Pulling out all the stops to lobby for Africa

“Africa is a continent in flames,” says Irish rock star and co-founder of ONE, Bono. “And deep down, if we really accepted that Africans were equal to us, we would all do more to put the fire out. We're standing around with watering cans, when what we really need is the fire brigade.” That’s the image the singer-songwriter uses to describe his motivation to put his weight behind the international lobby and campaign organization. With more than four million members, ONE actively campaigns against poverty and preventable disease in Africa. For Bono, musician Bob Geldof, and other activists, the initiative was triggered by the global debt relief efforts in 1999. Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa (DATA), was initially founded in 2002 and merged with the One Campaign in 2008 to become ONE. On its website, the organization says, “We achieve change through advocacy – our teams in Washington, D.C., New York, London, Johannesburg, Brussels, Berlin, and Paris educate and lobby governments to shape policy solutions that save and improve millions of lives.”

The governments of developed countries are called upon to do their share in the fight against extreme poverty on the African continent. Among the most important factors relevant to Africa are all health-related matters, such as food security and access to clean water and electricity. ONE also emphasizes the importance of education, transparency and debt reduction. The campaign repeatedly stresses these issues. But how can they be manifested from an idea online to deeds in reality? With this question in mind, ONE is partnering with the Global Media Forum to host a workshop entitled “How digital activism can help achieve real change.” In other words, how do online campaigns impact the world and how can the realms of online and offline become more closely connected? These and other questions will be discussed by representatives of the organization based on their campaign and advocacy experience.

www.one.org.de