The Global Leadership Center, Face Aids, OxFam International and other University groups collaborated to host the ONE campaign event at the Texas Union on
Wednesday night. The ONE campaign is a grassroots advocacy organization that rallies Americans to fight against extreme global poverty and disease, particularly in Africa. The organization, co-founded by U2 frontman Bono, works with African policy makers, activists and the U.S. government. Sydney VanBerg, president of the Austin chapter of Face Aids Organization, said UT students often see the world through a materialistic lens. “[The organizations] want to put all the issues of social justice together to make a change and raise more awareness for the students at this university concerning global poverty,” VanBerg said. As part of the RGK Center’s Global Civil Society Lecture Series, keynote speaker David Lane, president and CEO of the ONE campaign, said new development is possible “in the age of Obama and economic uncertainty.” “[The ONE campaign] is not a charity,” Lane said. “We attempt to educate and mobilize impoverished communities. We try to connect with policy makers in all communities, in service, to develop smart policies for increased democracy so that civil society have a better say in how these policies are deployed.” The campaign attempts to rebuild impoverished communities not only in Africa but around the world.
“ONE implements programs of health care, education and economic opportunities so local communities can rebuild and have something worth protecting,” Lane said. “That is what we, as an organization, seek to achieve.”