The President in Africa

From ONE.org

President Bush is flying to Africa on Friday. This is his second trip to Africa, making him only the second U.S. president—along with President Clinton—to visit Africa while in office. It’s critical that the next president strengthen the relationship between America and Africa and keep this tradition alive.

In December, you put presidential candidates on the record. Now, let’s put them on the continent.

Sign the petition and ask all of the presidential candidates to pledge to visit Africa during their first term here:

When the candidates commit to going to Africa, we’ll be that much closer to guaranteeing that the next president will join 2.4 million ONE members in being a partner in building a better future for millions of Africans and people living in extreme poverty around the world.

On his trip to Africa, President Bush will cast a spotlight on the kind of smart, bipartisan initiatives that are saving lives. In six days, he will visit Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Liberia and witness the very real progress in fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and extreme poverty that has been made since 2003 when he last visited the continent.

Presidential trips are important. It’s one thing to receive briefings in Washington from bureaucrats and ambassadors. But it is another to witness first-hand the fight against extreme poverty and global disease. By the time President Bush returns from Africa, we want to have sent 50,000 messages to the remaining presidential candidates urging them to pledge to visit Africa during their first term.

Add your voice to this call.

Since President Bush’s last trip to Africa, ONE members have helped to secure historic advances in the fight to end needless suffering in that continent’s poorest countries. The evidence is clear—from providing life-saving antiretroviral drugs through PEPFAR to increasing economic prospects through the African Growth and Opportunity Act—our voice for bipartisan leadership in the fight to make poverty history is being heard and lives are being saved.

But the future is less than certain. If we remain silent, there is no guarantee that the next president will work to strengthen our relationship with the many vibrant nations of Africa.

Seeing extreme poverty up close is a transformative experience. Imagine the impact a trip to Africa has on the president. And imagine the power he or she has to shape policy and save lives. That is why it is so vital you ask the presidential candidates to pledge to visit Africa during their first term.

Dream Venti…