Bono to address EU ministers

U2 lead singer Bono is to address EU ministers meeting in Dublin next week.

The Irish singer will focus on Africa, speaking to ministers about how the EU can reform aid development and make investments more effective.

All 25 EU states will be represented at the informal meeting in Dublin Castle on June 1. The ministers will consider EU development policy and discuss possible reform strategies.

They will also address the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Sudan, and finish with a discussion of debt and trade issues in relation to Africa.

Bono has frequently used his celebrity status to highlight the crises of poverty and HIV/Aids in Africa, and to gain access to the world’s most powerful decision-makers.

In 2002 he joined forces with Bob Geldof to set up DATA (Debt, Aids, Trade, Africa), a network aimed at targeting rich governments to increase resources and improve their policies towards African countries.

He has also supported the international Jubilee 2000 Drop The Debt campaign, lobbying international politicians, the IMF and the World Bank.

In 1999, he went to Rome to meet Pope John Paul II in order to persuade the Group of Eight richest nations – G8 – to launch a major debt write-off for poor countries.

A spokesman from the Government said he was hoping the star would add a “bit of sparkle and showbiz” to the ministerial conference.