United States Department of State (Washington, DC)
Susan Ellis
27 June 2005
Washington, DC — Cites AIDS funding, anti-corruption element of Millennium Challenge Account
Bono, lead singer of the rock group U2 and co-founder of DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), appeared on American television June 26 to express the hope of those who have been working on development issues in Africa that the meeting of "the eight most powerful men in the world" -- the Group of Eight (or G8, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, July 6-8 -- will bring about a "historic breakthrough â-oe on issues facing the poorest of the poor."
Interviewed on NBC's Meet the Press via video link from Dublin, Ireland, Bono had high praise for President Bush: "I think he's done an incredible job, his administration, on AIDS. And 250,000 Africans are on anti-viral drugs. They literally owe their lives to America. In one year that's been done."
The push to bring good health to Africans cannot address only AIDS treatment, he added, but must also deal with the "environment in which viruses like AIDS thrive -- or malaria. Three thousand Africans die every day of a mosquito bite. That's not acceptable in the 21st century and we can stop it. And waterborne illnesses -- dirty water takes another 3,000 lives -- children, mothers, sisters."
Acknowledging that the U.S president is under great pressure in dealing with international terrorism and domestic finances, Bono said that if Bush in his second term is "as bold in his commitments to Africa as he was in the first term, he indeed deserves a place in history in turning the fate of that continent around."
Having worked on Bush's AIDS initiative and the Millenium Challenge Account, the rock star thinks Bush "deserves his place in history. He has the heart for it," he added, "but his advisers are going â-oe to have to let him sign â-oe a proper check.
"One billion dollars is all it would take to save a million lives from malaria with bed nets, etc. -- $1 billion. Four billion dollars, you could change the world. From the United States, an extra commitment of $4 billion" would go a long way, he said.
The Millennium Challenge Account is a U.S. supplementary aid program launched by President Bush to reward poor nations that invest in the education and health care of their citizens, fight corruption and promote good governance.
Bono said he loves and believes in America and it upsets him when others say America is not doing enough. "The president is right to say they're doing a quarter of all aid to Africa. He has doubled, even tripled -- if he follows through -- aid to Africa."
Speaking of another threat to Africa, that of the corruption of some leaders, Bono said: "This is the number one issue, and there's no way around it. That's what's so clever about President Bush's Millennium Challenge. It was start-up money for new democracies. It was giving increases of aid flows only to countries that are tackling corruption."
Although the implementation of Bush's Millennium Challenge has not been easy, he said, "they're trying to put it right." Aid in the old sense, "the money-down-a-rat-hole thing," is no more, Bono said. "It makes matters worse, not better. This is new, targeted aid."
He added that some countries will need mercy, and aid must go there regardless. "But in those instances," he said, "you just route the aid away from the governments and through the NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] on the ground. That's the modern way."
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