Bono
Last week, Bono met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev while U2 was touring in Moscow. Russia recently reported its first polio case in thirteen years, and continues to experience high rates of HIV among certain marginalized populations.
Increased political leadership and funding from Russia is important for its own needs and to address these major health challenges globally.
Among other things, Bono and the president also discussed the critically important need to fight corruption and promote transparency, particularly in the extractives industry.
ONE and Bono recently fought hard to help pass legislation in the US that will increase transparency in the extractives industry by ensuring corporations have to report payments to governments for oil, gas and minerals. It is important that similar rules are passed in other world capitals as well.
Bono shared a quote from the day of the meeting, which I wanted to share:
“I was honoured to meet with the Russian President today. We talked about the effectiveness of the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, which saves 4,000 lives a day and for which Product (RED) raises cash.
If this lifesaver is fully financed the world could stop any children getting HIV in childbirth by 2015, a visionary goal and a great opportunity for Russian leadership.
We also discussed the importance of fighting corruption as part of the effort to end extreme poverty, and I asked for the President’s advice on how to ensure the new energy sector transparency legislation our organisation ONE lobbied for in America, which covers all companies registered on the New York Stock exchange, could now spread to London, Moscow and other global stock exchanges.
He raised Russian leadership in agriculture and we discussed what more can be done to increase world food production, keep down prices and feed the hungry.
There are great opportunities for Russian leadership on all these fronts at the forthcoming UN and G20 meetings.”
It’s been a whirlwind few days in Toronto with ONE’s Bono and Bob Geldof editing today’s Globe and Mail, Canada’s paper of record, and turning the paper’s focus to Africa just as Canada prepares to host world leaders at the upcoming G8 and G20 summits. Late last night Bob wrapped the last headlines and stories and we made some final adjustments to the cover before it was sent to print. We think the final product is fantastic and hope you do too. The issue examines the question — will the 21st century be the African century? There are op-eds and news stories by and about a wide range of Africans from Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to Somali rapper K’naan. President Barack Obama responds to questions from Bono about US strategy in Africa. If you’re in Canada get the hard copy too –the red graphic cover is a keeper.
Having Bono and Bob edit the Globe has been a great opportunity for ONE heading into the G8 and G20 meetings in June. The leadership and staff at the Globe, from editor-in-chief John Stackhouse and foreign editor Stephen Northfield to the other editors, reporters, photographers and graphic designers were incredible partners and we’re so grateful that they were willing to take the risk to do something they had never done before.
The Globe and Mail has asked celebrated Kenyan blogger Ory Okolloh to guest edit the globeandmail.com today and over the next month and she will be featuring a great deal of Africa content exclusively through the website including this video of a question submitted by reader Sarah Kibaalya of Toronto in which she asks Bono and Bob if Africans need others to speak on their behalf. Their answers might surprise you. Check it out:
Also check out this live webchat between Bob Geldof and Ory Okolloh which just wrapped up.
We’ll be spotlighting more content throughout the day, so be sure to check back on the ONE Blog for more updates!
Tomorrow’s edition of the Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail will be guest-edited by ONE co-founder Bono and ONE activist Bob Geldof — and the paper is already hitting the ground running with this awesome behind-the-scene video.
As the video points out, tomorrow will mark the first time the Globe and Mail has ever been guest-edited, and also the first time Bono and Bob Geldof have ever guest-edited a North American newspaper. Check back soon for more great extras.
Cool news. Next Monday, May 10th, ONE co-founder Bono and our great supporter Bob Geldof will edit the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail as part of the run-up to Canada’s hosting the G8 and G20 global summits in June, where Africa will be on the agenda. It’s an amazing opportunity for ONE and a great chance to get the word out about the progress being made on the continent today, and about the strategic importance of Africa, not just to the 1 billion people living there, but to the rest of the world as well.
ONE is working closely with Bob and Bono on this project, as we have in the past when they edited other leading publications around the world, including Asahi Shimbun in Japan, The Independent in the UK, Bild in Germany, and La Stampa in Italy.
The special edition will feature content and commentary from African political leaders, business owners and grassroots activists; it will also include contributions from other well-known international political leaders and advocates.
“I’m a huge fan of great journalism – I can’t wait to show up for work at The Globe. Our aim in this special edition is to crack down on a few stereotypes and showcase the opportunities surrounding the African continent, not just the problems,” said Bono in The Globe and Mail press release issued last night announcing the project.
“The world will be coming to and looking at Canada this June. The older and the emerging economies will be once again be struggling to learn the new 21st century dance of cooperation and possibly even compromise, and this time under Canada’s leadership. The Globe and Mail, one of the world’s great papers of record, has, in a mad rush of blood to the head, agreed to let two Irish pop-singers edit their august journal for one special day, one special edition. It will be dedicated to that huge, emerging resource continent of Africa and the global necessity of coming to terms with its opportunities and obstacles. I’ve gone from being an old editor of the Vancouver Georgia Straight to the new editor of The Globe and Mail and it’s only taken 36 years! Now that’s a career trajectory,” said Geldof in the same release.
The Globe and Mail is inviting readers to send in their video questions for Bono and Geldof. Video questions should be sent via www.globeandmail.com/africaone by May 6th. Select questions will be chosen, and answered by the guest-editors online during the month of May.
So send your questions in!
We’ll have more on this exciting development when the special edition is published on Monday.
ONE’s co-founder Bono met with President Obama and members of his national security staff earlier today to discuss the Administration’s development strategy heading into the upcoming G8 and G20 meetings in Canada and September’s UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals. They talked about Bono’s recent trip to Senegal, Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya and South Africa and about how good governance and increased trade and investment are critical to driving economic growth on the African continent.
Bono made the following remarks after the meeting in the Oval Office:
With the first blackberry president, we discussed the power of new technology to empower activists and entrepreneurs across Africa, part of a new rising generation that’s boosting growth and governance and defying stereotypes.
A recurring theme was innovation. We agreed that there are simple technologies that need to be made more available to transform not only public health, but also agriculture, helping farmers check prices and weather patterns. While acknowledging these are difficult times for donor economies, we discussed the President’s food security initiative and agreed to encourage other countries who signed up to keep their commitment to invest $22 billion over 3 years.
The President and his team are preparing for the UN development summit in September where it will have to be admitted that not enough has been done – north or south of the equator – for and by the world’s poorest economies to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, which have as their target a halving of extreme poverty by 2015.
We also discussed the real results American aid is achieving — malaria deaths cut in half across the continent of Africa, 3 million Africans on life-saving AIDS medication and 42 million more children going to school. This is momentum that can be built upon now.
On Wednesday night, several of us from ONE attended the annual dinner of the Atlantic Council where ONE’s co-founder Bono received the organization’s first-ever Distinguished Humanitarian Leadership award in recognition of his achievements as an activist in the fight against extreme poverty.
Hosted by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the annual dinner recognizes individuals who have shown leadership in a range of fields from policy and the military, to business and the arts. Former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel, the Atlantic Council’s current chairman, and Fred Kempe, the Council’s president and CEO, kicked off the night, speaking to a diverse crowd of 900 guests from all corners of the globe.
Bono was introduced by former presidential nominee John McCain, an active ONE supporter on the 2008 campaign trail.
In accepting the award, Bono delivered a short speech in which he talked about the important connection between security and development.
“What I think General Jones, Secretaries Gates and Clinton, Senator McCain and others are getting at is that somehow these worlds – defense and development – are inextricably linked,” Bono said. “They’re not the same thing; they’re very different, in fact; but they’re linked, and we need to see them as part of the same picture. They are both essential if we really want to build a world that’s more secure, more prosperous, and more just.”
Bono drew attention to the three D’s that make up the U.S. national security strategy – defense, diplomacy and development.
“I’m not suggesting we do each other’s jobs. Far from it. I’m not suggesting that soldiers start wearing flowers in their hair, or carrying stethoscopes and fertilizers in their packs. Neither am I saying that peaceniks like me should put on combat helmets. No. There’s a bright line that separates what we do from what many of you do. But our ultimate goals are the same goals, so let’s not work at cross purposes,” said Bono.
Senegalese musician Baaba Maal performed a passionate rendition of his song “Baayo” before White House National Security Advisor General James Jones took the stage to present former President Clinton with the Distinguished International Leadership Award. Discussing his recent work in Haiti and through the Clinton Global Initiative, President Clinton echoed Bono’s sentiments, saying that while the U.S. has never been fond of a “zero sums game,” we must get used to a world where both sides win.
To learn more about ONE’s recently launched initiative to engage veterans in the fight against extreme poverty, check out our new site.
