17-19). This global action called for a comprehensive development strategy to alleviate poverty and achieve the MDGs by 2015, and the call was heard!
On Wednesday afternoon, US President Obama delivered a speech announcing a sweeping new effort called the US Global Development Policy. This historic initiative elevates development and poverty reduction as a US priority, expands the notion beyond just aid to areas such as trade and investment, demands increased coherency and coordination among US agencies, and calls for a new results-oriented approach that follows locally-set agendas in partnership with recipient countries.
Better yet, the White House announced that every four years US development policies will be updated in the US Global Development Strategy. This is truly a monumental shift in US development policy.
Read Oxfam America's response to this breakthrough here.
As always, a lot rides on the details of the program and its successful implementation. President Obama can implement reforms among his Administration and provide needed leadership. But permanent reform will require acts of Congress. So stay tuned - we'll soon be circulating an e-action urging supporters to help us ensure this reform sticks.
A huge THANK YOU to all who attended Saturday's Hunger Banquet and helped make this happen. And an extra special thanks to Luna Park SF and Regalito Rosticeria for their generous food donations.
