Geldof raps West for failing Africa

Rock star Bob Geldof today criticised Western governments for failing Africa as he headed back to Ethiopia to again highlight the plight of millions of people facing starvation.

The musician and businessman jetted off from London’s Heathrow Airport this afternoon for a trip which is due to start in the African country’s capital, Addis Ababa, tomorrow.

Geldof, who was returning to Ethiopia nearly 20 years after his first visit inspired Band Aid and Live Aid, described current food donations to the continent – especially from the EU – as “pathetic”.

Figures from the UN children’s aid agency, Unicef, suggest Ethiopia is in the middle of a humanitarian emergency with 14 million people, many of them children, dependent on food aid.

His five-day mission is timed to raise public interest ahead of the G8 summit of the main industrialised nations in Evian, France, on June 1 in order to kick-start action from political leaders.

The former Boomtown Rat said: “The G8 meeting is next week and I think it is going to be somewhat characterised by political spite and backbiting over what has happened in Iraq.

“But meanwhile, further south is another country which is facing an utter catastrophe this summer because it has failed to receive over two-thirds of the food requirements that have been promised.”

He said he recognised that the US and British governments were at the forefront of helping to improve the situation in Africa, but he added that it was wrong to make the fight on terrorism a priority.

“If there is a war on terror then there has to be a war on poverty,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Unicef added: “The reason he is going is to give a wake-up call to the international community before the G8 meeting next week and to make sure that people do not forget that there are other countries having problems.”

She said Geldof had been planning to travel to Ethiopia as part of his own personal visit to highlight the crisis facing the country, but had decided to team up with Unicef.

“We hope that with Unicef and Bob Geldof together we will have a louder voice to get our message across,” she said.

Geldof, who raised millions for the famine-stricken country in the 1980s, will include in his tour visits to therapeutic feeding centres in the south and projects aimed at making water safe to drink.

He will also meet a group of girls benefiting from a Saturday morning tutorial programme and visit clubs set up to help Aids victims.

The Unicef spokeswoman added: “What we have here is a much more complex emergency than the drought crisis of 20 years ago.

“This time it is compounded by HIV/Aids which has weakened medical systems and coping ability at the family level.

“Unicef is grateful for Bob Geldof’s visit right now because it will help draw global attention to the new mix of challenges we must overcome to build a more peaceful, stable world – a world that is truly fit for children.”

Last week, Geldof – who received an honororary knighthood in 1986 – joined Irish rock legend Bono of U2 to urge world leaders to unite in the fight against the Aids epidemic.

They joined a one-hour breakfast meeting at Downing Street with Prime Minister Tony Blair and International Development Secretary Baroness Amos.

Geldof famously teamed up with Ultravox singer Midge Ure to write the lyrics to the Do They Know It’s Christmas?/Feed The World single recorded by almost 40 pop stars in 1984.

Inspired by his visit to famine-stricken Ethiopia, the single was an immediate hit and went on to sell over three million copies in the UK, raising over £8 million.

Then in 1985, Geldof pulled together the world’s rock elite for a mammoth charity concert – Live Aid which raised about £40 million for famine relief.

By coincidence, Geldof’s latest trip to Africa comes just days after a Live-Aid style concert was held in Addis Ababa for thousands of Ethiopians to raise money for their country.

“It shows that there is a clear difference between now and the 1980s. There is a self-awareness, an absolute desire to help each other out which is amazing since these people don’t have anything,” Geldof said.