Concert aims to raise poverty awareness

This Friday, UNC-Chapel Hill's Polk Place will play host to a Live 8 concert-the local manifestation of a sweeping international movement to combat poverty.

During the summer, a string of high-profile Live 8 concerts in nine major cities throughout the world succeeded in raising the awareness of international poverty in time for the July G8 summit.

Now, UNC students are continuing the battle for awareness through attempts to ensure that the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals and those set by the G8 are met.

The political aspect of the Chapel Hill Live 8 concert has been spearheaded by Students for Fair Trade and focuses on promoting public awareness of and activism for the issues at hand.

"We hope to increase dialogue on campus about issues of global poverty," said Students for Fair Trade President Alex Verdone.

"Politically, we hope to show Congress that UNC does care about international development and we want to see results."

The Millennium Development Goals agreed upon in September 2000 by the U.N. set forth eight objectives to be met by 2015, including plans to fight poverty and the spread of AIDS and to improve education.

The G8 summit set goals to double the amount of aid to third-world countries by 2010, to improve education and health care and to provide debt relief.

Richard Weisfelder, political science professor at the University of Toledo, said awareness such as that raised by Live 8 concerts is key to fighting global poverty.

"One of the biggest problems is that people get caught up in their own matters," he said. "It seems, especially in America, that people become easily diverted from areas they know nothing about."

Some believe the recent attention given to Gulf Coast poverty might detract from the international issues.

"For the U.S., it's an enormous distraction," Weisfelder said. "In terms of aid, the priority is always at home."

Others argue that Hurricane Katrina could bring to light conditions that are more permanent around the world.

"It might help because people will realize that this is a temporary state for our country, but for countries around the world there is no FEMA, no Army Corps engineers to rebuild and restore order," Verdone said.

Organizers hope the Live 8 concert will help bring the issue of poverty back into the international limelight.

"At the current rate of U.S. commitment for aid, the goals will not be met," Verdone said.

In an attempt to carry the event's significance to the national level, letters will be sent to congressmen encouraging them to support bills or resolutions that call for U.S. adherence to the goals set by the U.N. and G8.

Bridget Lowell, spokeswoman for Rep. David Price, D-N.C., said the representative likely will agree to co-sponsor the Millennium Development Goals resolution once it is brought to his attention, considering his support of similar items in the past.

"Congressman Price has signed on to several important letters to the President, including one in support of hunger relief and improved child health care and education through G8 efforts," she said.

In the meantime, poverty continues to plague societies around the world.

"The problem is the most highly indebted poor countries are the ones not eligible for World Bank assistance because they have no organized government and a lot of social disorder," Weisfelder said.

Africa, the area most affected by poverty, accounts for such a small percentage of world trade that wealthy countries often have bigger priorities, he added.

"The issue of poverty got overtaken at the U.N. summit," he said. "And progress was eroded by the Bush-Blair preoccupation with terror."

Verdone said he hopes other college campuses across the country will follow UNC's example and throw Live 8 concerts of their own.

"The boundaries between countries are arbitrary," he said.

"We have obligations to help those who were born into societies that can barely support human life."

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.