The U.S. State Department released a video narrated by Matt Damon in late September to YouTube, describing the world food crisis and how global climate change will mean less food available for the 1.8 billion more people who will live on Earth by 2030.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton released a statement today, in recognition of World Food Day, on the need to combat global hunger and directs interested citizens to go to the State Department’s page on Global Food Security to learn more about what needs to be done.
Fighting hunger and poverty through sustainable agricultural development–making sure that enough food is available and that people have the resources to purchase it–is a key foreign policy objective of the Obama Administration. Food security is about economic, environmental, and national security for our individual homelands and the entire world.
In the coming years we have a unique opportunity to work with partners around the world to eradicate hunger. Major industrialized nations have committed more than $22 billion over three years to spur agriculture-led economic growth. Our investment in agriculture will complement our commitment to humanitarian aid, which plays a vital role in feeding some of the world’s most vulnerable
October 09, 2009: MATT DAMON has poured his heart out about his travels to the poorest parts of the world in a new essay for U.S. magazine Parade. The actor turned journalist to pen a travelogue for the free publication, which will hit the streets in many national publications this weekend (10-11Oct09).
In his essay, The Bourne Supremacy star admits he was inspired to give to charity as a child, and would save up his allowance and hand it over to causes he felt passionate about.
He writes, ‘My mother was involved in all sorts of causes and when I was about 12, I started sending a little bit every month to one of them. I learned then that you find something that matters to you and it changes your whole mindset.’
And his passion for giving led him to his latest cause – finding clean water for the Third World’s kids.
Damon admits he has been deeply moved by the efforts of volunteers and aid workers in Africa as they fight to save children, like his own, from dying.
He adds, ‘Every 15 seconds, a child dies because of a lack of clean water and sanitation… A billion people on our planet will never have a clean drink of water.’
He also recalls meeting those struggling to survive in Haiti, Africa and India, and confesses he struggles to comprehend how some areas of the world are so poor while Americans take water and sanitation for granted.
Damon explains, ‘You can read about extreme poverty and possible solutions, but it’s really powerful when you get to meet the people and shake their hands and listen to their stories.
‘I was in Ethiopia earlier this year, and I watched children taking filthy water out of a hand-dug well and putting it in bottles to take to school. The water was so dirty, it looked like chocolate milk.
‘I wanted to knock it out of their hands and say, ‘Don’t drink that – it could kill you.’ The dilemma is that drinking nothing at all will kill them faster.’
Damon’s essay in Parade launches the publication’s America’s Giving Challenge, which aims to increase charity donations for international causes.
The Bourne Supremacy star created non-profit company Water.org earlier this year (09) when he merged his H2O Africa charity with WaterPartners International.
Water.org has previously succeeded in providing access to clean water for people living in developing countries in Africa and South Asia – and now Damon is turning his attentions to Haiti.
The actor joined world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and former leader Bill Clinton, at the launch of the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative in New York on Tuesday (22Sep09) to announce his new mission.
The project, nicknamed the Haiti Challenge, aims to provide clean water and sanitation facilities to 50,000 Haitians.
Damon explained, “Water.org will deliver at least $2 million to fund this commitment.”
He also urged the leading politicians gathered at the meeting to donate to the organisation to ensure the Safe Water and Sanitation For the People of Haiti initiative is a success.
Damon added, “We want to challenge everyone here in this room tonight to support this commitment to the people of Haiti by visiting Water.org.”
Matt Damon took a break from visiting clean water projects in India to thank the more than 103,000 ONE members who signed our petition supporting the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act—a bill that would bring first-time, sustainable clean water and sanitation access to 100 million of the world’s poorest people.
Hear it straight from Matt in this new video:
On July 1, a team of 40 ONE volunteers, staff, interns and partners flooded the Senate with our petition signatures asking our senators to cosponsor the bipartisan Water for the World Act. Since then, five new senators have signed on as cosponsors, bringing the total count to 14 and the bill that much closer to becoming law.
Find out whether your senators have co-sponsored the Water for the World Act, and learn what more you can do to support this critical legislation:
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Actor Matt Damon has teamed with a Kansas City-based nonprofit organization that helps communities in developing countries get safe water and sanitation.
Courtesy: Water.org
Water.org co-founders Gary White and Matt Damon discuss the water crisis in a slum of Hyderabad, India.
WaterPartners, founded in 1993 in Kansas City, has joined with Damon’s non-profit H2O Africa to become the new organization, Water.org. Both WaterPartners and H2O Africa were dissolved. The move was announced Tuesday. Water.org said Damon helped create awareness for the water problems in Africa, and the merger will increase the effectiveness and reach of both organizations. In 2008, WaterPartners helped deliver clean water to more than 142,000 people in Africa, South Asia and Central America in 2008. H2O Africa was founded in conjunction with Running the Sahara, the expedition and film project. Its goal was to bring clean water to people in Africa.
Actor and humanitarian Matt Damon visited children in Tigray, Ethiopia at the community’s former water source. Now the community has clean water from a village well provided by Damon’s group, Water.org.
(the gallery doesn’t have any actual photos of Matt for some reason so enjoy the preview below)
Best pals Matt Damon and Ben Affleck faced off at the poker table on Thursday night as part of a charity event in Las Vegas.
The Oscar winners joined event host Don Cheadle and celebrities including actors Brad Garrett and Danny Masterson, and retired boxing champ Mike Tyson to help raise money for Ante Up for Africa.
The stars joined members of the public and dug deep into their pockets to join in the fun, handing over US$5,000 as a buy-in for the gambling tournament, with all proceeds benefiting the Enough project and Refugees International – organizations which aim to raise awareness and provide help to the survivors of war-torn Darfur in Sudan.
The results of the poker game had yet to be released as WENN went to press.
Thanks for joining me and more than 80,000 other ONE members in signing the petition to the Senate in support of the Water for the World Act. Would you do me a huge favor and forward my email, below, to your friends? Together we can make a real difference for the hundreds of millions of people worldwide who don’t have access to water and sanitation.
Thanks,
Matt
Dear Friend,
On my trip with ONE to Zambia, I walked two miles with a 14-year-old girl to a well—the closest water source to her village. I asked if she wanted to stay in her village when she grew up, and her face exploded into a huge smile. The translator said, “she is being very shy…she says that she wants to move to big city, Lusaka, and that she wants to be a nurse.”
Women and girls, like the one I met in Zambia, bear most of the burden of lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation. Women are more than twice as likely as men to be responsible for water collection, and on average, women in the developing world walk three and a half miles each day to collect water—time that could be spent in school or at work.
Right now there’s a bill, the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act of 2009, that will enable us to help 100 million people gain access to clean water and sanitation by 2015. But it needs at least 15 more cosponsors to move forward. Join me in signing ONE’s petition and asking your senators to cosponsor this critical legislation:
Please cosponsor the Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2009 (S. 624), and help provide 100 million people with first-time, sustainable access to clean water and sanitation by 2015.
Economically, water is one of the smartest poverty-fighting investments we can make. My friend Ben and I met with the World Bank and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in Tanzania, and we saw how a lack of good water infrastructure is holding back businesses. We talked to Prosper Mbarewoai of Allied Chemicals, who estimated his detergent-production business is operating at only 60% capacity because he spends anywhere from two hours to an entire day just getting water.
The MCC in Tanzania is working to revamp the water treatment and supply infrastructure in two major cities, decreasing the risks of water-borne illness and enabling business productivity. In fact, every $1 spent on water and sanitation generates a return of $8 in saved time, increased productivity and reduced health costs in Africa.
Improving access to clean water and sanitation is also an investment in women, making possible the dreams of young girls in Zambia and beyond. To help make this change happen for her and 884 million others worldwide who live without clean water, please ask your senators to cosponsor the Water for the World Act:
Actor Matt Damon is encouraging people to join him in signing a petition asking senators to cosponsor the Durbin-Corker Water for the World Act of 2009.
The Act will help 100 million people gain access to clean water and sanitation by 2015, but currently needs at least 15 more cosponsors to move forward.
“On my trip with the ONE Campaign to Zambia, I walked two miles with a 14-year-old girl to a well—the closest water source to her village,“ said Damon. “I asked if she wanted to stay in her village when she grew up, and her face exploded into a huge smile. The translator said, “she is being very shy…she says that she wants to move to big city, Lusaka, and that she wants to be a nurse.”
“Women and girls, like the one I met in Zambia, bear most of the burden of lack of access to clean water and adequate sanitation. Women are more than twice as likely as men to be responsible for water collection, and on average, women in the developing world walk three and a half miles each day to collect water—time that could be spent in school or at work.
“Economically, water is one of the smartest poverty-fighting investments we can make. My friend Ben Affleck and I met with the World Bank and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in Tanzania, and we saw how a lack of good water infrastructure is holding back businesses. We talked to Prosper Mbarewoai of Allied Chemicals, who estimated his detergent-production business is operating at only 60% capacity because he spends anywhere from two hours to an entire day just getting water.
“The MCC in Tanzania is working to revamp the water treatment and supply infrastructure in two major cities, decreasing the risks of water-borne illness and enabling business productivity. In fact, every $1 spent on water and sanitation generates a return of $8 in saved time, increased productivity and reduced health costs in Africa.
“Improving access to clean water and sanitation is also an investment in women, making possible the dreams of young girls in Zambia and beyond. To help make this change happen for her and 884 million others worldwide who live without clean water, please ask your senators to cosponsor the Water for the World Act.“
