salomeU2000
The Fly
[SIMG]http://bonovox.interference.com/cause/wtomccancun.gif[/SIMG]
By Phillip Thompson
He?s annoyed one American president via satellite phone and applauded another. He?s called the Pope a ?funky pontiff? and a French president a ?wanker.? He?s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and put on the cover of nearly every magazine in the world.
Now Bono?s ready to really make some noise.
The U2 frontman has vowed to take his message of reconciliation for poor countries indebted to rich ones to the masses - and he?s making good on that promise.
Following up on a statement posted on the NME.com Internet site in June, in which he declared, "We are about to get very noisy, we are about to bang a lot of dustbin lids," Bono recently threw his support behind the Trade Justice Movement?s efforts as it prepares for the World Trade Organization meeting in Mexico in September.
The Trade Justice Movement is a ? ? group of organizations including aid agencies, environment and human rights campaigns, fair-trade organizations [ and] faith and consumer groups,? according to the organization?s web site. The movement claims support from more than 40 members to more than nine million members. Its list of members includes several well-known organizations such as Save the Children, but it also includes several faith-based organizations such as the Methodist Relief and Development Fund and the Catholic Institute for International Relations. Several foreign groups are also listed as members, such as the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign and the Peru Support Group. Its headquarters is in the United Kingdom. The movement recently conducted a massive lobbying campaign in Great Britain that included several large demonstrations symbolizing unfair trade practices.
In a statement posted on the TJM website, Bono said, "That we don't let Africans put products on our shelves, yet we crowd out their markets with our goods is a scandal. International trade needs to give everybody a chance, not just the nations that set the rules. The poorest countries don't want to forever rely on the nipple of our aid, they want to earn their way out of poverty -- they need a level-playing field.?
Glen Tarman, Trade Justice Movement coordinator said: "The Trade Justice Movement takes its inspiration from Jubilee 2000 and the campaign to cancel Third World debt that Bono played such a big role in and continues to do so with the DATA organization. Jubilee 2000 showed the world that by acting together, we can bring about change and force politicians to take leadership. There is much still to do on Third World debt. But we need also now to focus the world's attention on trade and the global opposition to trade rules that are so unjust.?
DATA is ?a new organization which aims to raise awareness about the crisis swamping Africa: unpayable debts, uncontrolled spread of AIDS, and unfair trade rules which keep Africans poor,? according to the organization?s website. Bono?s participation to date includes a tour across the heartland of America in December 2002 with actress Ashley Judd to raise Americans? awareness of the plight of poor Africans.
TJM is already well into its preparation phase for the September meeting of the WTO, slated to be held in Cancun, Tarman said.
?The focus in Cancun must be reviewing and reforming the existing unfair and unbalanced WTO rules, not creating new ones,? he said Aug.2 in an e-mail interview. ?As the pressure mounts before the meeting of the World Trade Organizaton ?, poor countries? concerns are slipping off the agenda. Rich countries and companies must not be allowed to ride roughshod over the lives of thousands of the world's poor. All around the world concerned citizens are trying to make sure Cancun is not another stitch up of the powerful against the poor. We must make clear to our governments that this round of trade talks should be about development and that means listening to the priorities of developing countries. It means action from the so-called world leaders not just fine words and rhetoric.?
For more information visit the Trade Justice Movement?s website at www.tradejusticemovement.org.uk and the DATA website at www.data.org.
By Phillip Thompson
He?s annoyed one American president via satellite phone and applauded another. He?s called the Pope a ?funky pontiff? and a French president a ?wanker.? He?s been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and put on the cover of nearly every magazine in the world.
Now Bono?s ready to really make some noise.
The U2 frontman has vowed to take his message of reconciliation for poor countries indebted to rich ones to the masses - and he?s making good on that promise.
Following up on a statement posted on the NME.com Internet site in June, in which he declared, "We are about to get very noisy, we are about to bang a lot of dustbin lids," Bono recently threw his support behind the Trade Justice Movement?s efforts as it prepares for the World Trade Organization meeting in Mexico in September.
The Trade Justice Movement is a ? ? group of organizations including aid agencies, environment and human rights campaigns, fair-trade organizations [ and] faith and consumer groups,? according to the organization?s web site. The movement claims support from more than 40 members to more than nine million members. Its list of members includes several well-known organizations such as Save the Children, but it also includes several faith-based organizations such as the Methodist Relief and Development Fund and the Catholic Institute for International Relations. Several foreign groups are also listed as members, such as the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign and the Peru Support Group. Its headquarters is in the United Kingdom. The movement recently conducted a massive lobbying campaign in Great Britain that included several large demonstrations symbolizing unfair trade practices.
In a statement posted on the TJM website, Bono said, "That we don't let Africans put products on our shelves, yet we crowd out their markets with our goods is a scandal. International trade needs to give everybody a chance, not just the nations that set the rules. The poorest countries don't want to forever rely on the nipple of our aid, they want to earn their way out of poverty -- they need a level-playing field.?
Glen Tarman, Trade Justice Movement coordinator said: "The Trade Justice Movement takes its inspiration from Jubilee 2000 and the campaign to cancel Third World debt that Bono played such a big role in and continues to do so with the DATA organization. Jubilee 2000 showed the world that by acting together, we can bring about change and force politicians to take leadership. There is much still to do on Third World debt. But we need also now to focus the world's attention on trade and the global opposition to trade rules that are so unjust.?
DATA is ?a new organization which aims to raise awareness about the crisis swamping Africa: unpayable debts, uncontrolled spread of AIDS, and unfair trade rules which keep Africans poor,? according to the organization?s website. Bono?s participation to date includes a tour across the heartland of America in December 2002 with actress Ashley Judd to raise Americans? awareness of the plight of poor Africans.
TJM is already well into its preparation phase for the September meeting of the WTO, slated to be held in Cancun, Tarman said.
?The focus in Cancun must be reviewing and reforming the existing unfair and unbalanced WTO rules, not creating new ones,? he said Aug.2 in an e-mail interview. ?As the pressure mounts before the meeting of the World Trade Organizaton ?, poor countries? concerns are slipping off the agenda. Rich countries and companies must not be allowed to ride roughshod over the lives of thousands of the world's poor. All around the world concerned citizens are trying to make sure Cancun is not another stitch up of the powerful against the poor. We must make clear to our governments that this round of trade talks should be about development and that means listening to the priorities of developing countries. It means action from the so-called world leaders not just fine words and rhetoric.?
For more information visit the Trade Justice Movement?s website at www.tradejusticemovement.org.uk and the DATA website at www.data.org.
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