Stevie Wonder to lead concert in New York to protect global aid
NEW YORK: Stevie Wonder and Green Day will headline a concert in New York to mobilise support for efforts to eradicate global poverty as President Donald Trump proposes sweeping foreign aid cuts.
“Happy” pop star Pharrell Williams, charttopping electronic duo The Chainsmokers and alternative rockers The Killers will also play the Global Citizen Festival in Central Park on Sept 23, organisers announced on Tuesday.
Wonder said the festival came at a “crucial time,” adding in a statement: “When we commit ourselves to life issues, we are showing love of the Most High.”
The festival has drawn A-list stars annually since 2012 as the largely young audience presses world leaders for commitments to development as they gather in New York for the UN General Assembly.
The 2017 edition comes in a sharply different political climate even as needs mount amid crises ranging from intractable wars in Syria and Yemen to hunger on the Horn of Africa.
Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans said the timing was critical – after Trump’s shock win and Britain’s vote to exit the European Union but also amid a rejection of right-wing populism in elections in France and The Netherlands.
“Now is a hugely important point for there to be a line drawn in the sand that says foreign aid matters, investing in education matters, investing in food and hunger matters,” Evans told AFP.
The festival, which has expanded over the past year to India and Germany, is free of charge with fans earning tickets by taking actions such as writing letters to their governments.
Hoping to expand its reach, the festival for the first time will be proceeded by a Global Citizen Week of discussions, films, art and music around New York.
Evans said the festival wanted to reach out to people, including political centrists, who believed in the possibility of making change in the world. “In the same way that extreme poverty has been halved in the past 30 years while I’ve been alive, actually in the next 30 years we can end it all together,” he said.
The United Nations has set the Millennium Development Goals whose targets include eradicating malnutrition, ensuring universal access to drinking water and providing equal educational opportunities to girls by 2030.
But Evans said it would be “virtually impossible” to achieve the goals if the United States implements Trump’s plans. He wants to slash foreign aid by one-third while ramping up military spending as part of his “America First” platform. — AFP