In September Bono, as a spokesman for the Jubilee 2000 campaign to cancel the debt's of the world's poorest countries, was invited to address the general assembly of the United Nations in New York. Pop stars do not do this very often and Bono was acutely aware of the oddity of the occasion. His speech coincided with the launch of NetAid, a project which was also endorsed by Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan. With political leaders worldwide scratching their heads and wondering why to party on New Year's Eve, Bono gave them a reason why. Here, we reproduce his speech:

When rock stars speak out on political issues I get nervous, and I am one. When musicians open their mouth to do anything by sing, I generally put my wallet in my boot, and yet music, more than anything, has kept my conscience. It's the noise that keeps me awake, stops me falling asleep in the comfort of this wild freedom some of us are enjoying on the eve of the 21st Century.

I'm involved with NetAid because NetAid supports the Jubilee 2000 campaign to cancel Third World debt. Plus, there are some of us who want to see Live Aid through. In the '80s, I was a proud part of the spoiled generation who brought you Live Aid, Band Aid, We Are the World, all that stuff. It was an amazing thing, that moment in time when Bob Geldof said "fuck" on TV and led a bunch of pop stars to raise $200 million for famine relief in Africa. I was so proud of it. We walked around thinking we had cracked it. Musicians, we could do what the politicians couldn't -- $200 million!

Then I learned that Africa spends $200 million each week servicing its debt to the West. It's time now to write off the unpayable debt of the world's poorest nations because for every $1 sent in government aid to these countries, $9 is sent back in loan servicing. What they're repaying a lot of the time are old loans to dodgy dictators and cracked despots a couple of generations ago. It's inefficient, it's barbaric and it's preventing the developing countries from joining the world stage.

These countries have a lot to offer in terms of growth and new trade, but they can't even get to the starting line. In Jubilee 2000 we want to take the energy that's going into New Year's Eve '99 and the millenium celebrations and give it a meaningful goal. It's complicated. But don't let anyone tell you it's "too complicated." Some very smart people are involved. The politicians have already done some work on debt reduction. They have the script, they just need some prompting from you to go the whole way. As well as politicians and economists, churchmen of every persuasion have come on board the debt cancellation bus: from Pope John Paul to the Dalai Lama. Jews, Muslims, Christians. Muhammad Ali is going to go back in the ring if it doesn't happen. This is the kind of broad coalition that brought about the end of apartheid or slavery. And that's no exaggeration -- this is "economic slavery" whose abolition we are now talking about.

Potentially this is a fresh start for a billion people. Now that's a reason to party and a real reason to celebrate New Year's Eve '99. As for tonight, you have shown your support by being here. What you should do now is stay informed, write to your politician, sign a petition, make yourself heard.

© Propaganda, 1999. All rights reserved.