Bono says not the time to be a ‘rich rock star talking about poor people’

Says people in this economy think ’why don’t you piss off to your chateau’

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U2's Bono and his wife Ali

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Bono has told the Guardian newspaper that now is a very hard time for rock stars like him to be urging people to help the Third World, especially Africa.

Referring to the tough economic times Bono stated  “It's really not a time to be a rich rock star talking about poor people, I'll tell you that, or a film star, or a first lady or a … – there's just something... it's like "Why don't you just piss off back to your chateau" – and so I'm kind of delighted that people keep doing it.

“Outside the UK, we won't get much coverage for these issues without famous faces – and without coverage, politicians are less supportive.”

The interview took place in Ghana where Bono was visiting to point out that country’s huge success in stopping AIDS spread.

He especially praised British leader David Cameron for his effort son helping with foreign aid and said Ghana was an example of how success in Africa can be achieved.

“I'm particularly proud because a third of the Global Fund's resources in Ghana are paid for by RED [founded in 2006 to raise money for the Global Fund by selling branded products via Nike, Apple, Starbucks and others]… and One and other campaign groups helped raise much of the rest from other donors. So I was very overpowered yesterday as I saw the hospital, and I am buoyed by that. And you've near universal education. For instance the Millennium Challenge is building 240 new schools.

That's pretty great. The hard data tells us that Ghana's had over 14% growth in the last year. We think that malaria is down by over 50%, maybe over 60%, which is astonishing.

Bono also stated that the west can no longer ignore what is happening to the Third World.

"As we know more about each other it's impossible to keep up the scam that brutal, ugly, dumb poverty is something we can live with."

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