[Bob Geldof] Human rights award for Geldof

From Ireland On Line

Bob Geldof is to receive a European prize for his promotion of human rights.

The rock star and passionate campaigner against Third World poverty is due to be awarded the North-South Prize at a ceremony in the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon on Monday.

The prize has been awarded every year since 1995 to two candidates “who have stood out for their exceptional commitment to the protection of human rights, and the defence of pluralistic democracy and North-South partnership and solidarity”, according to the North-South Centre.

Being honoured alongside “Mr Bob Geldof (Ireland), Musician and Producer” will be Ethiopian women’s rights activist Bogaletch Gebre, founder of the Kembatta Women’s Self-Help Centre.

The European Centre for Global Interdependence and Solidarity, better known as the North-South Centre, was set up in 1989 by the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, guardian of the European Convention on Human Rights, to which 46 countries, including all 25 EU member states, are signatories.

The centre’s job is to “foster links between the different hemispheres” by promoting the Council’s core values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law beyond the European continent.

Geldof and Ms Gebre are due to receive their awards from the President of the Portuguese Assembly, Jaime Gama, at the Assembly of the Republic, Palacio Sao Bento, Lisbon.

A citation on the centre’s website states: “In 1984, Bob Geldof, singer and songwriter, launched the Band Aid project to record a song in favour of the victims of famine in Africa.

“The last 20 years he has been working on the African questions. In 2005, the song of Band Aid was re-recorded and a series of concerts named Live Aid was organised.

“A member of the Commission for Africa, he is involved in the Make Poverty History campaign, which is a coalition calling for trade justice, debt cancellation and more, better aid in 2005.”