Bono attends TED conference, says we can erase extreme poverty by 2030

On Tues Feb. 26, Irish rock band legend and humanitarian, Bono, attended a Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) conference in Long Beach, California to talk about extreme poverty in Africa.

According to the official website, TED is a nonprofit organization that holds two annual conferences, one on the West Coast of the United States and the other in Edinburgh, Scotland. Topics ranging from science and technology to global issues such as poverty are addressed.

TED Blog covered the U2 front man’s TED talk where he delivered a message of hope that the complete eradication of extreme poverty was a very real possibility. Bono started off by saying, “Forget the rock opera, forget the bombast, my usual tricks. The only thing singing today will be the facts. I have truly embraced my inner nerd.”

He went on to present statistics on poverty, citing a 22 percent decline since 1990 in the number of people living in poverty in Africa. What’s more, Bono showed a projected trajectory analysis proving that with continued global support and effort, the number of people living on a meager $1 a day could plummet to a perfect 0 percent by the year 2030.

Bono is known worldwide for his humanitarian efforts. @U2, a highly recognized and comprehensive fansite, describes how Bono has been honored with numerous awards and nominations for his humanitarian efforts including British knighthood, a French Légion d'honneur (Legion of Honour) and two nominations for a Nobel Peace Prize. Bono is also the co-founder of the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History.

Bono urged the audience to join him in his determined activism to end extreme poverty. “We can’t get this done until we accept that we can get this done. Inertia is how we screw this up. Momentum is how we bend the arc of history down towards zero.”