Despite the rain, Global Citizens performed in full force in September. 23 to celebrate this year’s Global Citizen Festival in New York City and show how much they care about ending extreme poverty.
The Central Park internship brought together prominent artists, activists, advocates and world leaders, each using their voice to call the world to action for justice, for the planet, for food and jobs in the mission to end extreme poverty.
Through a combination of music, dance and inspiring speeches, the festival provided a platform to mobilize urgent action to address the biggest issues driving extreme poverty: the climate emergency, gender inequality and the global food crisis.
Here are some of the most powerful quotes from the 2023 Global Citizen Festival.
Amina Mohammed, UN Under-Secretary-General
“We need leaders to urgently tackle the climate crisis because we can’t win if we don’t stop the warming of our world. We need leaders to bridge the digital divide because we cannot win if billions of people, especially girls, remain offline and left behind. And we need leaders to achieve gender equality because we can’t win when not even half the team is on the field.”
Puire Tembe, indigenous leader of the Tembe people in Brazil
Indigenous leader Puire Tembe, Helder Barballo and Sonia Guajara address the audience at the 2023 Global Citizen Festival.
“Our Indigenous knowledge must be heard and we must demand climate justice. Receive the power of the forest, its rivers and its lands. Receive this message to renew our minds, embrace new beginnings, and build resilience. Summon the spirit of the Amazon. She will answer!
Danai Gurira, award-winning actor, playwright and Global Citizen Ambassador
“I have performed on Global Citizen stages in Johannesburg, Accra, Paris and returned here to my hometown of New York because we still have work to do to amplify the underrepresented voices of the world. Right now, countries struggling with poverty are caught in an endless cycle directly caused by climate change. We cannot ignore the fact that these vulnerable countries, despite contributing the least to climate change, suffer the most from it.”
Pashtana Durrani, Afghan human rights activist, educator and 2023 Global Citizen Prize winner.
Pashtana Durrani stands alongside Olivier Ndoul, Common and Vladimir Duthier as they collectively talk about the need to protect civic space and human rights around the world.
“Many people like me were forced to leave Afghanistan two years ago. We were committed to fighting for the education of women and girls, and the Taliban didn’t like that. Continue to pay attention to human rights defenders. I wouldn’t need a whole village to stand here. I shouldn’t have been arrested before I was worthy enough to be in the US. So please stand with human rights defenders.”
Deja Fox, reproductive rights activist and 2023 Global Citizen Prize winner.
“We cannot lose courage now. We need this more than ever. If we work together, we can make a difference. Demand sex education and birth control for all youth. Decriminalize and destigmatize access to abortion, including self-care. Be an ally and work with us to demand our leaders invest in the sexual and reproductive health of us all.”
Busy Philipps, New York Times bestselling author, actor, and activist
“When I was 15 years old, I had an abortion. This isn’t the first time I’ve spoken about this publicly, and it won’t be the last, because as you all here know, women, girls, and people with uteruses are currently being denied the right to make health care decisions. their own bodies. Without bodily autonomy there will never be true equality.”
Brianna Fruan, Samoan environmentalist and 2022 Global Citizen Prize winner
Activist and 2022 Global Citizen Prize winner Brianna Fruen stands next to President José Ramos Horta to address the audience on climate action at the 2023 Global Citizen Festival.
“The climate crisis is a crisis for humanity. It was presented as a big, complex thing that should concern policymakers and scientists. But at its core, it’s as simple as saving our homes—saving mine so we can save yours. Pacific Islanders are the canaries in the coal mine, warning the world about this climate reality. Saving the Pacific means saving the world.”
Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health
“Over the past two decades, the maternal mortality rate has dropped by a third. However, this progress has stalled and, in some places, even reversed. Denying your sexual and reproductive health is a violation of your human rights. This is impossible to tolerate. We must demand stronger and better resourced health systems, and we must demand them now.”
Jerome Foster II, environmental activist and White House environmental justice adviser
“The United States must support the global frontline communities that have been hit first and hardest by the climate crisis and continue to be hit today. We must seize this moment to be a beacon of hope for the future.”
Gayle King, co-host of “CBS Mornings” and editor-in-chief of “O, The Oprah Magazine”
Gayle King speaks to thousands of global citizens about the importance of open civic space at the annual festival in Central Park, New York, 2023.
“We are here for a reason. Every person gathered in Central Park now—at least 60,000 of us—and millions of people from home are here because they have chosen to actively participate in the Global Citizen movement. But it is also very important to remember that not everyone can gather in this way, freely gather on such a large scale, exercising their right to freedom of expression and association. So we must continue to speak out and act as global citizens, because together we can change the world.”
The stage lights may have dimmed and Central Park’s Great Lawn has been cleared, but that doesn’t mean the action is over. For the first time in a generation, the number of people living in extreme poverty is rising, and we need to act now to protect the world’s most vulnerable people. Global Citizen’s campaign to end poverty, protect the planet and demand justice continues, and you can still join the Global Citizens movement to end extreme poverty by taking action with us. Join our mission to end extreme poverty by downloading our app and taking action to solve the world’s most pressing problems.