This piece was contributed by Ramesh Ferris, a polio survivor, advocate, and author of the book Better Than a Cure, One Man's Journey to Free the World of Polio.

Last month, I spent an incredible week speaking and advocating at events in Canada and the United States ending with the Global Citizen Festival held in Central Park, New York, on Sept. 24. With the help of Global Citizens who took over 100,000 actions on polio including targeted tweets, emails, and phone calls to world leaders we were able to achieve many significant wins, including political and financial commitments that will help end the disease once and for all.

It was hard to decide but here are some of my personal highlights from this year’s Global Citizen Festival!

Global Citizen Concert to End AIDS, TB and Malaria

A week before the festival, I was thrilled to take the stage at the Global Citizen Concert to fight AIDS, TB, and malaria in Montreal, Canada. Joining Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, Sophie Trudeau, Bill Gates, and Usher, among others, I shared my story and made the case to the approximately 12,000 people in attendance that the success of the polio eradication program serves a blueprint for combatting other terrible diseases. The savings we will amass once polio is gone, $50 billion in 20 years, can be used to strengthen healthcare systems and be redirected to addressing other health emergencies. Afterwards, I met with Bill Gates who reaffirmed his support and commitment to end polio through the Gates Foundation.

Polio Past & Present: Global Progress Since the 1916 New York City Polio Outbreak

On Sept. 20, Global Citizen and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners hosted an event at the New York Public Library coinciding with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). This event, attended by government representatives from polio endemic and donor countries, commemorated the progress made since the fatal New York City polio outbreak of 1916 and also called on leaders to recommit to eradicating polio completely in its last remaining strongholds: Pakistan, Nigeria, and Afghanistan. Standing on stage with fellow polio survivor Minda Dentler, I had the honor of handing over the #endpolionow petition with over 80,000 signatures to the Director-General of the World Health Organization Dr. Margaret Chan.

As a surprise bonus, I also received this awesome thank you note from a very special VIP in attendance — United States Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright!

The World on Stage
On Sept. 22, I attended The World on Stage Global Citizen event at New York University's Skirball Center, which brought together around 800 activists, advocates, world leaders and artists. My favorite part though was watching Prime Minister Joseph Muscat of Malta make a symbolic commitment to polio via video of $30,000 — set to affect 60,000 lives — through to 2019. Even more, as Chair of the Commonwealth, he issued a call to other Commonwealth countries to commit to funding polio as they promised at last November’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta.

The Global Citizen Festival - Saturday, September 24, Central Park

Joined by over 60,000 Global Citizens, I took part in the 5th annual Global Citizen Festival on the Great Lawn of Central Park on Sept. 24. To win tickets to the event, Global Citizens tweeted, emailed, and called their leaders to end polio. The Festival run of show included four big moments on polio including a financial commitment from the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, a video message by Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, a declaration of support from Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland, and a moment on female heroism featuring Pakistani polio vaccinator, Sufi Nazish Karim.


In addition to the thousands of actions in the lead up to the festival, Global Citizens also drove over 3,000 actions on polio on the day of the Festival targeting Canada and the UK on polio. I was also busy backstage meeting with many celebrities and influencers, including Chris Martin, who were very supportive of my mission to end polio.

In total, Global Citizens took 134,000 actions on polio this year alone. It is clear that our collective message was heard. In a show of solidarity, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg pledged €2 million for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) between 2016 and 2019, set to affect the lives of more than 3 million people!

The cherry on top for me, as a Canadian, was to watch my Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, share an uplifting video message of support: “we will be a strong partner through to the end.” I am excited to see him back this up soon with funding for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Global Citizens, you are responsible for the historic progress that we’ve made in the battle to end polio. So I ask you to turn to the challenge facing us and respond with the same passion, determination and refusal to quit. Polio is 99.9% eliminated and we are closer than ever to doing the same in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, the final three countries struggling to become polio-free. The finish line is in sight, polio is about to become the second ever human disease to be eradicated and we need one last push from you. No one person or one organization can eradicate polio, it’s only by working in partnership together as Global Citizens that we can achieve this historical accomplishment and end polio once and for all. 

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Why Global Citizen Festival 2016 Was the Place to Impact Polio