Bono and His Advocacy Organization Receive the 2007 Liberty Medal

Bono, lead singer of U2 and global debt-relief activist, and the advocacy organization he co-founded to fight poverty and disease in Africa were presented with the National Constitution Center's 2007 Liberty Medal last weekend for groundbreaking work in raising awareness about and spurring a global response to the crisis of AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa, according to a statement released through PR Newswire. DATA is an acronym for Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa.

Bono and DATA accepted the prestigious Medal and its accompanying $100,000 prize in a public ceremony at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. All of the prize money will be donated to DATA. During the ceremony, Joseph M. Torsella, National Constitution Center President and CEO, said that this year's recipient is an inspirational example of the power of citizens to elevate important issues to the world stage.

"We honor Bono and DATA for leading an urgent conversation, challenging the world's richest nations to do better by Africa, and challenging African nations to do better by their own people," Torsella said in the press release. "And we honor the way the great conversation about human liberty connects us all, across places and times."

"This is a real honor for myself and my bosses at DATA," Bono said during the ceremony. "I am very proud of their work. It's also a great excuse to go back to Philadelphia, where we launched the ONE Campaign which now has 2.4 million Americans signed up to fight for justice on behalf of the poorest of the poor. I don't suppose there are enough Liberty Medals to go around, but in truth those people should all be wearing one too."