Making a statement: Stevie Wonder performing at The Global Citizens Festival in New York.

By Eliza Anyangwe

The Global Citizens Festival,  held on 28 September, gathered thousands of people together in Central Park, New York, to demand an end to poverty albeit in between breathlessly screaming out the choruses to hits from musicians ranging from Stevie Wonder to Kings of Leon.
Its organisers insist that music and popular culture can be drivers of change. Not wanting to take only their word for it, we asked world leaders whether pop concerts about poverty could really get policymakers dancing to the right tune. Below is what they said.
 Tell us whether you agree. If the deep-seated dislike of celebrity campaigners, like U2 frontman Bono, is anything to go by, the development community might need some convincing.
 
Fatoumata Nafo-Traor, executive director of the Roll Back Malaria (RBM)partnership  
Pop music certainly influences change. Musicians like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and many others lifted the spirits and articulating the vision of the civil rights movement under Martin Luther King in America in the 60s. We Shall Overcome became almost an anthem for the movement and still resonates today.
Music unites people. It harmonises support for common causes. It has also been a key mobiliser in the fight against malaria. The RBM partnership is extremely proud of Africa Live (2005), the first free music festival dedicated to malaria, which also showcased the best of Africa’s musicians.  Africa Live took a largely African scourge malaria  and harnessed the talent of African artists to bring it to the attention of millions around the world through the international and national TV stations.  Africa Live was one of the first of its kind to really show what Africa could do for Africa.
 
Alice Albright, CEO of the Global Partnership for Education
The huge advantage of pop culture is precisely that it’s popular. It reaches a huge audience with a message we don’t often hear: that we can, collectively, change our world through mass action to end the worst forms of poverty.
 
US Congressman Earl Blumenauer, author of the Water for the World Act
The intersection of popular culture and politics at benefit concerts is something that has become so common we hardly bat an eye at it.  But the question remains, after the crowds have left, the acts have packed up their gear and the TV cameras are off, do these showings of public support achieve their intended goals?
The answer is a resounding “yes”. There are many pressing issues fighting for the attention of policymakers. It is no longer enough to simply be right: you also have to be able to draw the attention of these politicians, and the world, in order to demonstrate why your issue is the one that deserves action.
I got involved with the Global Citizens Festival to draw attention to the need for clean and sanitation development to support equality for women and girls who together spend 200m hours a day around the world collecting water for their families. These girls’ lives could change at very little cost. International development experts know it. Water experts know it. But we need the 60,000 people attending the concert and the 50 million people watching around the globe to know it, too.
Once they are informed, they can take the message back to their communities, their churches, their Girl Scout groups, and their book clubs. They can take action to make equitable and sustainable access to clean water for the nearly 800 million men, women and children who don’t have it, and improving sanitation for the 2.5 billion without even the most basic services, a reality.  That’s when change starts to happen.
 
Csaba Krsi, ambassador and permanent representative of Hungary to the United Nations
For centuries, international relations were shaped by sovereigns, governments and international organisations. Today’s global village has far more actors.  To go fast, one might choose to go alone. To go far and get there, we have to go together.   
 
Jeffrey Sachs, director, The Earth Institute
A few cynics have sniffed at such events: what does a concert in Central Park really have to do with ending poverty in Mali?  You’d think they would have figured it out by now.
From Live Aid in 1985, to Live 8 and Make Poverty History in 2005, to the Global Citizens Festival, public engagement has encouraged and enabled politicians to do the right thing, for example putting money and political muscle behind the fight against Aids, TB and malaria.
 
Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank  
With more than a billion people still living on less than US$1.25 a day, we need everyone — rock stars and politicians, doctors and teachers, students and parents  to come together to ignite a global movement to end poverty. A groundswell of public support from around the world to keep governments, businesses, international finance institutions such as the World Bank Group, foundations  and civil society all focused on the same goal.
When pop plus policy translates into energy plus action, we can achieve what had been just a dream to past generations. Ending poverty is within our grasp.
 
Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi Alliance  
Putting pop music and pop culture on the frontlines of global development getting Bono to rub shoulders with Bill Gates is much more than a gimmick. The fact that millions of people are willing to dance, sing, donate and sign for action shows world leaders and national politicians that these are issues they need to take seriously. My organisation has effectively used this combination of star power and public support to deliver vaccines to tens of millions of children who would not otherwise have been protected against disease.
 
Dr Maryan Qasim, minister for human development and public services, Somalia
My take on this is that policy, implementation mechanisms, finances and administrative capacities are as important as popular pressure.  A marriage of the two is necessary, with “pop pressure” taking a supportive role, and coming to the fore once the right policies, execution and management teams are in place.
It is important to produce the right formula for creating lasting transformation and building the capacity at the local level. Also, public awareness, though important, needs to be followed up with hard dollars and concrete actions. Financial pledges need to be made concrete and followed through.
Ultimately, popular awareness is a key to unlocking support and this, coupled with concrete policies and action on the ground, would have the impact we all desire and create that better world we all want to see.  — Guardian News Service