Anti-Poverty Effort Unites Religious Leaders, Rock Stars

June 25, 2005

Source: The Dallas Morning News

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/religion/stories/062505DNrel-Live8.3fb53b01.html

On June 25, 2005 The Dallas Morning News reported, "Next Saturday, in eight cities around the world, a dizzying array of pop and rock superstars will take the stage hoping to raise awareness about poverty in Africa...

The event – dubbed Live 8 – comes just days before a Group of Eight (G8) summit meeting in Scotland, at which representatives from the world's wealthiest nations are to discuss African aid and debt relief... Live 8 participants are calling on the G8 to double aid to Africa and cancel all national debts for the poorest countries – positions echoed by many faith leaders... In May, U2's Bono helped launch the ONE Campaign, which is calling on the U.S. government to raise by 1 percent the amount of aid to Africa.

The effort – supported by a diverse array of faith groups – is the U.S. arm of an England-based organization called Make Poverty History. That group similarly advocates for increased aid to Africa and is asking supporters to wear white wristbands, after the yellow ones that Lance Armstrong popularized to promote the fight against cancer."