Latest news with #anti-poverty
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Weeknd and Shakira will headline Global Citizen Festival supporting energy access and the Amazon
Philanthropy Global Citizen NEW YORK (AP) — The Weeknd and Shakira — two of the world's biggest touring artists — will headline this fall's Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park, supporting campaigns to improve energy access across Africa and defend the Amazon against deforestation. Global Citizen announced Tuesday that the pop stars behind such hits as 'Blinding Lights' and 'Hips Don't Lie" will be joined by Tyla, Ayra Starr and Mariah the Scientist at the concert on Sept. 27. Hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, the annual event highlights the anti-poverty nonprofit's selected humanitarian priorities and urges attendees to collectively tackle those issues through direct support. 'The fact that these artists have immediate proximity to communities that have either recently emerged out of extreme poverty, or are emerging out of extreme poverty, gives them amazing perspective,' Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans told The Associated Press. 'And they bring that perspective into Central Park at this moment where I think the world needs a moment of unity now more than ever.' The festival's goals involve securing commitments to bring clean, reliable energy to 1 million people in Africa; mobilizing $200 million for indigenous and local entrepreneurs to protect an Italy-sized chunk of the Amazon rainforest; and raising at least $30 million to help community-based education programs improve children's literacy. Tickets to the festival are free, but fans must earn them by taking actions through the Global Citizen app. Opportunities include uploading videos calling on German and French leaders to back the Amazon protection plan and volunteering to mentor young people worldwide in career development. This year's calls to action reflect the changing nature of online advocacy campaigns. Organizers find that social media posts and email-driven appeals don't carry the same weight as they did when Global Citizen first started rallying concertgoers. Evans said user-generated content such as a self-recorded clip creates "quality engagement" and makes it almost impossible to game the system. In The Weeknd and Shakira, Global Citizen is reuniting with previous artistic supporters at a time when they are packing stadiums. The Weeknd, who this month wrapped a four-night run of sold-out performances at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium, is donating $1 from every ticket sale to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. Shakira, who recently completed seven consecutive sold-out shows in Mexico City, joined Coldplay onstage during a 2017 edition of the festival in Germany. "Music has always been my way of connecting with people and leaving a mark on the world," Shakira said in a statement. 'I can't wait to perform, unite, and inspire action.' ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit Solve the daily Crossword
Associated Press
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
The Weeknd and Shakira will headline Global Citizen Festival supporting energy access and the Amazon
NEW YORK (AP) — The Weeknd and Shakira — two of the world's biggest touring artists — will headline this fall's Global Citizen Festival in New York's Central Park, supporting campaigns to improve energy access across Africa and defend the Amazon against deforestation. Global Citizen announced Tuesday that the pop stars behind such hits as 'Blinding Lights' and 'Hips Don't Lie' will be joined by Tyla, Ayra Starr and Mariah the Scientist at the concert on Sept. 27. Hosted by actor Hugh Jackman, the annual event highlights the anti-poverty nonprofit's selected humanitarian priorities and urges attendees to collectively tackle those issues through direct support. 'The fact that these artists have immediate proximity to communities that have either recently emerged out of extreme poverty, or are emerging out of extreme poverty, gives them amazing perspective,' Global Citizen CEO Hugh Evans told The Associated Press. 'And they bring that perspective into Central Park at this moment where I think the world needs a moment of unity now more than ever.' The festival's goals involve securing commitments to bring clean, reliable energy to 1 million people in Africa; mobilizing $200 million for indigenous and local entrepreneurs to protect an Italy-sized chunk of the Amazon rainforest; and raising at least $30 million to help community-based education programs improve children's literacy. Tickets to the festival are free, but fans must earn them by taking actions through the Global Citizen app. Opportunities include uploading videos calling on German and French leaders to back the Amazon protection plan and volunteering to mentor young people worldwide in career development. This year's calls to action reflect the changing nature of online advocacy campaigns. Organizers find that social media posts and email-driven appeals don't carry the same weight as they did when Global Citizen first started rallying concertgoers. Evans said user-generated content such as a self-recorded clip creates 'quality engagement' and makes it almost impossible to game the system. In The Weeknd and Shakira, Global Citizen is reuniting with previous artistic supporters at a time when they are packing stadiums. The Weeknd, who this month wrapped a four-night run of sold-out performances at Los Angeles' SoFi Stadium, is donating $1 from every ticket sale to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund. Shakira, who recently completed seven consecutive sold-out shows in Mexico City, joined Coldplay onstage during a 2017 edition of the festival in Germany. 'Music has always been my way of connecting with people and leaving a mark on the world,' Shakira said in a statement. 'I can't wait to perform, unite, and inspire action.' ___ Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP's philanthropy coverage, visit
Forbes
02-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
NYC's Robin Hood Charity Condemns Newly-Passed Senate Bill. Its Billionaire Donors Are Staying Mum
A volunteer helping a client collect their grocery bag at the Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen And Pantry in New York City. Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images O n Tuesday afternoon, Robin Hood, which describes itself as the largest anti-poverty philanthropy in New York City, issued a statement condemning the U.S. Senate's passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The bill has been widely criticized as a 'billionaire bill' for cutting taxes on the wealthiest Americans and removing access to Medicaid for millions of poor Americans. Robin Hood CEO Richard R. Buery, Jr, who receives over $1 million annually in compensation, called the act 'deeply regressive' and denounced it for 'pull[ing] the rug out from under everyday working and poor Americans in a moment of widespread economic strain.' Noting that the poverty rate in New York City is the highest in a decade, Buery added, 'At its core, the bill violates everything we know about fighting poverty and sparking economic opportunity.' What about the seven billionaires on Robin Hood's board–and 10 more billionaire former board members or leadership council members? Forbes reached out to each of them–plus four billionaire donors–for their feedback on the bill, which awaits a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. None responded with a comment. Six, including hotel and real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht (a board member) and hedge fund founder Clifford Asness (a leadership council member), declined to comment. Robin Hood was founded in 1988 by hedge fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones, who Forbes estimates is now worth $8.1 billion. Since its establishment, Robin Hood has raked in billions from New York City's wealthiest people–and says it has invested nearly $3 billion to help the city's poorest improve their lives. "The only reason I'm working right now is so I can continue my philanthropy…I certainly don't want any more money for myself" Tudor Jones told Forbes in 2013. A representative for Tudor Jones said Wednesday he was "unavailable to comment' on the foundation's statement about the Senate bill. Robin Hood did not respond to multiple requests to clarify whether Tudor Jones was involved in the statement condemning the bill. Hedge fund billionaire George Soros was one of the first billionaire donors to put his name behind the initiative back in the late 1990s, with a $4.5 million grant, which he then followed with a $50 million matching grant in 2019, then the largest single contribution to the foundation. Robin Hood's board matched the donation, for a total of $100 million raised. A representative for Soros has not responded to a request for comment. Michael Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg LP and a former mayor of New York, has also been public in his support for Robin Hood, praising it for continuing to 'strengthen the city's safety net and promote economic opportunity' and calling his foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, one of Robin Hood's 'champions.' He declined to comment on their statement. Pershing Square, hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman's foundation, pitched in $25 million to help Robin Hood reach a $100 million donation milestone at their annual gala in 2015. Ackman, too, declined to comment. So did Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin (estimated net worth: $46.2 billion), who donated $15 million to Robin Hood in 2017. Among Robin Hood's former board members: Jeff Bezos' mother Jacklyn Bezos and his brother Mark. Forbes was not able to reach either of them for comment. While Jeff Bezos has not publicly commented on the Big Beautiful Bill, he has appeared to support the Trump administration, attending Trump's inauguration in January. Last year, he told The New York Times he was 'very hopeful' about Trump's second term as 'he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation.' If signed into law, the bill would make permanent provisions first introduced in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, benefitting the top 0.1% of households with an average tax break of over $250,000, according to Tax Policy Center. That would likely benefit all the Robin Hood billionaire donors. The Senate bill also includes a generous tax subsidy for private jet buyers, a common must-have for the billionaire set.
BBC News
30-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Stormont: Charities call for executive to drop anti-poverty strategy
Almost fifty charities and anti-poverty organisations are calling for the Northern Ireland Executive to withdraw its draft strategy to tackle poverty, saying that families "deserve better".An anti-poverty strategy was first committed to by Stormont 19 years ago, but the first-ever plan was only agreed by executive parties last month.A letter to Stormont ministers said it is "more harmful to have a strategy that will not address poverty, than no strategy at all".In a statement, the Department for Communities (DfC) said the strategy was the "culmination of hard work and collaboration" from a broad range of groups "including the anti-poverty co-design group". Groups including Save the Children, the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action (NICVA), the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) and trade unions are among signatories of the anti-poverty strategy was released for public consultation earlier in June for a period of 14 Unionist Party (DUP) Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, whose department has responsibility for the document, said the plan was "realistic", given the financial constraints Stormont departments are operating the plan was agreed in May by the executive, First Minister Michelle O'Neill said it probably could "go further" but denied there was a row between Sinn Féin and the DUP over it. What is in the Northern Ireland poverty strategy? The 28-page paper sets out the executive's approach to tackling poverty over the next 10 outlines efforts already being taken by various departments to help minimise the risks of people falling into poverty in Northern Ireland, as well as reducing its impacts and ways to help people get out of document states that poverty is "not a problem which the executive can solve in isolation", but one that requires community groups, business, councils and voluntary groups to adds that the strategy will be accompanied by a programme of delivery to be updated on an ongoing basis. What does the letter say? It states that those who have signed it want to share their "dismay and frustration" at the draft adds: "The undersigned agree that the Northern Ireland Executive's draft Anti-Poverty 'Strategy' does not meet the criteria of a reasonable strategy."It fails to fulfil what oversight bodies, including the NI Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee, outline as the basic elements of any strategy."They are critical that it does not include defined and specific actions or targets."We acknowledge that the minister has indicated that an action plan with targets and specific actions will follow at a later, unspecified date, but every expert, every oversight body is clear that a strategy must include measurable and time-bound targets within or alongside the strategy," it states."We are committed to working with you in good faith to eradicate poverty in Northern Ireland, and therefore, we are asking the NI Executive to withdraw their support of the draft Anti-Poverty Strategy, on the basis that it is more harmful to have a strategy that will not address poverty, than no strategy at all."Our children, families and communities – your constituents – deserve better."Those who have signed it include: Barnardo's NI, the Simon Community, Action for Children, NICVA (Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action), the Law Centre NI, Age NI and Conradh na a statement, a DfC spokesperson said the minister has "listened carefully to the recommendations made, many of which have been included and actioned in the Anti-Poverty Strategy"."The strategy is out for public consultation and we encourage anyone with an interest to engage with the consultation and make their views known."
CTV News
26-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Acorn launches ‘AC for all' in N.B.
Atlantic Watch Anti-poverty group launches a campaign in N.B. to bring air conditioning to everyone.
