Global Citizen 2023: Lauryn Hill Headlines The War On Poverty

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Source: Zion Reid / REACH Media

On July 21,1983, pioneering pop diva Diana Ross made history with her unforgettable concert on The Great Lawn in New York City’s renowned Central Park, which was infamously cut short due to a severe lightening storm. However, the queen of The Supremes roughed it out as long as she could with over 800,000 diehard fans who weren’t about to let a little (read: a lot of!) rain ruin the summer concert experience of a lifetime.

Jump to 40 years later, The Great Lawn ended up being the scene for yet another grand concert series to be heavily affected by a NYC downpour. It also happened to be headlined by a soul-singing goddess of similar status, in addition to an A-list lineup that included legendary rockers, new age pop sensations, international hitmakers and a few hip-hop icons who all joined together in an effort to raise money and spread awareness towards ending world poverty.

The concert in question was none other than the 2023 Global Citizens Festival, which went down this past Saturday (September 23) and included performances by aforementioned musical acts Jung Kook, Anitta, Conan Gray, D-Nice curating a special “Hip-Hop 50” celebration, Sofia Carson, Stray Kids, the renowned Red Hot Chili Peppers and the incomparable Ms. Lauryn Hill who brought along a few familiar faces.

While the rain never truly let up, the show went on without interruption and, surprisingly, without much complaints from any of the tens of thousands of fans who willingly soaked for hours just to see their faves for roughly 20 minutes. Global Citizen Fest stands for much more than its musical performances though, and this year proved to be no different as France and Norway committed a whopping $240 million towards combatting the global food crisis.

Peep how the full range of monumental commitments by global leaders breaks down below, via GlobalCitizen,org:

$240 million for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), with France and Norway calling on other countries to also increase their investments.
1 million hectares of protected land in the Brazilian Amazon.
Antigua and Barbuda and Timor-Leste endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Nine members of the United States Congress, and UK Labour leader Keir Starmer to follow through on UK and US climate commitments.
Ireland guarantees it will meet its climate financing promise by 2025.
$290 million total commitments rallied for Global Citizen Festival, leading to a total of $470 million as a result of the campaign.

The work is far from over as Global Citizen is still calling for $2 billion to IFAD to end hunger with a focus on Australia, governments to increase their contribution by 50%, Canada to reaffirm its commitment to reproductive health and rights in partnership with the UNFPA Supplies program, climate commitments from the US and UK and support from more countries for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty by the UN Climate Change Conference COP28 in November 2023.

Based on the amazing work we witnessed over the weekend being done in the pouring rain, there’s no doubt that many, if not all, of these actions will be met.

…and yes, you can make an impact too by simply clicking here for more info.