One: Bono = Numero Uno

The 2005 winner of the TEDPrize was the man with one name and the catalyst for the One Movement: Bono.

In his acceptance speech, he admonished the elite technorati to rise to the challenge of poverty and AIDS, he said:

But equality for Africa - that's a big, expensive idea. You see, the scale of the suffering numbs us into a kind of indifference. What on earth can we all do about this? Well, much more than we think. We can't fix every problem, but the ones we can, I want to argue, we must. And because we can, we must. This is the straight truth, the righteous truth. It is not a theory. The fact is that ours is the first generation that can look disease and extreme poverty in the eye, look across the ocean to Africa, and say this and mean it, "We do not have to stand for this." A whole continent written off,... we do not have to stand for this. [see video | read speech]

On Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, the inaugral podcast of the ONE Movement was broadcast. [ XML | HTML ]

The ONE Campaign seeks to end extreme poverty by allocating an additional ONE percent of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food.
It is supported by Bill and Melinda Gates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The ONE Campaign was founded by Bread for the World, CARE, DATA, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Mercy Corps, Oxfam America, Plan USA, Save the Children US, World Concern, and World Vision, and works closely with the National Basketball Association, Rock the Vote, and the Millennium Campaign.
The ONE declaration:

"WE BELIEVE that in the best American tradition of helping others help themselves, now is the time to join with other countries in a historic pact for compassion and justice to help the poorest people of the world overcome AIDS and extreme poverty. WE RECOGNIZE that a pact including such measures as fair trade, debt relief, fighting corruption and directing additional resources for basic needs - education, health, clean water, food, and care for orphans - would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the poorest countries, at a cost equal to just one percent more of the US budget. WE COMMIT ourselves - one person, one voice, one vote at a time - to make a better, safer world for all."

Visit www.one.org for a podcast including Nelson Mandela, Coldplay, Val Kilmer and more hipsters with heart.