Post Malone and Doja Cat to headline Global Citizen Festival to mobilize young people

abcnews.go.com:

Post Malone and Doja Cat, two of pop music’s biggest stars, will headline this year’s Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park on Sept. 28, as organizers focus on mobilizing young people to help address the world’s pressing problems

NEW YORK — Post Malone and Doja Cat, two of pop music’s biggest stars, will headline this year’s Global Citizen Festival in New York’s Central Park on Sept. 28, as organizers focus on mobilizing young people to help address the world’s pressing problems.

The COVID-19 pandemic erased years of progress the world had made toward ending extreme poverty and those setbacks have been compounded by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and complicated by climate change, said Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans. He estimates that about 10% of the world’s population now lives in extreme poverty and the United Nations expects 575 million people will be at that level in 2030, despite long-term plans to eradicate it.

“In the very environment where we need more ambition, we are seeing many nations step back,” Evans told The Associated Press. “That’s why we know our work is more urgent than ever and why we’re so thrilled that the world’s greatest artists are stepping up at a time when they’re absolutely needed.”

Global Citizen has long partnered with major artists – from Beyonce and Jay-Z to Queen, Stevie Wonder to Ed Sheeran – to generate attention that it can turn into audience actions that lobby political, corporate and philanthropic leaders to support its initiatives. The nonprofit says its events in the past decade have generated more than $14 billion toward eliminating extreme poverty.

Evans said this year’s headliners have an important connection to young people, who are essential to changing how leaders