Singer Annie Lennox called on world leaders to increase foreign spending on programs benefiting children impacted by HIV/AIDS worldwide at the Fourth Global Forum Affected by HIV and AIDS, held in Dublin, The Irish Times reports.

“Over the years, governments are notoriously bad at keeping their promises,” the pop star-turned-activist said. “We also realize that in the year 2008, many of the goals for 2015 are nowhere near the target.” She applauded the Irish government for doing a “fantastic” job in providing relief to AIDS and poverty-stricken countries—Ireland is now the sixth-largest donor in the world—but urged that more ordinary people do their part to help frontline relief workers meet their needs.

“Anybody who has a laptop has a tool to connect,” Lennox said.  “It’s so powerful, and it’s international. We can really use the facilities that we have. We use them for social networking, and really we can use them for advocacy and change.”

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen also spoke at the forum, announcing that Ireland will spend 900 million euro—or U.S. $1.2 billion—on overseas aid this year.

“Ireland’s aid program has always been focused on the poorest and most vulnerable,” Cowen said. “This focus will continue.”