46664 ARCTIC MARKS NEXT PHASE IN MR MANDELA'S GLOBAL HIV/AIDS CAMPAIGN

Mandela's 46664 campaign, initiated in 2003 and organized by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, was founded in the support brought to him by some of the world's biggest music artists, initially Bono, Dave Stewart, Annie Lennox and Queen's Brian May and Roger Taylor.

Following the first of its events, 46664 South Africa, held in Cape Town in November 2003, which saw other artists such as Anastacia, Beyonce, Zucchero, The Corrs, Johnny Clegg and a host of South Africa's top artists come forward to join the cause as 46664 'ambassadors', the campaign has escalated in momentum, recently adding such high profile supporters as Will Smith, Brad Pitt and Bill Clinton. Many of the Mandela appointed ambassadors are expected to join him at 46664 ARCTIC.

The campaign has also proved to be an effective one: the launch concert reached an international broadcast audience of over 2 billion, and a second concert held last month in Fancourt, South Africa, raised more than 10 million Rand, going to the Nelson Mandela Foundation to provide practical help to the work being done in recognition of Mandela's original prison number, 46664.

46664 ARCTIC will provide a platform for Mr. Mandela to address the gathered crowd with a message specifically aimed at the leaders of the G8 summit which will be held under the leadership of Britain's Prime Minister three weeks later in Scotland telling them that far more needs to be done to fight HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. By staging the concert in the Arctic, 46664 also aims to deliver a message to the youth of the northern hemisphere countries where HIV/AIDS now endangers the lives of millions, particularly in the former Soviet Republic on Norway's border.

46664 ARCTIC is being made possible by a grant of 12 million NK (c.1.2m sterling) from the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) of which Mr. Mandela said: "46664 Arctic recognizes the fight to stop AIDS is global. The support of the Parliament and people of Norway is leading the way in helping to try and secure a future for everyone, everywhere, free from HIV/AIDS".

Mr. John Samuel, Chief Executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation says: "This event helps us spread Mr. Mandela's message to each and everyone of us to take personal responsibility, to do more to challenge HIV/AIDS. Music has a power to disseminate this message to a truly global audience in a way that can reach and touch people like no other medium. 46664 ARCTIC though
will go further; as Mr. Mandela will at the same time have the opportunity to address world leaders and to lobby the international community to take action now to prevent further spread of HIV/AIDS across the world."

The event will also see messages of support delivered from 46664 ambassadors including Bill Clinton, Bono, and Will Smith calling on the world to do more to address infant mortality and the impact of HIV/AIDS on children. In Africa alone, 1,400 babies are born HIV positive every day.'

Says 46664 founding ambassador Brian May: "Mr. Mandela has made me an ambassador for 46664 and I have committed my on-going support. In this capacity I will be in Tromsø for Mr. Mandela. All of us ambassadors know that, though we may be rock stars, we are small fry in the affairs of the world. But we musicians can make a big noise, and we believe that by long-term commitment we can bring the BIG people into line. It's vital that the governments of the world commit to this fight against the biggest single threat to mankind the planet has ever seen.

"In Fancourt we had a choir of orphan children to sing ‘We Are The Champions'. I asked John Samuel the chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation how many such children there were in South Africa. He said the number of orphans due to AIDS alone in Africa was 18 million. This figure is predicted to rise to 50 million by 2010. The World has responded well to help the victims of the recent Tsunami disaster. In terms of human loss, there is a tsunami in South Africa alone every 3 months. We must teach the world that it must take care of ALL of its children."

46664 ARCTIC will be televised by NRK and will be produced by Jim Beach, together with much of the same team behind the previous 46664 South African concerts, including Tim Massey as event co-ordinator and Robbie Williams as concert producer.