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Berlin rejects Bono claims on AIDS fund
FRANKFURT ? The German Government has rejected claims by U2 leader singer Bono that Berlin was blocking additional European Union cash for a global fund to combat AIDS.
In an open letter to Schroeder published this week in the daily Frankfurter Rundschau, the Irish rock singer said the world was "witnessing genocide" with 7,000 Africans dying daily of AIDS, saying Germany was among countries blocking greater spending.
Several aid organizations also called on Germany Tuesday to increase its spending, but the government denied accusations it was blocking extra E.U. cash for the fund.
But Barbara Wieland, spokeswoman for the ministry for economic cooperation and development, said: "To speak about a German blockade is plainly and simply wrong".
The German government had only recently raised by EUR 100 million the pledge it made last year to contribute 200 million euros to the fund by 2007.
"All claims that the present government is not doing enough in the fight against AIDS do not correspond to reality," Wieland said.
Bono told Schroeder in his open letter he was "appealing on your leadership strength" to free extra funds to support the fight against the virus. The letter coincided with a meeting of European donor nations in Paris on the fringe of a four-day international AIDS conference which began Sunday.
EU members are to discuss how much to give to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which was launched a year ago at the behest of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Bono said the fund needed USD 3 billion next year to support key aid programmes in the world's poorest countries. The United States would be willing to increase its spending to USD one billion if matched by the EU, but some EU countries were unwilling to put more cash on the table.
"I have spoken personally to (British) Prime Minister (Tony) Blair, and also with (French) President (Jacques) Chirac. Both have called on the EU and the (European) Commission to give their approval to this decisive financial payment," Bono writes. "But a small group of countries including Germany are blocking this agreement. I and many others ... have difficulty understanding this stance."
Bono, who with fellow rock singer Bob Geldof founded the non- government organization DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade in Africa), recalled how he and Schroeder had met at the G8 summit in Cologne in 1999. The singer said Schroeder had supported his campaign for debts to African countries to be written off, but that the AIDS epidemic and associated diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria were destroying the progress made as a result of debt write-offs and increased investment.
Although Schroeder had agreed to increase support to the campaign against AIDS by EUR 100 million, Bono said this would only take effect from 2005. Although he realized Germany was tightening its budget spending, "hard times call for hard decisions - these are the times when leadership strength and vision count".
A decision by the EU to increase spending would be a signal to other donors to provide more support. But if the 15-member bloc failed to top up the fund its commitment to fight AIDS would turn out to be "nonsense", he added.
Also Tuesday, a number of aid organizations called on Berlin to take the fight against AIDS more seriously. One of them, Doctors Without Borders, said it regretted that Berlin "was continuing to block" EU plans to set aside EUR one billion for the fund next year. It also called on the government to provide the AIDS fund this year with the promised additional contribution of EUR 100 million.
Berlin rejects Bono claims on AIDS fund
FRANKFURT ? The German Government has rejected claims by U2 leader singer Bono that Berlin was blocking additional European Union cash for a global fund to combat AIDS.
In an open letter to Schroeder published this week in the daily Frankfurter Rundschau, the Irish rock singer said the world was "witnessing genocide" with 7,000 Africans dying daily of AIDS, saying Germany was among countries blocking greater spending.
Several aid organizations also called on Germany Tuesday to increase its spending, but the government denied accusations it was blocking extra E.U. cash for the fund.
But Barbara Wieland, spokeswoman for the ministry for economic cooperation and development, said: "To speak about a German blockade is plainly and simply wrong".
The German government had only recently raised by EUR 100 million the pledge it made last year to contribute 200 million euros to the fund by 2007.
"All claims that the present government is not doing enough in the fight against AIDS do not correspond to reality," Wieland said.
Bono told Schroeder in his open letter he was "appealing on your leadership strength" to free extra funds to support the fight against the virus. The letter coincided with a meeting of European donor nations in Paris on the fringe of a four-day international AIDS conference which began Sunday.
EU members are to discuss how much to give to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which was launched a year ago at the behest of United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Bono said the fund needed USD 3 billion next year to support key aid programmes in the world's poorest countries. The United States would be willing to increase its spending to USD one billion if matched by the EU, but some EU countries were unwilling to put more cash on the table.
"I have spoken personally to (British) Prime Minister (Tony) Blair, and also with (French) President (Jacques) Chirac. Both have called on the EU and the (European) Commission to give their approval to this decisive financial payment," Bono writes. "But a small group of countries including Germany are blocking this agreement. I and many others ... have difficulty understanding this stance."
Bono, who with fellow rock singer Bob Geldof founded the non- government organization DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade in Africa), recalled how he and Schroeder had met at the G8 summit in Cologne in 1999. The singer said Schroeder had supported his campaign for debts to African countries to be written off, but that the AIDS epidemic and associated diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria were destroying the progress made as a result of debt write-offs and increased investment.
Although Schroeder had agreed to increase support to the campaign against AIDS by EUR 100 million, Bono said this would only take effect from 2005. Although he realized Germany was tightening its budget spending, "hard times call for hard decisions - these are the times when leadership strength and vision count".
A decision by the EU to increase spending would be a signal to other donors to provide more support. But if the 15-member bloc failed to top up the fund its commitment to fight AIDS would turn out to be "nonsense", he added.
Also Tuesday, a number of aid organizations called on Berlin to take the fight against AIDS more seriously. One of them, Doctors Without Borders, said it regretted that Berlin "was continuing to block" EU plans to set aside EUR one billion for the fund next year. It also called on the government to provide the AIDS fund this year with the promised additional contribution of EUR 100 million.
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but i love it when politics gets rough and rowdy. hence the name. 
