Harry, Meghan press for vaccine equity during star-studded, 24-hour concert

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Global Citizen Live aims to tackle COVID-19, poverty

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26, (AP): Britain’s Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, met Saturday with a top UN official amid the world body’s biggest gathering of the year. The royals came to UN headquarters to speak with Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. All three appeared later Saturday at the Global Citizen Live concert in New York’s Central Park. “It was a lovely meeting,” Meghan said as the couple left the UN headquarters. The UN said Mohammed commended the couple’s efforts to promote vaccine equity worldwide and hailed priorities they and the UN share, including climate, women’s economic empowerment, youth engagement and mental health. Meghan and Harry pressed for vaccine equity during the star-studded, 24-hour concert. It features performances staged in locations from New York to Paris to Lagos, Nigeria, and Seoul, South Korea.

The United Nations is in the midst of the annual General Assembly gathering of world leaders, though the couple didn’t participate in the speeches in the assembly hall. The former Meghan Markle has been involved with the UN women’s agency, becoming an “advocate for political participation and leadership” several years ago. Harry visited the children’s agency UNICEF at in New York in 2010. Earlier this week, Harry and Meghan visited a New York City school, the World Trade Center’s centerpiece tower and the Sept. 11 museum, among other stops in New York. Hugh Evans started his fight against extreme poverty by mobilizing his friends when he was growing up in Australia. On Saturday, Evans mobilized the world to tackle poverty and COVID-19 with Global Citizen Live, a 24-hour live concert featuring The Weekend, BTS, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Lopez, Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, H.E.R. and dozens of other artists performing at locations across the globe — from Lagos, Nigeria, and Seoul, South Korea, to the Champ de Mars in Paris and New York’s Central Park Unlike most star-studded concerts for charity, Global Citizen Live isn’t asking for cash from fans.

It wants to display their voices — on social media, on petitions and in person — as evidence for world leaders and corporate honchos that people support action on these issues. Evans, Global Citizen’s CEO, says such an awareness campaign is needed now because COVID-19 has ended years of gains and pushed 150 million people around the world into extreme poverty. In the US, Global Citizen wants the Biden administration to increase COVID-19 vaccine access by sharing at least 350 million doses with the poorest countries by the end of September. The organization is seeking for government leaders in the UK to partner with the Race to Zero coalition, a United Nationsled campaign that aims to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050. Global Citizen Live will take place on six continents. Along with Los Angeles and London, performances and segments will happen in New York City, Paris, Sydney, Rio de Janeiro, and Lagos, Nigeria. The event was to air on BBC on Sept. 25 and on ABC the next day. Other networks from around the world will share the event including Australia’s Channel 9, Brazil’s Multishow and Bis, France’s TF1/TMC and Singapore’s Mediacorp.

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