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Bono's Popularity a Plus in Promoting Aid
Posted on Thursday, March 21 @ 07:43:25 CET by Macphisto
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MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - Irish rock star Bono, rapidly rising in the charts as a global aid advocate, won an endorsement Wednesday from a big fan, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill.
During a press conference at a United Nations conference on development aid, O'Neill sang Bono's praises for his work in promoting increased aid for the world's needy and said he looked forward to showing him Africa "through my eyes" next month.
The hugely successful leader of rock band U2 and the former business tycoon will visit Africa together next month to see firsthand how poverty and AIDS have wreaked havoc on the continent.
Bono has become a tireless campaigner calling for wealthy nations to spend more on aid and now is nearly as much a fixture in the halls of political power as on stage.
O'Neill said he has earned his place.
"This is a person who's invested enough of his own time and energy to learn about and go see what life is like on the ground that he has my respect," O'Neill said. He said his talks with Bono had convinced him the rocker was "a serious person."
O'Neill wants to "especially go places where he (Bono) has been that he believes would be useful to my own understanding and I'm going to take him some places that I've been that he hasn't to let him see the world through my eyes.
"I think it will be useful for both us," the Treasury secretary said.
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