U2's Bono Steps Up Pressure for Action on Third World Poverty
Posted on Saturday, February 02 @ 04:13:48 CET by Macphisto
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NEW YORK, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Bono, U2 frontman and debt relief activist, is on a US lobbying tour before the group's Super Bowl appearance in New Orleans on Sunday.
In the next three days, the singer -- who has just returned from a trip to Africa -- will hold meetings with key politicians, business leaders and
activists to galvanize support for more debt cancellation and increased funding to fight AIDS and poverty Africa.
Alongside Senator Bill Frist (who spent a day with Bono in Uganda visiting projects funded through debt relief), Bono will address Republican politicians
at their annual retreat in Greenbrier, West Virginia; in New York he will appeal to corporate leaders and policy makers gathering for the World Economic Forum, and meet with debt and AIDS activists. On Saturday, Bono will team up with Bill Gates, and appear on a panel with US Treasury Secretary Paul
O'Neill, to call for rich governments to cancel more debt, increase aid, and remove trade barriers for the poorest countries.
Bono: "Part of winning the war on terrorism is winning the war on poverty.
We've had the wake-up call. If we stand by and watch this continent go up in flames, the price won't be paid solely in African lives. Let's move on supporting governments who want the best for their people, and cancel more debt, give more aid, and change trade rules to help Africa help itself."
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