NEW YORK– Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans says this is the sense of urgency younger generations contributions to solving international problems must be nurtured in the rest of the world.
“Many of the most productive movements in the world were started by people when they were young,” said Hugh Evans, noting that Martin Luther King Jr. was only 34 when he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. “Can you imagine that? (Nelson) Mandela was 26 when he co-founded the ANC Youth League. Malala (Yousafzai) was 11 when she gave her first protest speech. And my hero (William) Wilberforce was 21 when he entered politics. So we have to put on our skates.”
The Associated Press spoke with Evans shortly before Saturday World Citizen Festival in New York, an event headlined by superstars like Post Malone and Doja Cat, as well as breakthrough artists like Benson Boone and Rauw Alejandro. The festival generated more than $1 billion in new pledges to fight extreme poverty, as well as a new partnership with FIFA in which Global Citizen supporters will receive tickets to matches by taking action on humanitarian issues.
The interview has been edited for clarity and length.
A: We operate against the backdrop of a world of ongoing shocks – the ongoing shock of pandemic recovery and now the shocks of global conflict. This has resulted in the first time in our lifetimes that poverty has increased over the past three years. We are talking about 719 million people worldwide who now live on less than $2.15 a day. The other major shock that the world has not yet fully experienced is the shock of climate change, which has the potential to push an additional 100 million people into extreme poverty over the next decade.
A: Those are our big efforts this time. We want to address the reality that the world is facing multiple crises at the same time.
A: Based on our most recent data, more than 70% of our members are Gen Z. We need to continue to double this. It’s fueled by the reality that I think we have a model of activism, powered by the Global Citizen app, that young people can relate to. And it gives them the power to take activism and advocacy into their own hands. I think our approach has always been to equip young people with the best, most thoughtful policy questions that are backed by incredible research and data and have the ability to have the most profound impact to end extreme poverty.
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