46664: 1 minute for Aids in Africa
Nelson Mandela - former Robben Island prisoner number 46664 - is the driving force behind a worldwide music-led campaign to raise global awareness about HIV/Aids and funds to fight the pandemic in Southern Africa.
Pulling in major international celebrities and corporations, the 46664 campaign kicked off in October 2003 with a ground-breaking music launch on the internet and phone networks around the world, followed by an all-star concert in South Africa in November 2003.
That was only the start of the 46664 campaign. Global online petitioning and donations continue on the 46664 website, and the DVD and CDs of the 46664 Cape Town concert are on sale worldwide.
In August 2004 the campaign arrived in Spain in the form of an all-star concert, 46664 Latino, at Les Foietes Stadium in Benidorm; in March 2005 it returned to the Western Cape town of George for the 46664 South Africa concert; in June 2005 it came to Tromsø, Norway for the 46664 Arctic concert.
In addition, the 46664 Ambassadors - the artists that performed at 46664 Cape Town, as well as the visual artists involved in the "46664: Give 1 minute of art to Aids" campaign - have been active in spreading the message at performances around the world.
A special DVD of "46664: Give 1 minute of art to Aids" was launched at Art Basel in Switzerland in June 2004. Featuring the work of 24 of the world's great contemporary artists, including Bill Viola (USA), William Kentridge (South Africa) and Sam Taylor Wood (UK), the DVD uses visual art to provoke, challenge and remind the world about the fight against HIV/Aids.
Also in 2004, Annie Lennox raised awareness of 46664 on her "Sacred Love Tour" across the US, while the Soweto Gospel Choir helped promote the campaign during their performances at the Edinburgh Festival and subsequent UK tour.
'46664: The Concert' CDs and DVD
The "46664: The Concert" CDs
and DVD aim to inspire the world to learn more about HIV/Aids in Africa, join the Global Petition, as well as pledge donations and support to the campaign through www.46664.com.
The three 46664 albums showcase over 40 songs by more than 30 international artists, and include many unique and exclusive artist collaborations, as well as original compositions written and performed by Anastacia, Bono, Brian May, Dave Stewart, Roger Taylor, Ms Dynamite and the late Joe Strummer, among others.
The albums feature the artists, now 46664 ambassadors: Abdel Wright, Anastacia, Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal, Beyoncé, Bob Geldof, Bongo Maffin, Bono and The Edge, Danny K, Eurythmics, Jimmy Cliff, Johnny Clegg, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Ms Dynamite, Paul Oakenfold, Peter Gabriel, Queen, The Corrs, Watershed, Youssou N'Dour, Yusuf Islam, Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Zucchero.
The double DVD features the entire 4½ hour concert together with a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage, including a documentary of the making of the concert, artist interviews, statements by world leaders, 12 one-minute videos by some of the world's leading contemporary visual artists, and Mandela's dramatic entrance and powerful address.
Speaking at the US launch of the 46664 DVD/CDs in April 2004, Nelson Mandela Foudation chief executive John Samuel described 46664 as a "long-term music-based campaign" that, besides raising awareness and funds to fight Aids, "aims to be the largest call to action for Aids in history, so that governments around the world are aware of the strength and impact when the public act."
Funds raised are used by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to initiate, develop and support practical programmes for the prevention, testing, care and support for those infected and affected by HIV/Aids in Southern Africa.
The fundraising "has only just begun", Samuel said, noting that over R5.7-million in donations from the public had already been received, primarily in donations through the website. "The sale of the CDs and DVD will raise further funds, in addition to further 46664 events."
Call on governments, call on citizens
The 46664 campaign calls on governments to declare a global Aids emergency. "This means developed country governments must give much more money to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, and the global community should strive to get three million people living with Aids on lifesaving anti-retrovirals by 2005", the campaign spells out on the 46664 site.
"46664 was the prison number of Nelson Mandela on Robben Island, Cape Town where he was held in captivity for 18 years", the statement continues. "The issue in South Africa then was apartheid. The issue today, across the continent, is Aids.
"Thirty million people in Africa are currently imprisoned by the HIV virus, a death sentence among the poor due to lack of affordable medicines. Since the start of the pandemic two decades ago, 17 million Africans have died."
Mandela, speaking at the 15th International Aids Conference in Bangkok just days before his 86th birthday on 18 July 2004, said the 46664 campaign would continue to create global awareness of HIV/Aids, to advocate for and support HIV/Aids care, treatment and prevention, and to raise the funds urgently needed to fight the epidemic.
It would also continue to pressurise governments and other agencies to meet their responsibilities, Mandela said, but added: "We cannot leave this matter only to governments and others. We must ask ourselves the question: What can I do as a global citizen?
"In a world that is divided along many lines, we now have a unique opportunity to bring us all together around a common challenge", Mandela said. "In ensuring that the millions of people who are infected and affected by HIV and Aids are not forgotten, we will not only make a difference to their lives, we will also make a difference to our lives as well. We owe this at least to humanity."
Speaking at the 14th International Aids Conference in Paris in 2003, Mandela said that a "tragedy of unprecedented proportions" was unfolding in Africa.
"Aids today in Africa is claiming more lives than the sum total of all wars, famines and floods and the ravages of such deadly diseases as malaria ... We must act now for the sake of the world ... Aids is no longer a disease, it is a human rights issue."
Article last updated: October 2007
SAinfo reporter
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