Hugh Evans hopes to end extreme global poverty through concerts
AUSSIE humanitarian Hugh Evans is doing his bit to combat global poverty and he has some of the world’s biggest stars on his side. One of his major components of awareness is driven by the Global Citizen concerts where he’s scored big artists to perform.
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AUSSIE humanitarian Hugh Evans is doing his bit to combat global poverty and he has some of the world’s biggest stars on his side, including Hugh Jackman, Beyonce and Janet Jackson.
“At its heart, this is about the fact extreme poverty is a $260 billion-a-year challenge and it won’t be solved just through charities,” Evans told Confidential.
“Our mission is about building the largest possible movement of global citizens whose collective actions achieve the end of extreme poverty by 2030.”
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Evans founded The Global Poverty Project in 2009 with a major component of awareness driven by the Global Citizen concerts.
Janet Jackson will headline the Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park on the 29th of this month, alongside The Weeknd, Shawn Mendes, Cardi B, John Legend and Janelle Monae. Jackman and actor wife Deborra-lee Furness will host the night.
Beyonce and Jay-Z will headline a similar event in Johannesburg in December.
Previous headliners have included Pearl Jam, Emeli Sande, Stevie Wonder, Green Day, The Chainsmokers, Coldplay, Pharrell Williams, Rihanna (with Evans below) and Ed Sheeran. All artists perform for free.
“This is not about any one person, it is greater than all of us,” Evans said.
“I’ve also realised that if you truly care about extreme poverty, then you have to focus on the poor. It is not really about a rock concert. A rock concert is really a vehicle to mobilise people en masse to achieve a much greater goal, and so the focus always has to be on that greater goal.”
Evans, 35, was at the weekend recognised for his work by Rihanna at her Diamond Ball in New York.
Last year, Evans visited Malawi with former PM Julia Gillard and Rihanna, calling for increased funding for education.
“Rihanna is an incredible advocate. She is willing to use her platform, whether it is via Twitter or meeting with political leaders or letter writing, to actually encourage world leaders to step up their financial contributions towards global education. She is a powerful advocate but also a courageous one and that is what makes her so special,” he said.