'We’re here to try and infect you with this virtuous database virus, the one we call factivism. It’s not going to kill you; it could save countless lives.'

Bono has been speaking at TED2013, accepting the challenge to put 'the last 25 years of anti-poverty campaigning into 10 minutes'.  His passion, he explained, was countering what Nelson Mandela called 'that most awful offense to humanity, extreme poverty'. How would he do it? With the facts. 'Exit the rock star. Enter the evidence-based activist - the 'factivist'.

Since 2000, eight million AIDS patients have been receiving retroviral drugs; malaria deaths have been cut by 75%; child mortality rate of kids under 5 is down by 2.65 million deaths a year. The number of people living in soul-crushing poverty declined from 43% in 1990 to 33% in 2000 to 21% by 2010. But if that's you, that's still too high.

 'If you live on less than $1.25 a day, this is not just data. This is everything. If you’re a parent who wants the best for your kids, and I am, this rapid transition is a route out of despair and into hope.'

How can the positive trajectory continue ? Read more on the TED blog - we'll let you know when the video goes live.

Extreme poverty globally has been cut in half since 1990 - and could get to zero before 2030. Not a lot of people know that. That’s why Bono and ONE are getting the word out.  The more people know the facts and act, the closer comes the zero zone. 'Smart aid along with trade, investment and transparency is a path out of extreme poverty.'