WHEREAS, extreme poverty has reached epic proportions with now 1 billion people living on less than one U.S. dollar a day throughout the world; and

WHEREAS, the world’s extreme poverty is especially acute in Africa where 72 percent (+80 percent in Chad and Ethiopia) of the African population living in cities and towns reside in slums - defined as households that lack access to improved water or sanitation, security of tenure, durability of housing and/or sufficient living space; and

WHEREAS, Africa is the poorest region in the world – seeing virtually no growth in individual incomes for the past 30 years; and

WHEREAS, Africa is the largest region in the world with an average economic growth rate of less than 4 percent (5 percent growth is required just to keep the number of poor people from increasing); and

WHEREAS, the poverty of Africa extends beyond just lack of material resources but also is characterized by exclusion from decision-making and basic social services; and

WHEREAS, Africa has experienced more violent conflict in the last four decades than any other continent on Earth; and

WHEREAS, Africa’s economy will not grow due, in large part, to two trade dynamics: 1) Africa does not produce enough goods, of the right quality or price, to enable access to world markets; 2) Africa faces indefensible trade barriers which, directly or indirectly, tax its goods as they enter the markets of developed countries; and

WHEREAS, solvency of such economic and social poverty for an entire continent can only be approached from a global perspective on how the rest of the world interfaces with and brings aid to Africa; and

WHEREAS, in support of such a global approach, many international aid organizations have organized attention around the need to address extreme poverty in Africa such as Live Aid 1985 which helped raise awareness and investment for the Continent’s terrible economic and social conditions; and

WHEREAS, a Live Aid event has been organized again for 2005 to take place on the eve of the G8 summit in Britain on July 6th – 9th; and

WHEREAS, Live Aid 2005, termed “Live 8” due to it’s attention to the G8 Summit, is comprised of five public concerts in five G8 members nations around the world; and

WHEREAS, in further preparation of the Live 8 event, the City of Philadelphia volunteers to host, if mayors and members of Congress so choose to call, a Leadership Accord on Friday, July 1st and Saturday, July 2nd for mayors and members of Congress to come to Philadelphia and discuss policy recommendations for the Bush Administration on how to help the world address the extreme poverty of Africa; and

WHEREAS, the City of Philadelphia will also work closely with the Glocal Forum (a city-centric coalition building NGO that works for a new balance between global and local forces by emphasizing the central role of cities in the world) to offer expertise and perspective in discussing policy options during such a possible meeting. The strategic asset of the Glocal Forum is its ability to engage political leaders in identifying critical development issues at the city level that can be supported by global political endorsement; and

WHEREAS, Congressman Chaka Fattah will introduce a similar resolution in the United States Congress calling upon members of Congress and mayors to hold a leadership accord on the eve of Live 8 and the G8 Summit. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the U.S. Conference of Mayors calls upon mayors and members of Congress to hold a leadership accord in the City of Philadelphia on July 1st and 2nd 2005 as part of the effort to bring relief to one of the world’s most pressing humanitarian tragedies.