ONE

Last night we attended an event sponsored by our friends at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) featuring their new campaign, Turning Point: Changing the Course for Adolescent Girls Worldwide. A panel of experts, including our very own Christy Turlington Burns, ONE President Michael Elliott, and ICRW’s Stella Mukasa and Ravi Verma, discussed the global epidemic of violence against women, and particularly young women and girls.

Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is recognized as the expert on PEPFAR and global AIDS relief. More than ten years ago Dr, Fauci led a tight-knit collective of experts that helped create PEPFAR, now recognized as one of the biggest global health success stories ever seen. PEPFAR effectively changed AIDS from a death sentence to a chronic, but treatable disease at what could be considered lightening speed on the governmental timeline. Last week Erin wrote a piece about PEPFAR on its 10 year anniversary and how that same sort of energy is needed for maternal health. She also had the chance to catch up with Dr. Fauci and they chatted about PEPFAR’s early days and what it would take to create that kind of life-altering energy around maternal health.

ONE’s new video series illustrates just how little every day Americans know about foreign assistance and the life-saving effects it has on millions of people. Read ONE member Kristen Swanson’s story about how US aid has transformed her and her loved ones’ lives.

This year, in thinking about how to gear up our campaign at a time when people think about mothers the most, we felt we could all use a wake up call. That’s why this week we are launching “No Mothers Day.” The campaign centers around a video featuring moms encouraging other moms to join in solidarity by disappearing on May 13th, and by doing so, we will show everyone just how much a mother is missed when she is gone.