20 years ago, and Today…
From live8live.com
“Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, called the Gleneagles G8 “the greatest summit for Africa ever“. Only time will tell if this summit is historic or not. What is true is that never before have so many people forced a change of policy onto the global agenda. And that policy today has been addressed.
20 years ago today, Live Aid achieved a staggering $200m for those suffering death by starvation. We were addressing the symptoms of poverty. On July 2nd Live8 asked $25bn per annum for Africa to attack the structures of poverty. And today Africa got it.
No longer will the lives of the African poor be framed by charity but rather defined by justice. That long walk is now over. Brought to an end by the greatest act of mass advocacy in political history.
Live 8 was wonderful and devastatingly effective. The figures announced today are not simply cold numbers. They mean 10m people alive because you danced for life. They mean 20m children in school because we played our guitars. 5m orphans taken care of because we sang for joy. 600,000 people every year will not now die of malaria. The list of excellence goes on. The list of lives stretches to the future.
You did this.
We invited you on a long walk and you went all the way. You are a great peaceful army of 3 billion who walked for those who could barely crawl. And you won.
Thank you so very much. Millions live because of you.”
From www.live8live.com