Two years after Global Citizen event, more than 100m lives have been changed

Two years ago, Johannesburg hosted the Global Citizen Festival: Mandela 100 to honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela and his vision for peace and equality.

On December 2 2018 — the centenary of Mandela's birth — more than 70,000 “global citizens”, artists and world leaders rallied in Johannesburg in support of the international Sustainable Development Goals, or Global Goals, which were drawn up in 2015 to end poverty, battle inequality and address climate change.

Between these tens of thousands of supporters, nearly 6m charitable actions were taken in the six months leading up to the event in Johannesburg.

Leaders from Belgium, SA, Mozambique, the World Bank, SA, the US-based President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), and many other countries and organisations responded by pledging R104bn to 60 commitments in health, sanitation, education and more.

At the event, hosts Sir Bob Geldof, Naomi Campbell, Gayle King, Bonang Matheba, Tyler Perry and Forest Whitaker introduced performances by musicians such as Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Cassper Nyovest, Ed Sheeran and Sho Madjozi.

In the two years since then, 105.4m lives have been affected by those pledges — including more than 50m in 2020, and 14.6m in SA alone.

This year, the Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives and livelihoods of many, placing strain on the health-care sector and marginalised communities. It is estimated the virus has erased close to 10 years of progress made in the world’s mission to meet the Global Goals.

Commitments made via the Mandela 100 initiative have, however, continued to help millions of the world’s most vulnerable people, even while mitigating the effects of the pandemic.

In an impact report released last month, Global Citizen highlighted some of the commitments that have had the greatest impact:

• The World Bank exceeded its $1bn commitment to investments in human capital projects this year — 78 projects in Africa specifically, of which 28 were part of the bank’s Covid-19 emergency response. So far, this commitment has affected 5.4m people through projects in nutrition, health and skills-based learning in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Sahel region of Africa. The pandemic is threatening a decade of human capital gains in Africa, but the World Bank responded rapidly, committing up to $160bn in financing.
• Pepfar SA’s $1.4bn commitment helped provide antiretroviral therapy to 3.8m people living with HIV/Aids by June 2020, along with other resources to assist SA in combating Covid-19. It also invested in programmes aimed at reducing HIV risk among young women and girls.
• Cisco helped prepare 4.5m people to work in the digital economy, with plans to work with 28,400 instructors at 11,800 learning institutions in 180 countries in 2021.
• The SA government delivered $11.1m in free sanitary-care products to more than 1m girls across the country as part of its commitment to menstrual health. Lack of access to such products is a barrier to girls’ education, particularly in SA where an estimated 3.7m girls cannot afford sanitary pads. Six provinces have now prioritised menstrual health education programmes.
• Vodacom launched Africa’s first commercial mobile 5G network in SA in May this year, connecting 95,000 homes and businesses in rural and urban communities. During the Covid-19 lockdown, data use surged by 86% as people started working and learning at home. Vodacom's commitment keeps millions of people in townships and deep rural areas connected, enables businesses to operate, facilitates online learning, and helps the government provide critical services.

Other commitments made during the Mandela 100 festival have funded urgent Covid-19 needs while still supporting global HIV/Aids and tuberculosis screening; the routine immunisation for vulnerable children; and the treatment of millions of people affected by neglected tropical diseases in Africa.

To eradicate extreme poverty by 2030, the world must stay on track to meet all 17 of the Global Goals and protect the vulnerable and marginalised parts of the world's population, even amid the Covid-19 threat, said the Global Citizen organisers.

“The world must work together to end extreme poverty by continuing vaccinations and health services for the most vulnerable in our societies; breaking the barriers that drive starvation and hunger across continents; striving to provide every child with education and schooling; accelerating action on climate change; and ensuring equality and dignity for all from every community,” they said.

“History has shown that progress is truly possible when we act as an international community — and global solidarity and co-operation is the fastest and most effective way to defeat the pandemic.

“As we look ahead to 2021, Global Citizens from SA and the world will continue to take action to protect the world's most marginalised — because we’re the generation that must make Mandela’s wish to end extreme poverty a reality. As Nelson Mandela once said: 'It always seems impossible until it’s done.'”

This article was sponsored by Global Citizen.