Making poverty history

HIGH NOTES

Bob Geldof (left) and U2''s Bono (centre):
promoting music for a cause

"This is really the United Nations ... The whole world has come together in solidarity with the poor." "" UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Live 8.

Two weeks ago, the world witnessed Live 8. A global event in all senses, Live 8's mainstay was to raise awareness "" not funds. This, unlike its predecessor Live Aid in 1985, which helped raise $131 million for the starving in Ethiopia.

The brainchild of international musician/ activist Bob Geldof, Live 8, a part of the Make Poverty History campaign, was held on July 2 and led by a multitude of political call-outs during the concerts.

U2 frontman Bono, a long-time propagator for a debt-free Africa, said to the Hyde Park audience of 2,00,000, "This is our moment. This is our time. This is our chance to stand up for what's right," and Nelson Mandela taking the Johannesburg stage in front of an 8,00,000 strong African audience to proclaim, "History and the generations to come will judge our leaders by the decisions they make in the coming weeks."

Few people had not heard of the concerts and their grand goal "" to create a debt-free Africa. As difficult as it might have been, the agenda was to influence decisions on African debt at the G8 conference in Gleneagles.

But the concerts were not without their detractors. As early as two weeks before the concert saw people disclaim the model in which the organisation chose to spread the message.

Chris Blackwell, founder of the popular Island Records that founded acts like Bob Marley and U2, among others, thought it unfair that African artistes were not included in the fray of international mega-artistes who had been lined up to perform.

His sentiments were dittoed by a number of key personalities like BBC broadcaster Andy Kershaw who wrote, "To have such a striking absence of African artistes on the bills for five concerts supposed to support and draw attention to Africa is a disgrace."

Unfortunately, coverage of the South African concert and the Cornwall Eden Project held in England by Peter Gabriel's World of Music and Dance (WOMAD), both featuring African artistes, was given minimum coverage as opposed to the Hyde Park and Philadelphia concerts which were broadcast in near entirety.

Partially questionable as it was in concept, Live 8 saw a massive 150 bands including Coldplay, U2, Black Eyed Peas, Greenday, Will Smith, Linkin Park and a reunited Pink Floyd take the message to nearly two billion people the world over through live television broadcasts.

Five million tuned into the concerts via Live webcasts, and over 25 million people lent their support to the cause through texts. Much to the defence of the organisers as it turned out, the level of awareness created by the concerts is anything but questionable.

With its firm intention of influencing the decisions of the leaders of the world's most powerful nations on the issue of Aid for Africa at the G8 summit, The Long Walk To Justice, the flag line of the Make Poverty History campaign, also had an episode play out in Edinburgh where a concert was held on the eve of the G8 summit which took place in Gleneagles between July 6-8.

While protestors in Gleneagles marched through the city, over 60,000 people converged at a concert in Edinburgh to heighten the pressure on the leaders of the world's richest nations.

Despite the London terrorist attacks on July 7 and other issues that were high on the priority list of the G8 summit, aid for Africa was given high priority status at the summit.

All told, the results have been a success.The G8 members have decided to free the African nations of their near $40 billion debt to the World Bank.

In addition, the G8 countries have agreed to boost aid to Africa by $25 billion a year by 2010. While some see this as disappointing, on hearing the news Bono commented: "We've pulled it off."