www.live8live.com www.makepovertyhistory.com
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS TO ATTEND
FREE CONCERTS IN EUROPE AND AMERICA,
WHILE BILLIONS WATCH ON TV
AND PARTICIPATE ONLINE
TO DEMAND G8 ACT TO END POVERTY
HERE's THE PROBLEM…
Every single day, 50,000 people are dying, needlessly, of extreme poverty. More than were dying at the time of Live Aid. Dying of AIDS, dying of hunger, dying of diseases like TB and Diarrhoea. Dying, often for want of medicines which we can buy over the counter in a chemist.
HERE's THE OPPORTUNITY…
On 6 July 2005, the 8 leaders of the world's richest and most powerful countries meet for the G8 summit in Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland. Around the table will be George Bush, Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac, Gerhard Schröder, Silvio Berlusconi, Paul Martin, Junichiro Koizumi and Vladimir Putin.
In front of these 8 men will be a costed and cogent plan – the result of a year's work by the Africa Commission – a plan to drop 100% of the debts owed by the world's richest countries by the world's poorest countries, to double the amount of high quality aid which is spent in those countries adding an extra $50 billion, and to change the injustices of the trade laws so that those countries can build a future for themselves.
These 8 men will have it in their power to save literally millions of lives. There's never been an opportunity like this before – and may not be again in our lifetime. The G8 could put an end to the greatest scandal of our time…
HERE's THE EVENT…
At the G8 summit, those 8 men will have the choice to change the way our world works… but they won't unless enough people tell them to.
That is why LIVE 8 is happening. To make them do the right thing.
It happens alongside a huge international campaign – the Global Call To Action Against Poverty – Make Poverty History in the UK, Bono's One Campaign in the USA – millions of supporters in 71 countries, including all the G8 countries.
20 years on Bob Geldof, the driving force behind 1985's Live Aid, has consistently refused to revive Live Aid – but he now believes this July's G8 conference is a unique opportunity. “Charity will never really solve the problems. It is time for justice – and 20 years after Live Aid, people now demand it of these 8 men.”
LIVE 8 will be held on 2 July 2005. Five simultaneous free concerts are confirmed with the cream of international rock and pop artists performing in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome and Philadelphia. Hundreds of thousands will attend with billions more watching the international broadcasts.
Historic venues have been selected. Hyde Park, London, the Eiffel Tower in Paris, Philadelphia - the Cradle of America and the Live Aid City in 1985, the historic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and the staggering Circus Maximus in Rome - and plans for concerts in the other G8 capitals are being developed.
The artists so far confirmed will be announced at today's press conference.
HERE's THE NEWS...
This is not a charity event. The concerts will be FREE. They are not fundraisers but rallying points for the largest political constituency ever mobilised to call for justice for Africa and the world's poor. They will focus the whole world's attention on the critical decisions to be made by the G8 four days later.
“These concerts are the starting point for THE LONG WALK TO JUSTICE - we will not tolerate the further pain of the poor while we have the financial and moral means to prevent it.” says Geldof. “The boys and girls with guitars will finally get to turn the world on its axis. What we started 20 years ago is coming to a political point in a few weeks. What we do next is seriously, properly, historically and politically important."
Tickets for the London Hyde Park concert will be made available through a special TEXT lottery to be announced at 8am on Monday 6 June through TV, radio and newspapers. Those who are not lucky enough to get tickets will be able to watch the show and share in the excitement on giant BBC screens in the centre of major cities across the UK including Birmingham, Hull, Liverpool, Manchester, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Belfast, Leeds and Wrexham.
HERE's THE POINT…
The aim of it all is to make poverty history. “Today, like every other day, 50,000 people will die unnecessarily,” says Richard Curtis, the writer and co-founder of Comic Relief, which is part of the Make Poverty History Campaign. “If 50,000 people died in London on Monday, in Rome on Tuesday, Berlin on Wednesday, in New York on Thursday and in Paris on Friday, the G8 leaders in Gleneagles would find the money and the solution to the problem as they walked from the front door to the reception desk.”
Says Geldof: “The leaders and mayors of the world's great cities, major corporations and organisations and rock stars have all shown what can be done when people are determined to work together and prepared to make personal sacrifices to achieve a greater good. Let us hope the G8 leaders will follow their example. On a global scale the finances required are miniscule. ”
“The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if millions of people show them that enough is enough. We understand precisely what must be done to free the weak, the hungry and the sick from the awful, needless, condition of their lives. Now is the time to do it.”
The Long Walk To Justice will then move to Scotland. Midge Ure, who will announce details of events planned for Edinburgh next week said, “Following the Live 8 concerts on July 2, tens of thousands of people will be travelling to Scotland with a sense of great responsibility as we walk the last mile to justice. By the eve of the G8 summit - Wednesday 6 July in Edinburgh – there will be thousands upon thousands of committed people in Scotland's capital – this will be the world's last opportunity to say to the G8 - ‘be bold, be historic, be magnificent. Tomorrow, you can actually take the steps to make poverty history. Are you for or are you against? It's make your mind up time.”
Just as it was 20 years ago, the BBC is the host broadcaster for LIVE 8 London, working alongside other broadcasters in Europe and America to bring this huge international event to the world. In the UK there will be TV coverage across BBC One, Two and Three, with radio broadcasts on Radio's One and Two, the BBC World Service and across the BBC's regional stations.
AOL are in advance negotiations with LIVE 8 to present and broadcast all the concerts live on the internet. When current negotiations are completed AOL are set to bring together a worldwide audience - delivering exclusive, interactive material, never seen before. As the exclusive Live 8 online partner, AOL will bring together a worldwide audience for the only complete broadcast of all of the Live 8 concerts for free, live and on demand. People around the world will be able to learn more about global poverty, connect with a community of fans and make their voices heard at www.aolmusic.com, www.aol.co.uk, www.aol.de or www.aol.fr.
95.8 Capital FM and the Prince's Trust have kindly stepped aside and cancelled this year's Party In The Park to allow Live 8 to go ahead. In an unprecedented collaboration with the BBC, 95.8 Capital FM will broadcast performances and report live from backstage in Hyde Park. They are an official Live 8 commercial radio partner and will be running competitions to win tickets for Live 8 in the build up to the big day.
O2 will be providing the mechanism for the free ticket distribution of Live 8 in Hyde Park.
Live 8 would like to thank The Royal Parks, Westminster Council, Tom Hunter and the Hunter Foundation, the Metropolitan Police and O2 in helping to make this huge event possible and for the cooperation of ClearChannel Entertainment and The Prince's Trust.
With your help, we can make this the year we ended the scandal of 50,000 people dying every single day because of extreme poverty.
With your help, we can become the generation that finally said enough is enough.
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
