NEW YORK —
World Citizen Stay, a 24-hour live performance that featured performances from Stevie Marvel, Jennifer Lopez, BTS and Elton John and dozens of different stars, raised greater than US$1.1 billion in commitments and pledges over the weekend to combat excessive poverty.
Broadcasting from websites on six continents, together with New York’s Central Park and in entrance of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, World Citizen additionally secured pledges from France for 60 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for growing international locations and company pledges for planting 157 million bushes all over the world.
Vaccine pledges, which additionally got here from the governments of Croatia and Eire, adopted quite a few pleas, together with from Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, onstage at Central Park on Saturday afternoon.
“This 12 months, the world is predicted to provide sufficient doses to fulfill the goal of vaccinating 70% of individuals in each single nation,” Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, mentioned to cheers from the Central Park crowd. “However it’s incorrect that a lot of the vaccine provide has solely gone to simply 10 rich nations to date, and never everybody else.”
The U.S. authorities pledged $295 million for humanitarian wants all over the world attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Main philanthropic commitments got here from the Lego Basis, who pledged $150 million to assist UNICEF and different companions working with kids, and Rotary Worldwide, which pledged $98 million in grant funding in 2022.
The occasion featured quite a few music collaborations, together with Billie Eilish and Finneas becoming a member of Coldplay in New York and Charlie Puth becoming a member of Elton John in Paris, however joint efforts took locations offstage as properly. The Invoice and Melinda Gates Basis, The Youngsters’s Funding Fund Basis (CIFF) and a personal basis teamed as much as launch a $50 million fund to assist the United Nations Inhabitants Fund. The CIFF additionally dedicated $50 million to UNICEF to fund baby vitamin tasks.
Namati, The Charles Stewart Mott Basis, and The William and Flora Hewlett Basis collectively dedicated $20 million as seed funding to launch the Authorized Empowerment Fund, which they hope will assist elevate $100 million over 10 years to assist the justice motion.
Hugh Evans, CEO of World Citizen, advised The Related Press that the 24-hour occasion was wanted as a result of COVID-19 has erased many years of good points, leading to 150 million extra folks in excessive poverty this 12 months and 41 million folks in Africa going through hunger. Evans says local weather change is one other world subject that threatens to push extra folks into excessive poverty.
Throughout World Citizen Stay, greater than a dozen firms, together with Proctor & Gamble, Starbucks, Delta Air Strains, American Specific and Citi, joined the Race to Zero Marketing campaign, which seeks to scale back internet carbon emissions all over the world to zero by 2050.
“Future generations will maintain us accountable,” mentioned Alok Sharma, president-designate for COP26, the United Nations’ local weather change convention in November.
“Name on the richest international locations to make good on their promise of cash, to assist growing international locations cope with the impacts of local weather change. And name on world leaders to ship an consequence at Glasgow we are able to all be happy with.”
