Shakira, British PM share praise for helping children

Angelina Jolie. George Clooney. Shakira.

Not a red-carpet lineup, but a roll call of celebrities the sometimes dour British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has recruited to add glamour to his appeals to help the developing world.

Brown joined a telephone conference Monday with Shakira, praising the Colombian pop star for her role in work to see that every child in the world has a basic education.

The Grammy-winning singer is supporting a week of events in support of the Global Campaign for Education.

She said the advocacy group is pressing world leaders to provide funding for primary education for 72 million young children who now miss out on schooling as a result of poverty.

The group also aims to inspire support for 226 million older children who miss out on classes because of truancy or a lack of access to schools.

Brown is the world's "No. 1 champion of education," said the group's chairman, Gene Sperling, an ex-White House economic adviser to former President Clinton.

Shakira also praised Brown, who as British treasury chief in 2006 pledged $15 billion over 10 years for education in the developing world — the largest offer of aid from a Group of Eight industrialized nation.

"He is a man with wonderful intentions," the singer said.

Brown in the past has held talks with Clooney on violence in Darfur, chatted with Jolie on education, and worked closely with Bono and Bob Geldof on aid for Africa.

Source: chron.com