Live 8's lofty aim is to change world, not feed it

Last time they wanted to feed the world, this time they want to change it.

The 10 Live 8 concerts around the globe this Saturday take their inspiration from the Live Aid gigs 20 years ago which raised over $100 million for famine relief in Africa - an achievement widely hailed at the time.

The aims of organiser Bob Geldof and his fellow campaigners are more ambitious now. The Irish rock singer's expletive-peppered appeals for money have been replaced by a call to "tilt the world on its axis" in favour of the poor.

The campaign's initial focus is the summit of leaders from the powerful G8 countries in Scotland next week.

As part of the broader Make Poverty History coalition of aid agencies, churches and other groups, Live 8 has three key demands for the G8 leaders - double aid to Africa, cut African countries' debts and make trade fairer.

It will take years before anyone knows for sure whether Live 8 succeeded.

"The bottom line is it's going to take a while," said Midge Ure, Bob Geldof's partner in efforts to mobilise musicians for Africa since they made the Band Aid charity single in 1984.

"I mean, it's taken 20 years for me to see the results of what happened with Band Aid," Mr Ure said.

Bob Geldof's admirers laud him for trying to address the deeper political problems behind poverty, famine and disease. Others have derided the initiative, saying concerts by mega-rich rock stars are not the way to tackle complex issues.

Live 8's supporters believe they already have produced results.

They say the media coverage generated by the concerts helped shift positions in Germany and the United States so the G8's finance ministers could agree earlier this month to write off much of the debt owed by 18 poor nations, mainly from Africa.

"In some ways, the threat of Live 8 was sufficient to get them talking about things they weren't talking about previously," said Paul Vallely, the co-author of Bob Geldof's autobiography who is working with him on the new concerts.

The next indicator of progress should come in the final statement from the gathering of leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. The campaigners want rich countries to give an extra $50 billion each year in aid, with about half going to Africa. They want it to start flowing next year or the year after.

"I think in some ways that's the key thing - the actual money on the table," said Richard Curtis, the writer of hit films such as Four Weddings and A Funeral who is one of the leading members of the anti-poverty campaign.

"None of the pop stars would tell you that they understand these issues in depth, but the politicians do and what politicians have to understand is that actually the pop stars do represent normal people."

The campaigners are looking for signs from the summit that rich states will dismantle trade barriers which stop African farmers getting their products to Western markets.

But they will have to wait until December talks of the World Trade Organisation in Hong Kong to see if a deal is struck.

Even if the leaders sing next week from the same song sheet as the Live 8 performers, politicians have made similar commitments before but quietly let them slip years later.

To hold them to account, Live 8 stars such as Bob Geldof and U2 singer Bono plan to remind voters whether leaders have kept their promises when they are up for re-election, Mr Vallely said.