NEW YORK 鈥� Backed by an international concert hosted by Selena Gomez and headlined by Jennifer Lopez, Global Citizen is unveiling an ambitious campaign to help medical workers in the world鈥檚 poorest countries quickly receive COVID-19 vaccines.
The anti-poverty organization is announcing the musical event 鈥� 鈥淰AX Live: The Concert to Reunite the World鈥� 鈥� with the goal of enlisting corporations and philanthropists to raise $22 billion for global vaccinations. The concert, which airs May 8 on ABC, CBS and FOX as well as on iHeartMedia radio stations and YouTube, will also showcase the Foo Fighters, Eddie Vedder, J Balvin and H.E.R.
The acts will be recorded at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Ahead of the event, Hugh Evans, CEO of Global Citizen, highlighted the magnitude of the problem his organization aims to address.
"There are 27 million healthcare workers globally who don鈥檛 have access to the vaccine,鈥� Evans told The Associated Press. 鈥淚鈥檓 38 years old, and it鈥檚 not ethical for me to have access to the vaccine before these heroic first responders and community health workers. So we need governments to start urgently donating those doses.鈥�
The Global Citizen program is among of a growing web of nonprofits and activists that are seeking to achieve wider, more equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. As of this month, Evans said, 60 nations had still not yet received any COVID-19 vaccines.
鈥淟ow-income countries not only need this welcome fundraising effort; they need access to COVID-19 vaccine doses,鈥� Tom Hart, the North American executive director of another
A week later, Gayle Smith, The ONE Campaign鈥檚 president and CEO, was selected by the Biden Administration for the new State Department position of
Global Citizen, which normally focuses on fighting severe poverty, became involved with COVID-19 vaccines out of what it calls necessity.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 get back to ending extreme poverty while 150 million people have been pushed back into extreme poverty this year due to the pandemic,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淓verything else is academic until we can get it under control.鈥�
The advocacy organization last year developed what it calls 鈥� A Recovery Plan for the World,鈥� which it hopes will simultaneously address COVID-19, the climate crisis, hunger and education issues, as well as racial equity. Under that plan, Global Citizen secured $1.5 billion in commitments from the Group of Seven industrialized democracies. Eventually, though, it recognized that greater awareness and funding were needed.
鈥淲e decided we needed to bring the world together again with a global event that will unite world leaders, artists, philanthropists and CEOs,鈥� Evans said.
As he described it, 鈥淰AX Live鈥� will be the first globally televised effort to lobby world leaders to help achieve more equitable vaccine distribution. The event is also intended to raise commitments for the billions of dollars that are needed to send 2 billion vaccine doses, in addition to COVID-19 tests, to the world鈥檚 poorest countries by year's end. However, even if Global Citizen raises enough money, it will still need wealthier nations who continue to stockpile vaccines to let the drugs' manufacturers prioritize poorer nations as customers.
鈥淭his is not 鈥楳ission Accomplished鈥�,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淏ut there is light at the end of the tunnel if we can ensure that there is equitable distribution of the vaccine.鈥�
Global Citizen wants the health care workers in every country in the world to receive a vaccine by the end of 2021, a year ahead of current plans.
鈥淏y June, the U.S. government will have 45 million doses in excess of their entire population being vaccinated just sitting there in cold storage and warehouses,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淭hat seems absolutely insane for something that鈥檚 for the common good to be sitting in cold storage.鈥�
On Tuesday, Global Citizen also launched its 鈥淰ax Because鈥� initiative to encourage people to get vaccinated when they can. The program will include advertising developed by The Ad Council, YouTube and others to spark conversations among those who are hesitant about being vaccinated.
鈥淚f people will see their friends and relatives taking it, they鈥檙e far more likely to take it,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淚f people think about what taking the vaccine actually does in terms of reuniting their friends and family, they鈥檙e far more likely to take it.鈥�
To Evans, Gomez is an ideal host to press those points to the people who needed to hear them the most.
鈥淪elena Gomez is obviously an incredible leader in her own right,鈥� he said. 鈥淪he has one of the largest social followings on the planet, and she also is a true leader among young people and in the Latinx community.鈥�
Gomez, for her part, said she felt
鈥淭his is a historic moment to encourage people around the world to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them, call on world leaders to share vaccine doses equitably and to bring people together for a night of music in a way that hasn鈥檛 felt possible in the past year," the 鈥淟ose You to Love Me鈥� singer said in a statement. "I can鈥檛 wait to be a part of it.鈥�
For years, Global Citizen has used the power of celebrities鈥� connections with their fans to create a movement of 鈥渃ollective action鈥� that shows government leaders how popular certain programs can be. Its annual Global Citizen Festivals in Central Park have furthered its goals of eliminating extreme poverty by 2030 with the help of fans of Beyonce or Coldplay or Stevie Wonder speaking out to world leaders on social media.
The group hopes to do it again with 鈥淰AX Live.鈥�
鈥淚 think growing up, we were all taught what I would call 鈥榯he Sally Struthers view of charity 鈥� if I just give a few dollars here and there, that will make a difference鈥�,鈥� Evans said. 鈥淣ot only is that methodology not scalable, but it鈥檚 really just crumbs off the table. It鈥檚 not going to give anyone a meal. It鈥檚 not going to build any long-term sustainability. We believe in the power of 鈥榗ollective action鈥� because we know that we鈥檙e trying to change the systems that keep people poor.鈥�
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The Associated Press receives support from the Lilly Endowment for coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP鈥檚 philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Glenn Gamboa, The Associated Press
