Bono at the Munich Security Conference in Germany

 

Bono, (Paul David Hewson), 56, is the lead singer of the band U2 and co-founder of „One“, a campaigning organisation which fights to end poverty and preventable diseases. This is the English version of Bono’s Op-Ed which was published in Süddeutsche Zeitung on February 17th, 2017.


Germany should be leading in an initiative of the G-20 states in terms of development and security.
If your eyes roll at international gatherings like the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Summit this week in Bonn or the Security Conference I’ll be attending this weekend in Munich, let me confess, mine used to as well. But after nearly two decades of harassing and attending such gatherings, I’ve discovered the dirty little secret of these events is they’re often not just talking shops. For example, the last three G8 or G7 summits hosted by Germany were turning points on debt cancellation, fighting AIDS and promoting food security.
At a time like this, when the very concept of global cooperation is being bizarrely questioned, Europeans like myself give thanks for such German leadership. In the humanity of its response to the refugee crisis, Germany has turned the thought of Europe into a feeling. In having the foresight to place strategic cooperation with Africa centrally on the G20 agenda, Germany is showing leadership again by identifying both the economic opportunity of Europe’s massive neighbouring continent while acknowledging the stability risks that may lie ahead if this partnership does not go well.
The civil war in Syria makes this only too clear in the upheaval not only to human lives but to our collective institutions and our shared understandings, upending the very idea of Europe. And Syria is not the only country on the fault line of chaos, not the only ungoverned space where violent extremism is on the rise. Keep in mind: Syria is—or was—a country of roughly 20 million people. Egypt, however, has a population of 93 million. And Nigeria, 186 million. What would we do if a country ten times the size of Syria combusts? I saw the situation in Northeast Nigeria a few months ago – and witnessed the destruction wrought by Boko Haram in the eyes of Amina, a 20-year-old displaced mother of 6 malnourished kids whose husband had been lost to Boko Haram. How Amina raises kids rather than extremists is not a distant concern. I don’t think Nigeria is going to burst into flames—though that is the stated objective of Boko Haram. But if it does, our countries are not prepared to handle it—politically, economically, or militarily. That’s what I hear from every military leader and security expert I talk to.

Security without development is unsustainable

They also say this: prevention is cheaper than intervention. By “prevention,” they’re referring to our non-military tools—the tools it takes to improve human conditions on the ground, and bring stability to fragile states. We need to unite our security strategy with a development strategy that ensures that these countries will put their people first and provide what the healthcare, education and infrastructure they need. Development without security is impossible, but security without development is unsustainable.
If we get this wrong, fragile states become failed states, and their problems become our problems. But if we get this right… their success will be our success, too. Their stability will aid in our own.
So how can the G20 help these countries succeed? Ask the people of Africa—as we at ONE have—and you hear three things: education, employment, and empowerment. Here is what that could mean in practice, if the G20 rolls up its sleeves and implements some plans.
Education: we need a plan to make sure all girls can go to school. If this seems obvious, 130 million girls in world wide would disagree; to them, it’s a dream. For every extra year a girl goes to school, her income goes up 12%. If she learns to read, her future child is 50% more likely to live past the age of five. Some studies suggest that providing education to youth can reduce a country’s risk of conflict by 20%.

Africa’s workforce - a missed opportunity

Employment: Africa’s population is set to double from 1.2bn to 2.5bn by 2050. This energetic restless generation finds work or it’ll find trouble. The continent’s rising generation will be a demographic dividend if and only if African leaders and partners scale proven jobs initiatives while implementing reforms to harness their own resources. This dividend can and should be mutually beneficial to Germany. I’m told only 1000 of the 400,000 German companies operating abroad are engaged at all in Africa. There’s no way to see this as anything other than a missed opportunity. Minister Schäuble’s “Compacts with Africa” is course correction.

Empowerment: Reform is key to empowering citizens and encouraging more investment. More than any disease, corruption is a killer—draining money that is supposed to be spent on education, health care, and employment. Germany is the deciding player to ensure European laws support the fight against corruption and capital flight. That’s why it must lead the EU to expose who owns dodgy shell companies and trusts, and lead the G20 to offer increased cooperation and investment conditional to governance. This can help fast-track the anti-corruption agenda, turbo-charging the transparency movement of connected young people who wield their phones as tracking devices.
I’m excited to talk about these ideas in Germany this week, because there’s no country that understands the connection between development and security as Germany does. Polling shows that 84 percent of Germany support more financial support for African countries. Compassionate and smart. Perhaps this enlightenment is the enduring legacy of the Marshall Plan, which helped lift this country out of destruction and despair, and helped put this continent on a stable footing for the past half a century? Maybe that’s also why we’re now hearing some in Germany echo African leaders, like Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest businessman and philanthropist, and Akin Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, who call for a modern Marshall Plan. The details and circumstances are of course so different, but the level of ambition is accurate, because the stakes are equally historic.






 http://international.sueddeutsche.de/

Global Fund using star power to raise $13B to fight infectious diseases

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau greets Bono, a keynote speaker at Saturday's replenishment conference for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

A global initiative tackling three deadly diseases in developing countries will get a major boost of star-power in Montreal today.

U2 frontman Bono will be speaking as the two-day conference by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria continues.
The conference is attracting a long list of wealthy donors and decision-makers — from Bill and Melinda Gates to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Their goal is to raise $13 billion to help save an estimated eight million lives while preventing 300 million new infections buy 2019.

The Canadian government has pledged $785 million to battle the three big infectious diseases.

Ban told the conference on Saturday that the Global Fund has helped to saved the lives of 20 million people since 2002.

"Over the next 15 years we must all work together to achieve the sustainable developing goals," he said.

Gates said the fund will help save the lives of two million people this year alone.

Later Saturday, the Global Citizen concert supporting the cause will be held Montreal's Bell Centre, featuring Usher, Half Moon Run, Metric, Grimes and Charlotte Cardin.​


Link to the video:

https://www.facebook.com/cbcnews/videos/10154633593769604/

http://www.cbc.ca/news

Edge meets Pope Francis at International Conference on the Progress of Regenerative Medicine

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday addressed participants of an International Conference on the Progress of Regenerative Medicine and its Cultural Impact. The Conference is being sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Stem for Life Foundation, and the STOQ Foundation.

The 2016 conference focused on pediatric cancers and rare diseases, as well as diseases that occur with aging. It featured talks and discussions with leading cell therapy scientists, physicians, patient advocates, ethicists, philanthropists, leaders of faith and government officials.

In his address, Pope Francis focused on three aspects of the commitment of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and the institutions working with it.

“It is fundamentally important that we promote greater empathy in society,” the Pope said, “and not remain indifferent to our neighbour’s cry for help, including when he or she is suffering from a rare disease.” Pope Francis described this aspect of their work as “increasing sensitivity.”

The Holy Father also emphasized the importance of research, in terms of “education and genuine scientific study.” Education, he said, is necessary not only to develop students’ intellectual abilities, but also to ensure “human formation and a professionalism of the highest degree.” Research, meanwhile, “requires unwavering attention to moral issues if it is to be an instrument which safeguards human life and the dignity of the person.”

The third aspect highlighted by Pope Francis was “ensuring access to care.” A desire for profit should never prevail over the value of human life. This, the Pope said, “is why the globalization of indifference must be countered by the globalization of empathy.” By drawing attention to and educating people about rare diseases, by increasing funds for research, and by promoting “necessary legislation as well as an economic paradigm shift,” he continued, “the centrality of the human person will be rediscovered.”

Pope Francis concluded his address with a word of encouragement for those participating in the Conference. “During this Jubilee Year, may you be capable and generous co-operators with the Father’s mercy.”

Here is the text of the whole address by the Pope.

http://en.radiovaticana.va/
Pics: Facebook

Bono at TED 2013: Eradicating extreme poverty doesn’t have to be a dream

Bono’s much-anticipated talk at the recent TED2013 conference is being made available online today in its entirety. 

In the speech he calls on a new generation of evidence-based activists, or “factivists,” to see that the injustice of extreme poverty is brought to an end. He notes that global extreme poverty has already been cut in half over the past 20 years and, if we remain on the current trajectory, could be virtually eliminated by 2030.  Reaching this 'Zero Zone' means that less than 5% of the world’s population will live in extreme poverty. 

Bono also highlights the incredible progress in the treatment of AIDS, the fight against malaria and the stunning reduction in child mortality - all in the last 10 years.  Compared to a decade ago, 7,256 fewer children die every day from preventable, treatable diseases – that’s 2.65 million lives saved every year. 

“Have you read anything, anywhere in the last week that is remotely as important as that number?” he challenges. 

Bono warns the progress we have made is in jeopardy – getting to the ‘Zero Zone’ is not inevitable and gains could be reversed.  He exhorts the audience to fight corruption, inequality, apathy and inertia in the pursuit of empowering the world’s poorest people. 

Addressing the threat of corruption, Bono says open data tools and social networking services are helping to let in the light. "There's a vaccine for that [corruption] too… it's called transparency.” Thanks to open data, Bono says, “It’s getting harder to hide if you're doing bad stuff.”

In the talk, Bono challenges viewers to become “factivists” who share the facts of progress and help campaign for more progress – by joining groups like ONE.  He also urges governments to continue to fund programs successfully combating extreme poverty and disease like the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.  





Watch the Bono TED talk and get the transcript at www.ONE.org/TED

ONE is a global advocacy and campaigning organization backed by more than 3 million people from around the world dedicated to fighting extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. For more information please visit www.ONE.org.

Philanthropy in Fashion

Alison Hewson and Bono arrive for the third day of the 2012 International Herald Tribune's Luxury Business Conference held at Rome Cavalieri on November 16, 2012 in Rome, Italy. The 12th annual IHT Luxury conference is the premier meeting point for the luxury industry. 500 delegates from 30 countries have gathered in Rome to hear from the world's most inspirational fashion designers and luxury business leaders.

As Ali Hewson and her husband Bono stood with the fashion entrepreneur Renzo Rosso on an African trip earlier this year, the raw white cotton in the hands of the Diesel founder led to an epiphany.

Why not create a collaboration among three people who believe passionately in the promise of Africa?

This week the tangible results of that trip will take the fashion for philanthropy fast forward, into a smart business. Bono, a persistent and vocal supporter of help for Africa going back more than 25 years, and his wife are expanding the reach of Edun, the fashion company they set up in 2005.

Through a partnership with Mr. Rosso, founder of the Diesel group, fashion products, sourced or made entirely in Africa, will be sold in Diesel stores under an Diesel+Edun label.

“Bono and I have known Renzo Rosso for over 10 years,” Ms. Hewson said. “When we decided to travel to Africa to visit both Renzo’s Millennium Village in Mali and our own cotton farming program in northern Uganda, we realized that the result would be both an amazing journey and a collaboration resulting in a line of beautiful clothes made from our cotton and 100 percent made in Africa.”

Bono himself is reticent about the overall subject of “Africa rising” and says that he would rather leave it to his African team to discuss aid to the continent in a wider context.

“There is a bit of a minefield here which you can choose to ignore. You don’t have to be an expert on this stuff,” the U2 musician said of his long-term support to African countries.

Bono’s attitude is that Africa is not a poor continent, but rich in everything: people, land, diversity — and especially young people, with 60 percent of its population younger than 25 years old.

“In my experience, the entrepreneurial spirit has always been alive and kicking. In tough circumstances of extreme poverty, the survival instinct is an innovative one,” he said, adding that new technology had brought new opportunities to the continent, like farmers managing their money via smartphone applications.

“People want control over their own destiny. You can see it in the Arab Spring, you can see it on college campuses, you can see it in on the streets of Nairobi,” he continued. “Economists predict that between 2010 and 2015, 7 of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world will be there. For those who think the 21st century will belong to China, look where the Chinese are: They’re in Africa!”

Bono’s active participation in founding Edun puts him and Ms. Hewson in a strong position to follow the code expressed by Ban Ki-moon, the U.N. secretary general: “Africa does not need charity, it needs investments and partnership.”

While the entire Edun+Diesel line will be made in Africa, that goal has not been easy for Edun itself to achieve, although Ms. Hewson plans for 40 percent of its men’s and women’s ranges to be made in Africa in 2013.

The company, which sold a 49 percent stake to the luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2009, manufactures its clothing in a variety of countries including China, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda.

Mr. Rosso is as plainspoken as Bono when he talks about Africa and his enthusiasm for the new partnership. His Only the Brave Foundation is philanthropic, but he says the African projects are founded on good business sense.

“I think working in Africa is both brave and smart: Brave because we are currently investing our time and money in building know-how in these parts of the world; and smart because Africa is the next big market, as the Chinese have already understood before anyone else,” he said. “I don’t feel I am doing it for philanthropy. We are doing it to generate sustainable development.”

The foundation’s initiatives, in spite of the recent political coup in Mali that has destabilized the country, have included building a secondary school with a dormitory for students from remote villages, laboratories used for teaching job skills and other modern facilities.

“Africa is a rich continent: rich in resources, rich in culture, rich in the ambition to grow permanently” out of its current problems, said the Italian entrepreneur, who, in addition to the Diesel jeans lines, also owns the upscale brands of Maison Martin Margiela and Viktor & Rolf as well as the production specialist Staff International, which has licenses for labels like DSquared2 and Just Cavalli.

Mr. Rosso says that he wants the fashion industry not only to bring trade to Africa, but also to channel and give visibility to the continent’s creativity in style, fabric graphic design and craftsmanship.

Why this new collaboration? Ms. Hewson says the benefits will be a “two-way street”: Edun’s Conservation Cotton Initiative in Uganda will be alongside Diesel denim product skills, as well as the global commercial clout of the Diesel brand.

To all three, the initiative therefore is a small, but significant, part of a bigger picture.

As Mr. Rosso puts it: “With this project we want to show to consumers and to the industry alike, that it is indeed possible to source, produce and generate sustainable trade — and, hence, development — in Africa.”

While admitting that “there are kinks in any industry that need ironing out,” Ms. Hewson’s commitment to Edun, along with that of her husband, is to create “great clothes,” creating new jobs and serving consumers along the way.

“We are a tiny company with big ambitions — one of which was to persuade some of the fashion heavyweights to take more interest in this part of the world,” she said. “The business environment is getting easier in many places, and the more people and companies that show interest, the quicker that will change.”

FEED the World

When Lauren Bush, a scion of the Bush political family, was a college student in 2003, she traveled with the U.N. World Food Program as an honorary spokeswoman.

From her understanding of the importance of U.N. school lunches, in both feeding children and enticing them to school, came her current project: FEED.

“I would return from these travels to Latin America, Africa and Asia always inspired to get more people — especially young people — involved,” said Lauren Bush Lauren, as she became when she married David Lauren of the Ralph Lauren family in 2011.

Finding it frustrating that world hunger seemed both an overwhelming and a faraway issue, she was determined to act.

“I had an ‘aha’ moment and came up with the FEED bag as a way for consumers to give back in a tangible and meaningful way,” she says.

With help from the fashion industry, Ms. Bush Lauren produced a burlap and organic cotton bag that went on sale through Amazon in 2007. The FEED Web site now sells it for $80, which will provide school meals for a child for a year.

“I designed it to look like the bags of food rations I saw being distributed. I wanted the aesthetic to be connected with the cause — very industrial and utilitarian,” she said.

Five years on, 60 million school meals have been bought through partnerships with Bergdorf Goodman, Tory Burch, Clarins, DKNY, Gap, Godiva, Pottery Barn and, of course, Ralph Lauren.

“I love being an entrepreneur,” the designer said, explaining that while 20 percent of her time was spent speaking for the cause, the rest was a hands-on involvement with design, communication and partnerships. And, in creating the apparel and accessories that also are sold on the FEED Web site, she said, “We are able not only to give meals, but to support artisans’ livelihoods.”

“The combination of business, fashion and philanthropy is a powerful one,” she continued. “And when done right can make a huge difference in the world.”

More pictures here.

http://www.nytimes.com// http://www.zimbio.com/pictures//http://live.ihtconferences.com

Bono's 'Humbling' Realizations About Aid, Capitalism And Nerds

An article from Forbes magazine:

Bono at the F.ounders Conference in Dublin on Friday (Photo by Conor McCabe)

Bono has learned much about music over more than three decades with U2. But alongside that has been a lifelong lesson in campaigning — the activist for poverty reduction in Africa spoke frankly on Friday about how his views about philanthropy had now stretched to include an appreciation for capitalism.

The Irish singer and co-founder of ONE, a campaigning group that fights poverty and disease in Africa, said it had been “a humbling thing for me” to realize the importance of capitalism and entrepreneurialism in philanthropy, particularly as someone who “got into this as a righteous anger activist with all the cliches.”


“Job creators and innovators are just the key, and aid is just a bridge,” he told an audience of 200 leading technology entrepreneurs and investors at the F.ounders tech conference in Dublin. “We see it as startup money, investment in new countries. A humbling thing was to learn the role of commerce.”

Bono’s work with ONE was borne out of a charity he co-founded in 2002, DATA, which sought to raise awareness around debt, AIDS and trade in Africa; it created ONE in 2004 and the two organizations were merged under the name ONE in 2008. (Disclosure: Bono is a managing partner of Elevation Partners, a investment firm that owns a stake in Forbes Media.) As part of his work on the board of ONE, Bono has lobbied American congressmen, presidents and other leaders from developed nations.

The singer, who dropped by the F.ounders conference on Friday in between working on songs for U2′s next album, said he’d had other, similarly tough realizations: that there are “enormously useful,” people on the left and right. “You just have to reach them.”

Hence the “unusual” people he has on the board of ONE, including the former U.S. Secretary of State under the Bush administration, Condoleeza Rice, Desmond Tutu and the finance minister of Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. “People go, ‘Huh? Why?’” said Bono. “Our single idea is that normally these issues we fret about, which are seen as left-wing subject matter, we figure, ‘Why divide our audience in half?’ So we work with left and right.”

Bono has also had realizations about how useful the Internet can be for transparency. “The strongest and loudest voice with moral punch on the continent at the moment is a nerd,” Bono said, pointing to the tech company founders in the audience, many of whom were programmers. “He’s a tech innovator.”

Websites like ipaidabribe.com, a site founded in India where citizens can report incidents of bribery and corruption, and another African site in which school kids can report if their teacher hasn’t shown up to class, were fighting the “biggest killer disease of them all: corruption,” said Bono. “It kills more kids than AIDs, TB and malaria. Right now in Africa we spend time with groups in civil society, with groups who are using technology to inform themselves better on what governments are doing and holding them to account.”

Bono spoke of the “network effect” and a radical shakedown affecting hierarchical institutions, particularly among repressive regimes in regions like the Middle East. “It’s affecting everyone from the Tea Party to Occupy,” he said, adding that his organization and others like it needed “an ethical online activist army pressing buttons at the right time… The next wave will come online. There’s a lot of smart people with smart ideas."

http://www.forbes.com

Latest News on Bono and Edge

Bono and Edge participated in the the F.ounders high-tech conference in Dublin on 19th.
Speaking at  conference in Dublin today,  Bono was effusive in his praise for grassroots social movements and the change they can effect on a global scale. The Irish rocker attended the event to promote the ONE anti-poverty campaign that he leads together with a number of other well-known figures, but his message was firmly focused on what we, the anonymous masses, can do by simply participating.

"Make it dangerous for a lawmaker to object to a bill that's transformative on behalf of the world's poor."

Citing the example of an Iowa Congressman that was opposing exactly such a piece of legislation, Bono pointed out that it was the strong and persistent backlash from his constituents that forced him to yield in his objections. Similarly, the Drop the Debt campaign and march that Bono was involved in organizing produced tangible results in pushing developed nations to cancel debt to developing countries in Africa. It's a familiar refrain about the effectiveness of direct democratic participation, but its undercurrent is about the importance of information technology.

How can you keep your Congressman in check if you don't know what he's doing behind the closed doors of Capitol Hill? How could the Occupy Wall Street movement have been mobilized without the communication facilitated by the web? Transparency is of profound importance to a democratic society and technology is one of the keys to unlocking the information we need to effect meaningful change.

Couching his argument in more dramatic terms, Bono goes on to say that "the 21st century began last year in Tahrir Square, where the pyramid of power was inverted." He is, of course, referring to the Egyptian uprising that resulted in the overthrow of dictatorial leader Hosni Mubarak, a campaign that was built upon a foundation of social networking organization, with such standout Facebook groups as the 6th of April Youth Movement and We are all Khaled Said. The organizer of the latter group, Wael Ghonim (pictured below), was imprisoned for his efforts to spread information about the treatment of Khaled Said by Egyptian police, but he considers that a small price to pay. He agrees with Bono in believing that "technology narrowed the gap between the power the politicians have and the power that average individuals have."

Read more.

The Edge was interviewed in the same event

Bono leaves The Cellar Bar at The Merrion Hotel after having a meeting with Irish Economist David McWilliams Dublin, Ireland - WENN.com

http://www.theverge.com//http://entertainment.ie

Clayton PA found guilty of stealing €2.8m from star

THE former personal assistant of U2 star Adam Clayton was "still maintaining her innocence" after a jury found her guilty of stealing €2.8m from the rock star's personal bank accounts.

Carol Hawkins (47), from Lower Rathmines Road in Dublin, was convicted on all 181 counts of theft, with unanimous verdicts by the jury at the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin on each count yesterday. She will be sentenced on July 6.

The evidence in the case had been "overwhelming", Judge Patrick McCartan told the jury after they had returned their verdicts following five hours and three minutes of deliberations. "Nobody could seriously disagree with the verdicts you have reached," he said.

He released Ms Hawkins on continuing bail for a further week to allow the mother of two "to get her affairs in order" after being petitioned to do so by her counsel Ken Fogarty, who told the judge that his client was "still maintaining her innocence".

It took more than 25 minutes for the court clerk to read out each charge and for the jury foreman to reply.

Throughout it all, Ms Hawkins looked almost unnaturally calm and composed, staring into middle space with her chin resting on her clasped hands.

And when she raised a glass of water to her lips, her hand did not shake.

However, her face betrayed the stress of the ordeal as she looked deathly pale and lacking in sleep. Dressed in black, she had an expensive-looking olive green rain jacket by her side and a hair-tie wrapped around her wrist.

There was nobody there for her in court.

As the reading of the verdicts drew to a close, Adam Clayton slipped on to a courtroom bench, his face wreathed in a smile of obvious relief.

After the jury had completed its task, Ms Hawkins' barrister Ken Fogarty went over to whisper a word and Ms Hawkins gave a small but distinct hoot of dry laughter.

It had been a long and "grubby tale", as counsel for the prosecution had said in their opening statement of the trial.

Over the 17 years she had worked for the U2 bassist, the mother-of-two had gained his "absolute trust" to the extent that she had wound up as a signatory on two of his personal bank accounts with access to a "never-ending pot of money", the prosecution had told the jury.

"Deliberately, knowingly and cunningly", she had laid a false trail to cover her tracks when she wrote 181 cheques to deposit large chunks of money to her own account, a joint account with her then husband John Hawkins and to her credit card account, to which she had also linked cards for her two children.

The deception only emerged in 2008 when she confessed to Mr Clayton that she had used around €15,000 of his money to book flights to visit her children in the US and London. Weeping, she had told him that she blamed the stress of her marriage break-up for her conduct.

TIFF Live Press Conference

"From the Sky Down  Imagine a neighbourhood where every home is a broken family:misery, divorce or worse. Drive down the street and it´s every single home. That´s the unfortunate terrain of rock bands.Implosion  or explosion is inevitable.U2 has defied the gravitational pull towards destruction. Somehow , it has endured and thrived .The movie From the Sky Down  asks the question why."


Bono, Edge and director Davis Guggenheim answered questions for 45 minutes today at the Toronto International Film Festival. If you missed it, follow this link and you´ll have the opportunity of watching and listening to Edge , Bono and director Guggenheim.


http://www.domeproductions.com/fromtheskydown.html



www.domeproductions.com