Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean to Headline Global Citizen Festival

Stories by Vanessa Obioha

Ms. Lauryn Hill and her Fugees bandmate, Wyclef Jean, will headline this year’s Global Citizen Festival in New York, bringing their socially conscious music to the annual antipoverty gathering.

The festival, scheduled for September 26 at Central Park, was announced on Thursday. Other performers include rock star Lenny Kravitz, R&B singer John Legend, country music star Lainey Wilson, Grammy-winning rapper Shaboozey and K-pop group TOMORROW X TOGETHER.

Hill and Jean’s appearance comes as the duo marks the 30th anniversary of the Fugees’ acclaimed album, The Score. The pair recently reunited for performances in London and Rio de Janeiro. In London, Hill also hosted her music festival celebrating the sounds and cultures of the African diaspora, while the duo closed Global Citizen’s weeklong climate programming in Rio.

The Global Citizen Festival is held annually in New York during the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level meetings. It seeks to mobilise public pressure on world leaders to commit funding and resources to initiatives designed to tackle poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change.

Festivalgoers earn entry by taking actions such as signing petitions and calling on governments to increase funding for international development programmes.

This year, Global Citizen is seeking to mobilise $100 million to provide two million children with access to education, nutritious food, and healthcare, as well as another $100 million to strengthen food security for 1.5 million smallholder farmers. It is also seeking $1.5 billion to expand clean energy initiatives across the Indo-Pacific region.

Countries being targeted by the campaign include Spain, Norway, Ireland, Kenya, Japan, Denmark and Australia.

Global Citizen co-founder Hugh Evans has also called on France to support initiatives including the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, Gavi and Education Cannot Wait.

The festival follows Global Citizen’s first-ever World Cup halftime show, a collaboration that has helped raise more than $60 million for an education fund established with FIFA. Evans hopes to build on that momentum at this year’s festival and secure further commitments from governments and other partners.