Last week, when Bono spoke at the California Women’s Conference, he passed along some of the startling stats (listed below) about women in Africa.

• Nearly two-thirds of adults with HIV in Africa are women young women (age 15 to 24) in South Africa accounted for around 90% of new HIV infections in 2007.
• In Africa, the likelihood of a woman dying in childbirth is 1 in 20 (compared to 1 in 2,800 in the US).
• Although up to 80% of farmers in the developing world are women, they own less than 15% of land worldwide.

You can find more facts about women in Africa, as well as inspiring facts (like the one below) about the benefits of investing in women in the developing world, in this new fact sheet.

“Investing in women is considered smart economic policy because it can often yield higher economic returns than investing in men. Providing an extra one year of education beyond the average boosts earnings by 10-20%, compared to 5-15% for males. Increasing the share of women with a secondary education by one percentage point boosts annual per capita income by 0.3% on average. A study in Kenya found that agricultural yields could be raised by as much as 20% simply by reallocating existing agricultural inputs (seeds, fertilizer, education) more equally between men and women.”

-Virginia Simmons

As we previously reported, Bono spoke at the 2008 California Women’s Conference last night. We’ve compiled the full footage of his speech, split into 5 parts, below. Enjoy!

PS- In his speech, Bono refers to a petition organized by the ONE Campaign to hold both presidential candidates accountable in the fight to end extreme poverty. Please sign here.

Full speech, Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

-Chris Scott

Bono is scheduled to speak at the 2008 Women’s Conference in a few moments. You can watch live in the webcast player below. (Webplayer is after the “read more” jump.)

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Bono will be speaking tonight at the WE Empower Women’s Conference in California at approximately 6 pm PST (9pm EST). Maria Shriver is hosting the event which features speakers such as Condoleeza Rice, Madeline Albright, Jennifer Lopez, and more. You can watch a live webcast of the event here.

WE Empower’s website describes the conference thusly:

Under the leadership of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver, The Women’s Conference has grown from a small government initiative for working professionals into a far-reaching organization, a life-changing experience, and an international network of women from all walks of life, backgrounds and perspectives.

The Women’s Conference event is the largest and most dynamic gathering of women in the nation. Recognized for its unparalleled capacity to empower and inspire women to become architects of change, the annual conference unites more than sixty internationally-acclaimed leaders and visionaries with 14,000 women in one arena, plus thousands more virtually, to share enriching stories of transformation and success, words of encouragement and life lessons.

-Chris Scott