Let me let you in on something. I'm a huge music fan. My tastes are pretty broad, but great music is always sure to get me going in the morning or relaxing after a long day. But live music will always have a special place for me. Why is that and what does it have to with ending extreme poverty.
At Global Citizen, we believe that to end extreme poverty, we need to build a global movement. That makes music a powerful tool to create moments to bring together Global Citizens. We do this to share the story of progress being made towards ending extreme poverty. We do this to call on our leaders —political, business and NGOs— to take actions towards ending extreme poverty, and we've seen the impact of this over and over again. We also create these moments to recruit new people to the movement: people who may not know much about international development issues, people who may know a whole bunch; people already taking action with other great organizations or people still unsure about what they personally can do to help improve the lives of the extreme poor.
Music can tell stories; it's a universal language. Just last year at the Global Citizen Festival, Stevie Wonder put it best. He talked about how music has the power to bridge our world's great divides and bring forward a better world. Now I 100% agree with Stevie, but I'd add something. Music alone is not enough. It's a fantastic way to start very important conversations, but what's most crucial is what happens next.
That's part of why I'm so excited for this year's Global Citizen Festival. Yeah, I'm excited for Jay Z, a reunited No Doubt and seeing the Roots play another great show. But beyond that I'm inspired by the power of bringing 60,000 people together in Central Park, alongside millions of TV viewers, together for a pivotal moment. Important commitments will be made, thanks to your actions. These commitments will make a huge difference for those without access to some of life's building blocks: being able to go to school, receiving life-saving vaccines and having access to clean water and toilets. It all starts with music bringing together a movement of people, a movement of Global Citizens. I hope you'll join me and the rest of the team for an unforgettable night.
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Antoine Pouliot