Bono has ONE wish as he meets Merkel in Berlin

The U2 frontman was in Berlin yesterday to remind Germany of its promise to spend 0.7pc of its GNP on development aid. The rock star and ONE co-founder believes extreme poverty can be eliminated by 2030.

The Killiney-based musician wants a new generation of evidence-based activists, or "factivists", to see that come to fruition.

His trip to Germany, where he spoke to a group of young campaign activists, is part of his efforts to try and urge governments to continue providing funding for programmes that combat poverty and disease.

"What the facts are telling us is that humanity's long, slow journey of equality is actually speeding up. Look at what's been achieved," he said recently. "The number of people living in back-breaking, soul-crushing extreme poverty has declined from 43pc of the world's population in 1990 to 33pc by 2000, and then to 21pc by 2010."

For more information, log on to www.one.org.