Danai Gurira to Host Global Citizen Festival: Accra on September 24

(New York / Accra, September 8, 2022) International advocacy organization Global Citizen today announced more artists set to participate in the 10th anniversary Global Citizen Festival, taking place on Saturday, September 24, 2022 in New York City’s Central Park, presented by Citi and Cisco, and Black Star Square in Accra, Ghana, presented by Harith General Partners. 

Angélique Kidjo and Billy Porter will join the lineup of performers at Global Citizen Festival: NYC, with Amber Ruffin, Antoni Porowski, Bill Nye, Chris Redd, Connie Britton, Jay Shetty, Katie Couric, Katie Holmes, Misty Copeland, Rachel Brosnahan, Scott Evans, Tamron Hall, and Van Jones also joining as presenters. 

Uncle Waffles will join the lineup of performers in Accra’s Black Star Square, with Berla Mundi, Joselyn Dumas, Michaela Coel, Nomzamo Mbatha, and Sabrina Dhowre Elba joining as presenters. Global Citizen Festival: Accra will be hosted by award-winning actor, playwright and activist Danai Gurira.  

They join previously announced performers, including Metallica, Charlie Puth, Jonas Brothers, MÅNESKIN, Mariah Carey, Mickey Guyton, and Rosalía in New York City Usher, SZA, Stormzy, Gyakie, Sarkodie, Stonebwoy, and TEMS in Accra. 

Additionally, activists including recipients of the 2022 Global Citizen Prize will take the stage alongside other international changemakers to inspire urgent action from the festival audience. Anuscheh Amir-Khalili, Barbie Izquierdo, Brianna Fruean, Mitzy Cortés, Payzee Mahmod, and the 2022 Cisco Youth Leadership Award winner Nidhi Pant will address Central Park’s Great Lawn and Khanyisile Motsa and ‘Yemi Adamolekun will participate in Accra’s Black Star Square, in line with Global Citizen’s commitment to elevate the voices and challenges faced by those on the front lines of activism around the world. 

Global Citizen is calling on world leaders gathered at the United Nations General Assembly, as well as major corporations and philanthropic foundations, to take to the Global Citizen Festival stages and announce new commitments to End Extreme Poverty NOW, including: investing $600 million into the future of women and girls; closing the annual $10 billion climate financing shortfall; delivering $500 million to help African farmers respond to the global food crisis; and reallocating IMF Special Drawing Rights to provide urgent economic support, while explicitly acknowledging that sustainable change is only possible with the people and activists who advocate for change on the ground, who should never have to risk their lives because of doing so.

The 2022 Global Citizen Festival will broadcast and stream worldwide on YouTube, Twitter, Amazon Music, the Amazon Music channel on Twitch, Apple Music, and the Apple TV app. Global Citizen Festival will also air on ABC, ABC News Live, iHeartRadio, Hulu, FX and Veeps in the United States, Albavision in Latin America, Canal+ in Africa, Bis in Brazil, Nine Network (9Now) in Australia, TimesLive in Africa and more. ABC News Live’s broadcast will air on Saturday, September 24, and a primetime special, Global Citizen Festival: Take Action NOW, will air on ABC on Sunday, September 25 at 7:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm CT. Additional tune in details to follow in the coming weeks.

Tickets to the festivals can be earned by downloading the Global Citizen app or visiting www.globalcitizen.org to take action on the campaign’s issues. For each action taken, users earn points that can be redeemed for tickets to the festivals. 

“The impact the Global Citizen movement has had on the most pressing issues facing humanity over the last 10 years would not be possible without the ongoing support of the world’s biggest artists and entertainers,” said Katie Hill, SVP, Head of Music, Entertainment & Artist Relations, Global Citizen. “Seeing artists including Usher, Metallica, Danai Gurira, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Billy Porter and Rachel Brosnahan returning to the Global Citizen stage and continuing to use their platforms and energy to drive impact for the mission to end extreme poverty is truly inspiring. We are grateful to all of the artists, hosts and presenters joining us on September 24th in Accra and New York City and look forward to inspiring action and long lasting impact across the globe.”

“The future of the continent of Africa, and indeed the planet, depends on the empowerment of women and girls,” said activist and artist Angélique Kidjo. “I am proud to collaborate with Global Citizen to send a clear message to governments and leaders: it's time to listen to the next generation. The young women and girls of Africa are not silent – they deserve to be heard. It's time for the world to take notice." 

“I want to keep changing the world in as many ways as I can, and this year we’re taking it to the next level,” said activist and actor, Billy Porter. “It’s been an extraordinary privilege to work with Global Citizen over the past few years, and I’m so excited to be joining the incredible lineup performing in Central Park for the festival’s 10th anniversary.”

The 2022 Global Citizen Festival and the End Extreme Poverty NOW campaign are supported by a coalition of the world’s leading brands and companies including: Global Partners, Accenture, Cisco, Citi, Delta Air Lines, Harith General Partners, P&G, Verizon, and YouTube. World Wide Technology, Campaign Partner for Global Citizen Festival: NYC, Live Nation, and Tshepo Mahloele, Founder & Executive, of Harith General Partners, is Patron of Global Citizen’s work in Africa. 

Co-chairs of Global Citizen and of this campaign include: Julie Sweet, Chair and CEO of Accenture; Chuck Robbins, Chair and CEO of Cisco; Jane Fraser, CEO of Citi; Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines; Lorraine Twohill, CMO of Google; Marc Pritchard, CBO of P&G; and Hans Vestberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon. Global Citizen’s co-chairs are private sector leaders making commitments in support of the UN’s Global Goals. They support Global Citizen’s campaigns while helping to drive deeper engagement within the private sector. 

The 2022 Global Citizen Festival campaign is supported by governments and world leaders including: Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission; Nana Akufo-Addo, President of Ghana; Hakainde Hichilema, President of Zambia; Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda; Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados; Andrej Plenković, Prime Minister of Croatia; Frank Bainimara, Prime Minister of Fiji;  Ingrida Šimonytė, Prime Minister of Lithuania; Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain; Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senate Majority Leader; Meryame Kitir, Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy, Belgium; Anne Tvinnereim, Minister for International Development, Norway; Stanley Kakubo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Zambia; Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico; Kingdom of the Netherlands; Government of Liberia; Government of Luxembourg; Government of Malta; Government of Peru; Government of Rwanda; Government of Sierra Leone; Government of Zimbabwe; Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations; Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA; Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization; Ban Ki-moon, Former UN Secretary General; Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of the UN Foundation; Peter Sands, Executive Director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait; Erna Solberg, Former Prime Minister of Norway; Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the UN; Ertharin Cousin, Founder, Managing Director and CEO, Food Systems for the Future; Alok Sharma, COP26 President.

Policy partners supporting the campaign include: Action Against Hunger, ALLIED, BRAC, Ban Ki Moon Center for Global Citizens, Center for Environmental Peacebuilding, CGIAR, CIVICUS, charity: water, Conservation International, EarthRights, Education Cannot Wait, Focus 2030, Ford Foundation, Foreign Policy Community of Indonesia, Freedom House, Front Line Defenders, Global Witness, UN office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth, Fund for Global Human Rights, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, Gerando Falcões, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, Global Health Advocates France, Legal Empowerment Fund, International Disability Alliance, IFAD, International Organization for Migration, International Rescue Committee, International Service for Human Rights, LISC, Namati, NPX, One Acre Fund, OutRight Action International, Pandemic Action Network, People's Vaccine Alliance, Peace Boat, Re:wild, Rotary International, Science Based Target initiative, Social Gastronomy Movement, UN Foundation, UNFPA, UN Joint SDG Fund, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, World Benchmarking Alliance, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, World Health Organization, and WHO Foundation.

Global Citizen Festival has gratefully received in-kind support from leading media companies, including: AIM GROUP, Alliance Media, Bandsintown, BellaNaija, Billboard, Boo! Media, Branded Cities, Captivate, Citi FM, Clear Channel Outdoor, DDP Outdoor, EIB Network, Global OOH, GSTV, Guide Radio, The Hollywood Reporter, iHeartRadio, Intersection, Interstate Outdoor, JC Decaux, MX, New Tradition, OAAA, Orange Barrel Media, Penske Media, Rolling Stone, Seen Media, Six Flags Theme Parks, Spotify, Variety, VIBE, Volta, The Wall Street Journal and YFM.

For more information about the 2022 Global Citizen Festival, visit www.globalcitizen.org, and follow @glblctzn on Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and YouTube. 

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