Bono to Give Concert for Uprooted Iraqis

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday April 08, 2003 20:30 by Bono

Where's Bono Now? now we know

Pavarotti, Bono to Give Concert for Uprooted Iraqis

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=musicNews&storyID=2529533

Tue April 8, 2003 12:23 PM ET

GENEVA (Reuters) - Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti and Irish rocker Bono will team up on stage next month to raise funds to help Iraqis uprooted by the war, the United Nations refugee agency announced on Tuesday.
The concert is set for May 27 in Modena, northern Italy, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a statement.

Pavarotti and Bono performed together in 1995 to raise funds for child victims of the war in Bosnia.

Pavarotti, a peace messenger for U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, has dedicated his last three annual Modena charity concerts to help UNHCR aid some 20 million refugees worldwide.

"Proceeds from this year's event will go to UNHCR's work on behalf of people affected by the Iraq conflict," it said.

"Even though very few Iraqis left their country during the first three weeks of the conflict, aid officials warn that it is too early to dismiss the danger of a refugee crisis," it added.

Only a trickle of Iraqis have crossed into neighboring countries, mainly Jordan and Syria, according to UNHCR, which has shelter and other emergency supplies in place ready to receive up to 350,000 people.

Bono, lead singer for rock band U2, toured Africa last May with then U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, to highlight the need for effective development and awareness of the ravages of AIDS on the continent.